Re: Commercial interests & project leader

[ioannis@flinet.com]

 Oops, a small typo changed my meaning. 


On Mon, Oct 06, 1997 at 05:45:15PM -0400, ioannis@flinet.com wrote:
> 
> >> Is it a conflict of interest?
> >  I think conflict-of-interest is a real concern,
> 
> 
> 
>  "He was excellent above all men in theft and perjury."
>                                                  [Homer, 900 B.C.]
> 
> 
>       Oh Warwick, there was a time when our leaders were famous
> among the other debians only for their unix and os skills;
> but now, if I am not mistaken, they are equally famous for their 
> morality skills, especially in this list. How different is our fate!
> Here at Debian there is scarcity of the commodity, and all of morality
> seems to have emigrated from us to Dave. I am certain that if you were 
> to ask us whether leadership can pose a conflict of interest, I 
> would laugh in your face, and say: "Warwich, you have far too good an 
> opinion of us, if you think that we answer your question. For we 
> literally do not know what morality is, much less whether it 
> can pose a conflict, and whether it can be avoided or not."
> 
>    And I myself, Warwick, living in the same region of poverty, I
> am as poor as the rest of them; and confess with shame that I know
> very little about this conflict. All I am able to do is refer to the moral 
> sciences for an answer: let me then affirm that "conflict of interest" is
> a contemporary pseudo-philosophical phrase without any coherent meaning,
> both metaphysically and rationally, and after many years of study, I have
> never heard of any philosopher stating otherwise. To the contrary, there 
> is ample of evidence in Simonides, Bias, Pittacus, Plato, Aristotle,
> Hume, Nietze, Wittgenstein, Rand, and Rorty who are of the mind that this
> phrase is non-compute and uncomprehensible.
> 
> 
>    So, no concept of conflict can exist at all; should you insist, you
> stand to be refuted by our inheritance. Nothing can be clearer. And when
> Dale desires to run, he will step to the podium and announce his candidacy
> and will answer the same questions put to others. Almost all developers 
> are ready to come forward and testify of his good repute and be public 
> witnesses. They know him for years. My good Sirs, were is the conflict?
> Make it comprehensible, in simple language so that I can follow. On one 
> hand, the developers are of the highest opinion, approve of him, and are 
> not concerned; and on the other, the vast majority of users are solely 
> after free software and are   concerned with the private lives of anyone else,
                             not

> much or little. I would be very sorry if Dale is intimidated by these
> base notions of pop philosophy.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Ioannis Tambouras 
> ioannis@flinet.com, West Palm Beach, Florida
> Signed pgp-key on key server. 

-- 
Ioannis Tambouras 
ioannis@flinet.com, West Palm Beach, Florida
Signed pgp-key on key server. 


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