Community response of new ubuntu artwork

[Ubuntu Forums Post]

This is not aimed at any previous post. I take time to do it because I think Ubuntu is worth the effort.

I'm 63, a retired newspaper editor, and I find this to be similar to something that sometimes happened in our profession. We referred to it as the "typo" syndrome. We would work extremely hard to produce a good newspaper, with stories and photos that would have the potential to inform or change things for the better. Everything was done correctly, except . . .

In the rush of meeting deadlines, someone might reverse some letters or words when they typeset a headline.

The public focus most often became the typo, clouding the usefulness of the informative, meaningful, good things that were the rest of the newspaper. We would all feel terrible, torn, disillusioned. Is this how people regard our work? we would ask. What point is there to strive for excellence when what people are really most concerned about is monitoring our mistakes.

Letters would pour in about what fools we were to make such an important issue trivial by allowing a typo in the headline. Phone calls would question our professional capabilities and say that the typo changed the meaning of the entire story.

We would feel terrible about our typo, even though we knew it was a mistake born within the passion to do the correct thing.

I would hate to think that the staff at Ubuntu now feels like we would feel on such occasions, that we tried so hard, did so well, but the nature of some humans to look for a weakness and exploit it had prevailed.

I am sure the artwork in Ubuntu is and will be reconsidered, now that such a firestorm has erupted -- the longest continuous post on the site, over the most easily-changed of all aspect of the distribution. But I am also sure that reconsideration would have taken place if all the remarks had been absent of challenge, threat, insult, or debasement of others who have gathered around this remarkable Linux platform.

I am from the USA, but I admire, among others, Nelson Mandela, who came out of prison with ample reason for vengefulness, but who chose reason as the best tool to make things better. I admire any person who, in the face of human challenge, smiles and says, "Let's work this out together. We can, you know."

Will you join me in trying to be such people, here and elsewhere? Please? If we don't, who will?

Ubuntu is a good thing.

Thank you for allowing me to speak again.

Toward peace,
Wil