[conspire] Ubuntu

[Rick Moen]

Followups have been set.  If you're on the mailing list side, please
pretend that I've set Reply-To to nobody at localhost.

Greg Dougherty <gregd at molecularsoftware.com> wrote:

> No, actually, I haven't.  :-)
> 1: I spend very little time in SF.
> 2: I rarely look at any billboards (I don't sightsee while driving, and I'm
> usually the one driving).

Heh.  ;->  

I'm just the host here, so all views are perfectly welcome.  I don't
want to seem as if I mind your views (because I don't at all).   And
this entire thing is off-topic, so I don't want to linger on it.

But the notion of hypothetically aggrieved parents not wanting their
children 5-15 years old to see that login screen....  I guess no beaches
or swimming pools, ever, for them, eh?

(I really don't have a lot of patience for symbolic, hypertheatrical  
objections with no grounding in reality, sorry.  I'm just funny, that
way.)

> There is a significant difference between that which is forced upon you by
> society, and that which you chose to bring into your home.

Oh, give me a break.  This wasn't any more "forced" upon anyone than
infinitesimally racy magazine and newspaper ads are.  And one hell of a
lot easier to click away to some different GNOME theme.

> Well, it's America, not Sweden.

You've not been to my house.  ;->  By the way, for whatever it's worth,
your former boss last year at BayCon, my Swedish-descended wife Deirdre,
just volunteered her agreement that calling the login screen (in particular) 
"offensive" is quite absurd.

What I was trying to do before you tried to portray this as a matter of
core American values -- a highly objectionable and impertinent assertion
that I will return to shortly -- was jokingly suggest that all the
Swedish influence at home from my wife and resident mother-in-law has
been corrosive on this poor honest Norwegian-American.  

However, since you _insist_ on being serious about it {sigh}:

> Whether or not we should look at things differently, we do.  

Excuse me, but _now_ we have something truly offensive to look at -- you
having just furnished it.  Congratulations. 

You may speak for _yourself_, if you wish, but you have absolutely no
business attempting to dictate standards of civilisation to me and my
family.  Fortunately, _my_ standards of civilisation preclude me from
saying exactly what I think about that.

> Ignoring reality is, IMHO, pretty much always a bad idea.

In particular, I am much, _much_ too civilised to accurately
characterise someone who confuses his own bundle of bizarre prejudices
with reality.

As mentioned, I'm ethically obliged as the host of this establishment to
be hospitable, so you're welcome to express your views.  But, speaking
strictly as a fellow list member and not as the listadmin, I'll mention
that you have, here -- in my view -- crossed the line and given 
significant offence.