Re: why must Debian call Taiwan a "Province of China"?
Bruce Miller wrote:
Joey Hess was on the mark to criticize members of this list for
rising to flamebait.
This far exceeds flamebait. It is a serious issue.
I, myself, feel that we should have all been advised of this.
By using Debian, we endorse it, and everything it represents.
To be placed in the position of taking a political stance,
without prior knowledge and consultation is odious.
International technical fora are adamant that they discuss only
technical issues and leave politics to the politicians.
Exactly right.
Get the politicians out of Debian.
To help this
international technical forum --- a mailing list about an operating
system --- to do the same, let us remember what the politicians of
the national government of most of the participants in this debate
have done on this issue:
The International Standards Organizations operates by consensus. The
flip-side of consensus is that everyone has a veto. The ISO standard
would not have happened without the 100% agreement of the United
States Government.
What the hell has this to do with the U.S. govt?
The United Nations' usage is one which the United States Government
agreed to of its own free will over 30 years ago and from which no
subsequent Administration, neither Republican nor Democratic, has
wavered since.
If the U.N. had any balls at all, it would have stepped between the U.S.,
Britain, and Iraq before it even started.
What has any of this got to do with Debian?
Far be it from any of us outside the USA to criticize the right of
Americans to criticize their government's policy, or for any other
nationality to criticize its government's policy, but an
international technical forum is not the place to do it.
Please stay on topic.
This thread concerns Debian involvement in the political arena,
and not blind adherence to some corporate/political manipulation
of an international standard.
It is perfectly reasonable of Debian to adopt an international
standard.
As long as the standard is reasonable.
It raises Debian above the debate which is taking place
here.
Not anymore.
It's down in the mud, and it's looking dirty.
What exactly is going on here?
Is this pandering to a factor that represents over a quarter of the
worlds' population,
and what the inclusion of that factor could contribute to an open source
project?
And the devil takes Taiwan?
Regards,
David.
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