[gmx-developers] FW: Gromacs quotes

[ms]

On 19/12/12 18:32, Shirts, Michael (mrs5pt) wrote:
> MS, you might have missed some context here.  The Newtown, CT shooting was
> the 2nd worst mass shooting incident in the US.  Justin was referring in
> addition to the worst mass shooting incident, which happened at Virginia
> Tech in 2007, a few hundred feet from his lab.

Thanks (I was indeed a bit confused). Still, there is still the option 
to *turn the quotes off*, something that seems quite overlooked.

Anyway, I'm sorry if I steered the conversation -it's that I'm very 
itchy on the subject of free speech, perhaps because in Europe free 
speech is still not as much a given as it is in US, even if of course 
we're *almost* there.

That said, let's see if I can be less grumpy and more constructive: I 
wonder if a good compromise can be to have an "offensive" flag attached 
to quotes developers feel problematic, a bit like the fortune program ( 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_%28Unix%29 ) so that people can 
decide to have full quotes / "safe" quotes / no quotes, with the safe 
setting being the default.

>
> Best,
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Michael Shirts
> Assistant Professor
> Department of Chemical Engineering
> University of Virginia
> michael.shirts at virginia.edu
> (434)-243-1821
>
>
>> From: Justin Lemkul <jalemkul at vt.edu>
>> Reply-To: Discussion list for GROMACS development <gmx-developers at gromacs.org>
>> Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 12:21:35 -0500
>> To: Discussion list for GROMACS development <gmx-developers at gromacs.org>
>> Subject: Re: [gmx-developers] FW: Gromacs quotes
>>
>>
>>
>> On 12/19/12 12:07 PM, ms wrote:
>>> On 19/12/12 17:34, Justin Lemkul wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 12/19/12 10:04 AM, ms wrote:
>>>>> Moderation, as an absolute concept, doesn't exist. Everything can be
>>>>> "extreme"
>>>>> or "moderate", depending on where you are in your opinions. I
>>>>> personally see
>>>>> this "moderate solution" as a rather extreme example of self-censorship.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Deleting a handful of quotes out of nearly 400 is extreme?
>>>
>>> IMHO yes, even *one* would be too many, because it's a matter of principle.
>>> You
>>> see? Everyone is different! That's why (again, IMHO) to talk about
>>> "moderation"
>>> or "offensiveness" is an entirely subjective concept and, as such,
>>> problematic.
>>>
>>>> Excuse me if I'm prudish and thin-skinned for finding it very
>>>> insensitive that a program at random may print out "killing children"
>>>> (irrespective of context) after a massacre in our country that brings
>>>> back horrific memories of a similar event that took place a few hundred
>>>> feet from where I work every day and affected me deeply.
>>>
>>> Justin, I have utmost respect for your work and for the immense help you give
>>> everyday on the gmx mailing lists. I was just praising you, making your name,
>>> to
>>> a student of mine telling him to join the mailing list. But yes: that's a bit
>>> thin-skinned. Affected you deeply? Children die every day, it's not that
>>> their
>>> death is more important if it's geographically closer to us. And it's weird
>>> that
>>> you complain, given that you surely know well what is the concept of parent
>>> and
>>> child processes in UNIX. You find it insensitive nonetheless? Do you have
>>> some
>>> deeper reason to be offended by that, a loss in family or whatever? Sure I
>>> understand. Turn the quotes off in your environment, and be happy this way.
>>>
>>
>> Please don't belittle or pretend to know what I am experiencing and have
>> previously.  I know people that died that horrific day on this campus.
>>
>> I think this thread is becoming unproductive.  We've voiced our opinions.  I
>> am
>> done defending my opinion on this matter and I hope the core developers see a
>> bit of reason beyond this ridiculous academic exercise as this point.
>>
>> -Justin
>>
>> --
>> ========================================
>>
>> Justin A. Lemkul, Ph.D.
>> Research Scientist
>> Department of Biochemistry
>> Virginia Tech
>> Blacksburg, VA
>> jalemkul[at]vt.edu | (540) 231-9080
>> http://www.bevanlab.biochem.vt.edu/Pages/Personal/justin
>>
>> ========================================
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>


-- 
Massimo Sandal, Ph.D.
http://devicerandom.org