On Wed, Dec 17, 2003 at 08:53:18AM -0800, Nunya wrote:
> On Wed, Dec 17, 2003 at 09:31:17AM -0700, Joel Baker wrote:
> >
> > Somehow, I don't think Branden will mind being told his dislike of
> > "parochial religious fundamentalists" is showing. I suspect he'd be proud
> > of it. But you'll see for yourself, soon enough.
>
> I don't believe in magical beings. I *do* believe some humans
> intentionally set out to hurt other humans. Branden's beliefs and
> sneering disdain for some of his fellow humans is quite clear. (Note:
> your response was measured and even).
That, I'm afraid, is between you and him. I certainly disagree with him
on some topics, and I certainly think there are many times when he could
be more tactful if he wished to be, but I'm unwilling to say that he
necessarily *should* be - though there are times (not really including
right now, mostly) that I can say his choices have had consequences I had
to deal with, and that I might wish he'd choose differently. :)
> Please explain to me the relevance of these names without the specific
> intent of discomforting people. The *intent* is clear. If you can
> explain for, historical, literary, philosophical reasons, I will
> enthusiastically support those names. If it's just because "let's piss
> off the Christians", then I say, pick something else.
The thought goes something like this:
"Well, the mascot of ALL the BSD derivatives is a daemon, in various forms"
(and, I will note, they are quite adament about it *not* being a demon,
which is why the form is *always* a cartoony/stylized form)
"A daemon is a greek concept for a being which bridges the mortal and the
divine" (this is the semi-official reason for calling them daemons, in Unix)
"Greek daemons do not appear to have individual names"
"The Christian concept of a demon is a corruption (as it were) of the Greek
concept of daemon"
"There is an extensive catalog of Christian demon names to pick from"
Note that while I don't (deeply) care about offending people with a strong
religious belief, since I *personally* find most of those beliefs quite
offensive in return, I *do* consider it polite to consider not using the
demonic names entirely because the BSD folks have a long and avowed wish
to *not* be associated with such, for purely practical reasons that affect
them as much as (and probably more than) they affect us.
> Actually I think you *should* pick those names. I'd love to see the
> resulting carnage :-)
Eh. My inbox would tell you it just isn't that interesting. Most of the
religious screeds I get aren't all that coherent, or even entertaining
forms of incoherent ranting. Half the time I have trouble telling that
they're written in English (religious fanatics - the one group that seems
more incapable of mastering spelling and grammar than the speakers of
'Leet)..
--
Joel Baker <fenton@debian.org> ,''`.
Debian GNU/NetBSD(i386) porter : :' :
`. `'
`-
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