I love to throw around everyone’s favorite word to throw around, too.

In which a Brilliant Observation is made

Take a look at the poll about Mono at the Ubuntu Forums.

Keep in mind this is the disgraceful Ubuntu “Free Speech Zone“, hidden away by the Ubuntu Forums staff as a single thread in a sub-forum of a sub-forum of  a sub-forum. So, you can say with some confidence that a high percentage of thread participants are interested in the subject of Mono, relative to the “general population” of Ubuntu Forums.

At the time of this post, here are the results:

Check out all that Zealotry!

Check out all that Zealotry!

 Care to guess your Humble Hosts vote?

In which Results are Analyzed and Deconstructed for Your Amusement

It’s almost a normal distribution; notice the number of “wary” and “supportive” are exactly equal, and both just slightly below the neutral “don’t care” choice. This indicates that the poll is not “skewed” by organized voting or other blatant manipulation.

Now, check out the difference between the extremes: there are 2 extreme anti-mono votes, and 8 extreme pro-mono votes!

Does this mean there are 4x more pro-mono zealots than anti-mono zealots? I shall consult a statistician, post haste!

And what about all those middle-of-the-road zealots? What makes someone turn neutral? Lust for Gold? Power? Or were they just born with a heartful of neutrality?

The non-statistician returns

What this does illustrate, I think, is something that is already obvious to anyone that has been following the Mono controversy: there are people that are just as “extreme” and unwilling to listen to reason as the most zealoty charactertures painted by the Broad Brush of the Most High and (Self) Righteous Community Gatekeepers.

You can spot these people by the mindless regurgitation of other people’s talking points and the inability to make even the slightest concession to any opposing argument; the gleeful participation in any manner of attack or disinformation; the uncritical embrace of  anyone or anything that supports thier position. A sure sign is charging the opposition with the very crimes they themselves are in the act of commiting.

I’m glad to know with statistical certainly, though, that although there are some people like that “on my side”, they number fewer than those that stand in the Ranks of the Opposition.