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Re: Bug#29874: Optional and conflicting packages.



On Wed, Feb 03, 1999 at 12:29:45PM +0100, Santiago Vila wrote:
[...]
> I really hope that Ian Jackson's word should be enough, since he wrote
> those definitions.
> 
> [ Ian told me I could forward these messages here ].
[...]
> > Excellent!

Santiago, why do you personalize the technical discussions in which you are
involved?

From your tone I infer an attitude not dissimilar to, "I've got the Project
Leader on my side, you fools HAVE to listen to me now!"

Why does it matter that much?  I must assume that your life outisde
of Debian is so idyllic and free of strife and conflict that you have
no emotional stake in anything other than arguments on Debian mailing
lists.  If that is true, I envy you.

A little more cold-blooded objectivity would carry you a long way in this
project.

At any rate, to theorize a little less far afield, let's see why
you "really hope that Ian Jackson's word should be enough".  Why in
particular should that be?  Certainly iwj has earned a lot of respect in
this project for his cool head and good ideas.  You might ask yourself
why it is you feel the need to appeal to his authority.  Can your
arguments not stand on their own merits?

Do you feel personally diminished when you lose a technical argument?
How about when you win one, or think you're going to?  Do you get a
little rush of satisfaction that causes you to exclaim "Excellent!"?

We're here to do a job; that doesn't mean we can't enjoy our work.
However, in my opinion it does mean that we cannot afford to trade our
objectivity for emotionalism.  Flame wars will come and go, and tempers
will sometimes flare when people personally identify with the issues
involed, but these cases should be the exception, not the rule.

It seems to be the rule with you.

-- 
G. Branden Robinson              |
Debian GNU/Linux                 |   Mob rule isn't any prettier just because
branden@ecn.purdue.edu           |   you call your mob a government.
cartoon.ecn.purdue.edu/~branden/ |

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