Geoff Thurman wrote: >But isn't he right, at the end of the day, to be concerned about >software patents? > Yes.
>And I would have thought this list was exactly the >right place for a discussion of these issues. > Not so much, no. A better place would be debian-legal (http://lists.debian.org/debian-legal/). > Why is it not? > > Because this list is for "Support for Debian users who speak English" (http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/). Political issues are not really support issues. The general consensus has been that short-lived off-topic threads are acceptable as long as they don't stray too far from the interests of the list members (and they should be marked "OT" in the subject line). Guillaume's original posting was probably considered by most members as perfectly acceptable, even raising our conciousness of the issue. But when no one responded, he went semi-ballistic, and now the whole thread has just become, for lack of a better term, "trollish". His lack of grammar/spelling didn't help (see recent "Hackers, Spelling, and Grammar?" link on Slashdot (http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/30/1532238&tid=215&tid=4) for relevant discussion)). Again, the occasional off-topic side discussion about software patents is probably perfectly acceptable on this list (although it more better belongs on debian-legal), Guillaume just needs to learn "how to win friends and influence people" rather than bullying them into his way of thinking. -- Kent -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
