[TriLUG] Comment about appropriateness of "linuxisfor..." site. [OFF-TOPIC]

[William W. Ward]

I post this message with reluctance, but what I say must be said for I feel
very strongly about the wrong direction that Internet filtering has taken:

Material that causes offense is relative to the observer.  What offends you
may be different from what I find offensive, and catering to the least
common denominator of offense is frequently more damaging than the actual
offense.  If your sensitivity to material is more restrictive than my
sensitivity to material, should I be concerned?  If I'm polite, perhaps.
But I don't think the responsibility of flagging material should be on the
transmitter of the message.

Consequently, understand the Internet is a wide open, unregulated medium and
treat any unknown destination with suspicion *OR* in the event a destination
is unsuitable for your sensitivity (due to children present, employer
restriction, etc.) then use appropriate caution when clicking on a link or
use the opportunity to educate your child on the inappropriateness of a
particular message.

For a large part of the Internet community, being offended by material
presented on the computer is a non-issue; we design, operate and navigate
without regard for the types of data that might come down the pipe.  I'd
prefer to exercise the effort to constrain on my end than to force others on
the net to conform to a restriction of my own.

Once again, it would be polite for me to tell you if I thought a link was
unsuitable for children or places of employment or public view, but please
don't get bent if I fail to do so.  While I do not disagree with your
concern that a kid shouldn't see the material, I do disagree that it should
be up to the poster to flag a message - and the intent of THIS message is to
make a comment on the social perception that everyone must avoid offending
other parties on the Internet.

Replies via direct e-mail are preferred, since this is clearly off-topic to
the list.

Bill


----- Original Message -----
From: "Thunder Bear" <thunderbear at yonderway.com>
To: <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Friday, August 30, 2002 10:24 AM
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] Linuxisfor------- [CONTENT WARNING]


> On Fri, 2002-08-30 at 10:18, lfwelty wrote:
> > Dude. It's a cartoon. AND its funny!
> > relax. jeez.
>
> I certainly wouldn't want my daughter seeing that and thinking it was
> funny.
>
> Rev. Chris Hedemark
>
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