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Re: Updating the policy for conflicting binaries names ? [was: Re: Re: New package netgen-lvs with binary /usr/bin/netgen - already taken]



Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes:

> Adrian Bunk writes:
> > I thought this would would have been less offensive than the normal
> > "This is a lie."
>
> You should never accuse someone of lying unless you are sure that they
> know that what they are saying is wrong.

For Adrian (since you acknowledged non-native English language status):
Ian is pointing out the distinction between “That is a lie” (asserting
the person knowingly intended to communicate a falsehood), versus
alternatives like “That is false” or “That is not true” (which carries
no implication of the person's intention or state of mind).

> If you can prove that someone is deliberately saying untrue things on
> Debian lists, that is abuse which should be reported and stopped.

If you don't want to support a claim that someone is lying, you can
avoid that implication: Just point out that the statement is not true
(and then do as you (Adrian) did to show how you know it's not true).

I hope that helps!

-- 
 \        “Considering the current sad state of our computer programs, |
  `\     software development is clearly still a black art, and cannot |
_o__)          yet be called an engineering discipline.” —Bill Clinton |
Ben Finney


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