From: "Adam J. Richter" <adam@yggdrasil.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 2002 13:26:19 -0700
Message-Id: <200210212026.NAA01279@adam.yggdrasil.com>
To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Listmaster request: Blacklist rms@gnu.org
Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org
Content-Length: 3492
Lines: 68

>I've adjusted my procmail filters now, still people using web archives
>suffer from Richard's ignorance of the technical charta, his bad
>trolling and offending everyone on the list.  As his previous posts
>have been of a similar "quality" I'd like to request blacklisting him
>from the vger list.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>        Christoph

	If Christoph Hellwig is referring to procmail filters that
just filter his personal incoming mail, fine.  If he wants to create
a modified linux-kernel-without-whatever-Christoph-dislikes feed, that
people can switch to, I have no problem with that either.

	If Christoph Hellwig controls and is referring to procmail
filters that the public e-mail distribution of the linux-kernel
mailing list, then I think he is doing far more to demotivate Linux
development.

	Far more off-topic and what I consider unfair flamage has come
from those arguing against Richard Stallman (for example, the most
recent posting in that thread begins "Now please just understand that
people are not entitled to agree with you or follow your advice.").
If I have searched marc.theaimslist.com correctly, Stallman has made
four of the 74 posts in the "Bitkeeper outrage{,m}, old and new"
thread, and they've been been pretty short and concise.

	In comparison, we've gotten more and longer posts advocating a
proprietary business model and various copyright restrictions from a
person whose software is much less important to Linux development
(many people contribute to Linux without Bitkeeper, virtually
contribute without gcc).

	I can abide by using filtering linux-kernel in some cases, but
I think this proposal is one-sided in a way that will harm the future
development directions of Linux.  What will be banned next?  Other
people expressing agreement with Richard Stallman (but statements of
agreement with Larry McVoy will be more tolerated of course)?
Discussion of EXPORT_GPLONLY?  Notifications of GPL violations?  I
think this kind of one-sidedness would be in the back of people's
minds and would influence future Linux devlopment in a negative way.

	In the real world, censorship generally does not come about by
some plot that the Dr. Doom and his evil henchmen developed in their
headquarters embedded into the side of a volcano.  It comes about by
people well intentioned people making bad trade-offs.

	I don't think censorship of one author is the right trade-off
for this discussion at this point.  If it continues at high volume for
another weeks, then, maybe maybe maybe filtering might be in order,
but in a much more even handed manner.  For example, announce that the
discussion has moved to a specific other mailing list, initially just
filter the subject lines (which should include the bitkeeper advocacy
posts as well) regardless of author, announce that people trying to
get around it by just changing the subject line will banned during the
filtering period, and make the entire filtering period only be for a
couple of weeks.


Adam J. Richter     __     ______________   575 Oroville Road
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                         "Free Software For The Rest Of Us."
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