[ubuntu-studio-devel] Ubuntu Studio 13.10 - Default wallpaper proposition RC1

lukefromdc at hushmail.com lukefromdc at hushmail.com
Wed Sep 18 18:02:12 UTC 2013


Any mistaken association with the Golden Dawn would be enough to make 
a LOT of enemies, most of my friends included. I've met people from 
Greece who have fought in street battles against the Golden Dawn
at considerable risk of personal harm, even death. I have marched 
against the Golden Dawn myself in a Washington DC solidarity protest.

In addition, Ubuntu as a whole has had a prior problem with symbol 
misinterpretation. The 3 person circle of friends was do doubt drawn up
without knowledge that the KKK in the United States sometimes uses 
a circle divided into quarters, with 8 dots representing eyes in the heads of 4
hooded Klansmen looking down a manhole at someone they have just
murdered.  I've seen the KKK symbol done with 3 heads instead of 3 as
well, even just as three of their murderous hoods looking down the 
hole.

The Ubuntu symbol is enough different (heads on outside) that serious trouble
was averted, but it is something I have heard discussed by fellow  activists,
mostly Ubuntu users themselves but one on FreeBSD. A second and new 
controversy of this type could be extremely destructive, especially if the
South Africa connection was thus thought to be to the Boer history there.

Interestingly, an early, superseded  Golden Dawn symbol looked not only like a
swastika, but also like the above-mentioned KKK "circle of murderers." That one
appeared on their first magazine cover in 1980.

No part of the Ubuntu ecosystem will benefit from a new use, accidental or
otherwise, of any symbol or image that can be mistaken as or modified into
a symbol of the racist far right.

On 09/18/2013 at 9:09 AM, "Ralf Mardorf" <ralf.mardorf at alice-dsl.net> wrote:
>
>On Wed, 2013-09-18 at 14:20 +0200, Zak wrote:
>> http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~ubuntustudio-art/ubuntustudio-
>resources/art/view/head:/ubuntu-studio_1310_RC2_wallpaper_01_a_-
>_by_madeinkobaia.png
>
>I would remove the barcode, it's disgusting, smells like 
>capitalism.
>Take care that the covered letters can't be misinterpreted when 
>taking a
>brief look, in this case e.g. with the sign of the "Golden Dawn",
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Dawn_(Greece) and other 
>possible
>variations of the swastika.
>
>Apart from this I like it.
>
>2 Cents,
>Ralf
>
>
>
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