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Getting off-topicGetting off-topicPosted Apr 9, 2010 22:32 UTC (Fri) by felixfix (subscriber, #242)In reply to: Editorial deletions by corbet Parent article: Ubuntu switches search back to Google
I am one of the people in this ruckus. Perhaps an explanation is in order, which you may take as an apology if you want.
Off-topic remarks are annoying. The original post was a mildly sexist joke which was still on-topic. It prompted a completely off-topic politically correct rant, and that provoked my completely off-topic rant about being adults and not on slashdot.
Where does one draw the line? The joke was at least related to the topic, and easily ignored. The complaint was 100% off-topic and reeked of political correctness run amuck. We readers have to carry part of the load for lwn's tone. I thought about it for a bit before responding, finally deciding that just as one can't help but make noise in shushing someone noisy in a library, one can't help but make an off-topic post to tell someone new to stop making off-topic posts. The next one to complain and suggest our grumpy editor start deleting posts made the same decision.
I have no idea how I would respond on a different day. I hope our editor is never forced to delete posts simply for being politically incorrect.
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Getting off-topic Posted Apr 11, 2010 8:09 UTC (Sun) by njs (guest, #40338) [Link]
You know, I also hope that Jon is never "forced to delete posts" by the all-powerful forces of political correctness.
But I'm not too worried, since they don't, well, *exist*. And even if they did, I trust our editor's ability to judge how to best exercise his, well, editorial powers -- is there some reason you don't? (Though you do seem comfortable assuming that external pressure is the only reason he would ever decide to delete sexist posts; on this point I am less convinced, and anyway isn't it rude to threaten him like that? I mean by implying that if he ever took a more actively anti-sexist stance then everyone would think he was a wimp.)
I'm sorry if you didn't notice, but sexist behavior is a fairly topical issue right now, and anyway, being "on topic" is not more important than treating other humans with respect. But it doesn't even matter, because you agree with wingo that "carry[ing] part of the load for lwn's tone" is in any case a good enough reason to make an off-topic post. So if you want to criticize wingo's doing that, I think you need to do more than just complain it was off-topic, or you just look like you're applying a double-standard.
I understand that fundamentally your argument is that the sexist joke was no big deal, and anyone who thinks otherwise is some mindless political correctness spouting drone. I disagree with both claims, wonder whether you actually have any support for either, and suggest that whether you found the joke "easily ignored" is not actually the final word on its importance.
Getting off-topic Posted Apr 15, 2010 13:03 UTC (Thu) by jschrod (subscriber, #1646) [Link]
Me, I didn't think that wingo's comment was "politically correct". It was very welcome and if there hadn't been such a comment already, I would have wrote one.
Maybe, in your part of the world, "critic of sexism" is "politically correct" and thus to be avoided -- in my part, it ain't so. (I'm not from the USA, to make that clear.) We criticize sexistic remarks because we want women to feel welcome in our circles, not because it is "politically correct" (whatever that means today and for you, I don't care).
And if you think such comments would not deter women, you might want to come out of your closet into the big blue room.
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