Re: [rain1@airmail.cc] Delete abortion joke

On May  5, 2018, Siddhesh Poyarekar <siddhesh@gotplt.org> wrote:

> On 05/05/2018 09:36 AM, Alexandre Oliva wrote:
>> I spoke of core values of the Free Software movement, of which GNU is a
>> very significant part.  I did not extend them: the same ethical
>> imperatives that require software to respect users' four essential
>> freedoms apply equally to documentation and all other sorts of
>> information for practical use, and the Free Software movement has very
>> long stood for them applied to all sorts of information for practical
>> use, despite the more widely known focus on software.

> I know you spoke of the core values of the FSF

Again, I spoke of the core values of the Free Software movement, not
quite the same thing as the organization founded at first to support,
legal and financially, the development of GNU.


> I have seen videos of it and they're kinda funny in an 80's sense but
> I wouldn't really call them masterful :)

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I've been present at many
of RMS's speeches, and when Saint Ignucius speaks, it's almost like
those shows on TV that have recorded laughter at punchlines.  Except
that there's no recording there, the audience really does explode in
laugther several times.

I had the occasion to be unable to get into the classroom in which
Richard was speaking recently.  From outside, I couldn't hear what he
said, but I could hear the laughter explosions several times throughout
the speech, and more so close to the end, during what was evidently
Saint Ignucius's speech.

But this just tells us it's funny, not that it's an effective use of
humor as a tool to convey deeper messages.  I don't know how to assess
the latter; what I do know is that nobody walked out of the classroom at
that time, which would have to be expected if one assumed that a lot of
people would feel offended, disgusted or even outraged by such humor.


> Having met you in person many times, I know how passionate you can be
> in your arguments and also know that there's no malice in there.

Thanks

> However we are currently talking over email (which often loses so much
> of that context) so I want to be sure you realize that we are on the
> same side :)

:-)

-- 
Alexandre Oliva, freedom fighter    http://FSFLA.org/~lxoliva/
You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -- Gandhi
Be Free! -- http://FSFLA.org/   FSF Latin America board member
Free Software Evangelist|Red Hat Brasil GNU Toolchain Engineer