Re: Bruce Perens's Slashdot debacle
Robert Merkel wrote:
> > Like it or not, debian is an open project.
>
>In the conventional media, if the news doesn't come from a press
>release it's standard procedure for the person or organisation
>concerned to have the opportunity to comment before the story is
>published.
Slashdot ain't the media, conventional or otherwise. Nobody published a
story.
>I would argue that while a link to the DWN or similar doesn't really
>need us to comment further before somebody else "publishes", would it
>be so hard for Slashdot (or anyone else) to at least ask for a comment
>(from the person concerned, or at least from "Debian")
>before printing a link in a mailing list?
That's not the way Slashdot works. It's equivalent to an old-fashioned BBS,
or a newsgroup or public mailing list (like this one). Anyone can post
anything they like with no need to consult anyone first. And that's the way
it should be.
>Has anyone (other than Bruce) discussed this with the Slashdot crew?
>From my understanding of the situation, they are also anxious to
>avoid a repeat of this unfortunate incident.
I fail to see what they can do short of making Slashdot fully moderated,
which would ruin the spontaneous element that is one of its few saving
graces, and open up the moderators/editors to potentially massive
liabilities to boot.
If Bruce is interested in avoiding a repeat of this incident, he should in
future avoid making inflammatory statements in open public forums.
Frank
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