Re: Woody upgrading problems, LILO and debconf
On 21 May 2001, Thomas Bushnell, BSG wrote:
>John Galt <galt@inconnu.isu.edu> writes:
>
>> Not ashamed, just not willing to reveal it. You may rest assured though
>> that my real identity is much more boring than my "galt" identity.
>
>One must wonder. The normal behavior of humans is to give their name
>in public communication. One therefore wonders "why is he refusing to
>give his name"?
Is it? Was George Orwell normal in that case? Mark Twain? William
Shakespeare? Richard Saunders? In fact, if you look through history,
there are many reasons behind pseudonymity, because there are many uses of
pseudonymity. I just use a pseudonym that's almost immediately
recognizable as a pseudonym.
>Well, there are several reasons I can think of. If the true reason is
>not on this list, feel free to supply it.
Ummm, no. My reasons are my own.
>1) He's being ornery and has no good reason. He wants to disregard
> the normal rules of social communication. Since he has no good
> reason to do so, we should doubt whether he is following other
> rules of social communication, like those that exclude lying,
> misrepresentation, plagiarism and the like.
I can point out that the most socially active persons many of us know,
politicians, break every one of the rules you listed.
>2) He's ashamed of what he writes here; he doesn't want people
> elsewhere to know that he writes things here. What could account
> for that shame? Perhaps he works for/with people who object to
> free software.
I've already given as much information as I'm going to about my job. In
fact, I've given too much in retrospect.
>3) He's ashamed of who he is elsewhere. He's Timothy McVeigh, or
> some other person; he thinks if we knew who he was, we'd regard him
> with contempt.
If I were using a pseudonym from fear of contempt, can you think of
something that a single person can do that is deserving of more contempt
than I have recieved for my use of "John Galt"? Even use of a pseudonym?
>4) He's trying to trick us. He's, say, Steve Ballmer, and he wants to
> defeat our efforts by throwing sand in our faces.
I'm thinking that Redmond-ites would use a more non-recognizable pseudonym
if that were the case, something like "Thomas Bushnell, BSG"... Nobody's
ever accused Redmond of a lack of BRAINS (ethics, yes)
>Thomas
Why are you so damned concerned who I am? What the hell business is it of
yours anyway? Are you some kind or narc or something? Do you often
pester people for their "true identities"? Do you carry an analytic lab
around to test the DNA of people you meet?
>
>
>
--
Galt's sci-fi paradox: Stormtroopers versus Redshirts to the death.
Who is John Galt? galt@inconnu.isu.edu, that's who!
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