Macs

[Graham Todd]

On Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:39:03 -0400
Michael Haney <thezorch at gmail.com> uttered these words:

> it perpetuates the "totally incorrect" impression that
> Linux users are quick tempered raving zealots 

That's me! I want to grow up to be a quick tempered raving zealot, Mum!

> who would rather start
> arguments than actually have an intelligent conversation/debate

Oh, I don't know....

A debate (or so my Philosophy professor tells me) is between two
parties who are attempting to test their opponents' assertions by the
rules of logic.  Its adversarial but only to a point. Dictionary.com
defines a debate as, "a formal contest in which the affirmative and
negative sides of a proposition are advocated by opposing speakers"
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/debate)

I haven't seen a great many of these on the Sounder list, but on the
other hand I've seen a number of arguments and some conversations
(generally as the arguments are dying out), and but for the appearance
of trolling, even these arguments (defined by Dictionary.com as "an
oral disagreement; verbal opposition; contention; altercation: a
violent argument" - on the other hand one definition says an argument
is a debate....) seem reasonably intelligent.
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/argument)

So I guess I'll remain happy starting debates (even if I don't fully
support the proposition I'm espousing), and being a zealot for the
philosophy of free software. At least people start to THINK then and
not just accept pap force-fed to them [but I've just realised - maybe
that DOES make me a quick tempered raving zealot.... 8-:(    ]


-- 
Graham Todd
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