[TriLUG] Sys-Con - LinuxWorld Owner figures ad homminemattacksare ok

[matusiak]

Christ!  I had to go to DVORAK to find the answer.  The web has sunken 
to a new low.  Anyway, he is basically parroting the line I've been 
spewing for years -- Crazy zealot Linux maniacs make for bad community 
members.  Great to see how the mainstream media can catch on after only 
a few years of being told what is happening...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1816439,00.asp

best bits included below:
-----
"And apparently it doesn't take much provocation, as the Linux 
community is slowly evolving into a state of mob rule, with the 
cheerleaders being paranoid crackpot leftovers from the waning days of 
Amiga. "Too nutty even for the Mac community? We welcome you!"

Now these lunatics are issuing death threats? I can tell you that my 
mere mentioning of any of this will result in incredibly hateful 
attempted postings on this forum and on my moderated blog. What is 
wrong with these people?

If anything is going to kill Linux and the open-source movement, it's 
the presence of certifiable lunatics in the ranks representing the 
users. It may be that this is actually a deep Astroturf PR campaign 
orchestrated by Microsoft to discredit open source and Linux. It sure 
seems like something weird is going on.

I can tell you this much: Normal people do not like being associated 
with fanatics and lunatics. Once Linux gets the image as the OS for the 
criminally insane, it's a dead duck. Unless the community gets a handle 
on this, grows up, and rebukes the extremists, the trash heap of 
history is where this is all headed."
-----
All in all, this sounds like a cat fight that got out of hand.  We 
haven't seen that around here, have we?

d.m.

On May 20, 2005, at 3:24 PM, matusiak wrote:

> Uhh...  can anyone sum up (preferably in 20 words or less) exactly 
> what the fuss is all about?  Did someone call linux "bad"??
>
> On May 20, 2005, at 3:18 PM, Mark R. Hinkle wrote:
>
>> Tanner,
>>
>> I tendered my resignation last week and when the group publisher, 
>> Jeremy
>> Geelan, returned he asked that I help with the handoff. Jeremy is an
>> excellent guy and was on vacation when this situation came to a head. 
>> He
>> helped straighten out the mess as best it could be at that point. I 
>> agreed
>> to help him with the hand off since not only did I feel that the 
>> offensive
>> articles would be and have been removed as well as Sys-Con is coming 
>> to
>> grips with some poor decisions. I also didn't think it was fair to the
>> 35,000+ LinuxWorld Magazine readers they had just to leave the 
>> magazine in a
>> lurch. I also have been involved with this magazine for three years 
>> so hand
>> off in a way that felt responsible is not a short process. I have 
>> stories
>> and contacts that I have made personal commitments to that I couldn't 
>> in
>> good conscience just walk away from.
>>
>> It's very sad the way the LinuxWorld Magazine saga played out. I 
>> think that
>> many of the readers rely on LWM as a way to find out about Linux 
>> especially
>> in a venue that focuses more on the business and implementation 
>> aspects and
>> less on the technical aspects of Linux and Open Source. I would 
>> prefer to
>> have them start of in a good direction rather than let something even 
>> worse
>> spring up in the void the departing editors left (all who are friends 
>> of
>> mine which makes things even more difficult). I personally think it 
>> will in
>> the long term be a good thing for the publisher because the CEO got a 
>> wake
>> up call to the practices that were and are unacceptable.
>>
>> So my status is "acting" Editor in Chief but I am not sure how long I 
>> will
>> continue in that role. I feel that at the very least you should never 
>> leave
>> anything in worse shape than you left it and that is what I am doing 
>> now.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Mark R. Hinkle
>> Editor in Chief
>> LinuxWorld Magazine
>> http://www.linuxworld.com
>> Blog: http://mark.linuxworld.com
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>>
>> On 5/10/05, Mark R. Hinkle <mrhinkle at mindspring.com> wrote:
>>
>>> There's a little more information at http://turner.linuxworld.com. I
>>> personally am not a fan of giving any more propagation of Maureen 
>>> O'Gara's
>>> work than I have to so if you want you can Google to find out what 
>>> she's all about.
>>
>> So, Mark, care to make any comment on
>>
>> http://turner.blog-city.com/read/1278212.htm ?
>>
>> Based on that, I assume you're no longer "Editor in Chief"?
>> If so, then bravo for sticking up for ethical journalism.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Tanner