It’s always fascinating to watch a little demagogue work.

Real and “Faux” Community?

Lately, “Lefty” Schlesinger has been trying to push this “real”/”faux” community line, where he decides who is a community member and who is not. It starts up in his comments on ITWire, and he now has a blog post about it.

I get mentioned in both places. Nice.

About Me

I have been attacked here repeatedly for being “anonymous”. Here’s the funny thing about that: I never intended to be anonymous. I’m using my real name, and never tried to hide anything. Several people I exchanged email with got email from any one of my random mail accounts, for example. A couple of people directly guessed who I was, which was strangely ego-boosting.

Also, think about that for a second. Do you really think someone is so scared of pro-mono people that they need to go anonymous? I mean I don’t like what they are doing, but I don’t think Team Mono is going to send guys around to rough me up or something. I don’t expect any abuse at all actually, because I don’t think they are evil people and I’ve said so many times.

Or is the idea that I should be so ashamed of having an opinion that I just naturally hide my identity?

Or do people really think other people are “scared” to stand behind what they say?

It’s just foolishness, the whole bit. Not a lick of sense in it.

About this site

I started this site because I honestly think the Novell-Microsoft deal and Mono and Moonlight represent a net loss to the community, and I don’t know of a place where you can go to talk about that rationally.

I argue my points to the best of my ability, and I listen to what mono advocates have to say, even specifically addressing points they raise. I doubt I have changed anyone’s mind, nor have I changed mine but I have learned some things and came to understand some points I did not.

I challenge anyone to read this blog and not come away thinking at least there is an effort at dialogue. It’s not a echo hate chamber filled with nutbars. I dish it out strong, sure – but there are some pro-mono people that have dished it back and I thank them for that. If you search, you might even find me acknowledging when someone makes a point. Shocking, I know – the idea that you might not be 100% correct and the opposition 100% wrong.

I also like to think this site at least tries to remain civil, especially considering the divisiveness and controversy of the subject matter. I’ve gotten thanks for providing a more reasonable site where people can air concerns about this issue, and I’m happy about that.

So, I consider this site a positive contribution, even as I recognize some people would rather it not exist.

About Lefty

I want everyone to pay very close attention to what Lefty has said, and how he has said it. He constantly attempts to position himself as the ultimate arbitrator of what is right and wrong, who is sexist and who is not, who is in the real community and who is not.

I challenge anyone to remove yourself from your position and read his writings on the whole rms issue and this latest real/faux community issue with a list of demogogy methods as a convenient reference. I do not exaggerate when I tell you he employs every listed fallacy multiple times.

He attempts to set himself up as judge and jury of who is and is not worthy. He tries to designate himself as the gatekeeper for the community, based solely on his personal judgment on the other individual. He flatly advocates explusion or shunning those people he deems non-contributors, even though he lacks the authority, evidence or right to attempt such a thing. It strikes me as quite megalomanical.

I want to stress the point so it is perfectly clear: Lefty has asserted publicly and in multiple venues that I make no contributions to the “real” community and should be shunned, even though he has no evidence for his position, nor does he even know who I am.

Think on that. And then read on.

In which Lefty is pwned

Here is Lefty’s characterization of myself:

What I am seeing is people making a pretense of involvement in FLOSS and in our community, people who we don’t actually know, people who never join us at conferences, don’t work in projects, and only participate in mailing lists to instigate flame wars. I am seeing people who seem to be making a sort of religion out of “free software” and issuing their demands to the rest of us to do things their way. These are people who will excoriate you as something less than a “true GNU/Linux user” if you should touch a Macintosh or (heaven forbid!) a Windows box. These are folks who will berate you for buying a piece of software or owning an iPod. These are people who will classify you as a “freedom hater” if you express reservations about the GPL v3.

Well, guess what? (I’m sure you knew this was coming:)

There’s my character, shall we proceed next to the assassination portion of this evening’s program?

Now, I want to pause here and quote directly from that Wikipedia demagogy article:

Demonization — identifying others as a mortal threat. Often this involves scapegoating — blaming others for one’s own problems. This is often advanced by using vague terms to identify the opposition group and then stereotyping that group. This allows the demagogue to exaggerate this group’s influence and ascribe any trait to them by identifying that trait in any individual in the group. This method can be aided by constructing a false dilemma that portrays opposition groups as having a value system that is the polar opposite of one’s own, as opposed to simply having different priorities.

I am not exaggerating or engaging in hyperbole when I call Lefty a demagogue. That is exactly and precisely what he is. A textbook definition, in fact.

In the aftermath of absolute pwnage, one man stands alone.

So, “Lefty” do I qualify to be a member of the “real” community? Can I express my opinion, please? Will an apology for your unfounded assumptions and baseless attacks now be forthcoming?

Ha, ha. No, seriously I don’t expect an apology. I expect a nice tap dancing show as the goalposts are moved. Like the scuttling of a cockroach as the light turns on in the kitchen, one quivering leg disappearing under the sink counter, to gather strength and return later to foul the area.

So Lefty, from Jason “ushimitsudoki” Melton, straight out of Yomitan, Okinawa, Japan:

Kiss my gaijin ass you sad little man.

I stand behind everything I have written on this blog as my best effort to explain my thinking and to try to understand others on the Mono controversy. I welcome those who want to discuss it, and reject those who want to silence it.

[[I edited this post to remove part of the entire Wikipedia definition, to prevent people focusing on that. It's not relevant to the matter at hand, but people seem to latch on to whatever thin strand of justification they can. I removed related comments as well.]]