RFC: #ubuntu op misuse or not?

[Rohan Dhruva]

On Sat, May 17, 2014 at 12:17 AM, Brian Burger <blurdesign at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, May 16, 2014 at 11:58 PM, Valorie Zimmerman
> <valorie.zimmerman at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, May 16, 2014 at 5:14 PM, Rohan Dhruva <rohandhruva at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > * ops basing ban decisions based on personal prejudice (e.g. towards
>> > words like blitzkrieg and dictator, drawing conclusions of World War
>> > II and Hitler)
>>
>> Such language is not welcome in an *buntu space. In fact, it is not
>> welcome anywhere on the Internet, IMO.
>
>
> Based on the IRC log excerpts posted elsewhere in this thread, our original
> poster basically called one of our chanops a Nazi and expected to get away
> with it.
>
> Really?
>
> No. Just, no.
>

No. Seriously, no. *Nothing* in the words "dictator" or "blitzkrieg"
implies *anything* related to Nazism. I can completely understand how
personal background can lead someone to think that way, but
immediately jumping to such conclusion is completely hyperbolic. The
only person originally drawing parallels with anything remotely
related to German history were the two ops on the channel. Also, I did
not expect to get away with anything -- if that was my intention, I
wouldn't have stayed around to discuss or reply here.

There have been dictators before the particular person in question,
and dictators after him. There are good dictators, and there are bad
ones. There are people calling themselves benevolent dictators.

A simple search on Google news (http://bit.ly/S2hFaD) shows the word
"blitzkrieg" being used in many non-offensive contexts. Similarly, the
word "swastika" can evoke bitter feelings for people in Europe, but
signifies a religious symbol for Hindus around the world.

Did I use the word Nazi? Sure -- but only after the ops had drawn
parallels to it. Was I remotely thinking of Germany (or anything
related to Germany) when using "blitzkrieg"? An emphatic no. The user
"adamcunnington" and myself tried to explain that dictator does not
have a Nazi implication in it at all. It is personal choice to be
offended by those words.

In an international community, you have to understand that words don't
always mean what you think they mean.


> Brian
> (on IRC I'm "Madpilot". Not on much the last few years, but an Ubuntu chanop
> since 2006. I guess that makes me something like one of the Great Old Ones
> of Ubuntu's IRC setup?)
>
> --
> Ubuntu-irc mailing list
> Ubuntu-irc at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-irc
>



-- 
Rohan Dhruva