Re: Debian's job is not to help people who think the world is unfair (was: Linux System Engineer (100%) in Zurich)
On Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 06:17:45PM +0100, martin f krafft wrote:
> also sprach Gunnar Wolf <gwolf@gwolf.org> [2008.11.26.1807 +0100]:
> > And no, it's not Debian's flaw or problem - but Wolfgang's
> > complaint is IMHO very well in place. It will reach the clueless
> > HR recruiter, and -as he posted to -jobs- probably other HR people
> > pondering on writing to Debian.
>
> This is precisely my problem, it comes across as a statement from
> Debian, when in fact it is the voice of a few people (who seem to
> have little idea about HR and running a business). This is why
> I replied on -jobs, because Debian does *not* have any policy
> preventing or allowing job offers with age restrictions.
You are correct, we don't have such a policy in place. However, one of
our foundation documents (which I'm reasonably proud of) claims that
we will not accept any software with license which discriminates
"against any person or group of persons" into the distribution. Yes,
it's a stretch, because we can be fairly sure that people (as opposed
to firmware :-) are not software, and they don't have a license. I,
however, have a difficulty understanding the mindset of people who
can, at the same time, stand behind these principles, and be
comfortable with what looks to me as a clear-cut example of unfair
age discrimination (thanks to Ben for suggesting the correct wording).
> If you don't like the job offer, don't apply. If you want that job
> but you are too old, convince them and go to court if you feel like
> they are acting unlawfully.
>
> But please refrain from calling it unfair (it's a bloody *offer*)
> and expecting the project to do something about it.
I don't see why the project shouldn't feel empowered to do something
about it. It was not my intention, however, to start a flame war, and
I'm not going to pursue the idea of modifying posting guidelines for
debian-jobs, given quite unexpected fierce resistance. I already got
my fair share of entertainment out of this thread and not going to
contribute to it further.
Best regards,
--
Jurij Smakov jurij@wooyd.org
Key: http://www.wooyd.org/pgpkey/ KeyID: C99E03CC
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