[Foundation-l] Controversial Content vs Only-Image-Filter

Ray Saintonge saintonge at telus.net
Sun Oct 16 21:11:45 UTC 2011


On 10/16/11 2:53 AM, Tobias Oelgarte wrote:
> In the last weeks i hold myself back and watched over the comments at
> multiple places to see what is the current development. At first i have
> to point out that I'm very disappointed by the current progress. Sue
> called for a more general discussion. Ting stated again, like in
> Nürnberg, that it is already decided. That is controversial in itself
> and can't lead to a constructive discussion.

It also means that contributors to the conversation are more likely to 
respond defensively.

> That aside, I looked at the various comments and the "brainstorming"
> pages. It is really boring to look at them, since 99% of the comments
> miss the point. There are a whole lot of comments regarding how the
> image filter should look like. That are all comments/suggestions not
> related to the fundamental questions. But they only serve to disrupt the
> thought progress, ignoring anything aside how it should look like, and
> even ignoring the basic complaints (non-neutral categorization).

I may have suggested something like a filter some five of seven years 
ago, at about the time categories were newly implemented. There was no 
support, so I quickly dropped the idea.  My view remained more or less 
stable until the current controversy blew up. I have now drifted away 
from my original views; there has been so much personalised verbiage 
that I now find it difficult to know what the issue is.

> The first question should be: Is controversial content a problem for the
> project?
>
> Some might now say "yes" or "no". But I'm not interested in this
> answers. I'm also not interested in single examples. I'm interested in
> whole view and sources that speak in general about this question.
>
> If we might come to the conclusion that there is a general (not
> specific) problem, then we might talk about the image filter and if it
> can be a solution to that problem.
>
I agree. Obsession about reputation can mask the problem too. Describing 
single examples is about as helpful as testimonials in the ads for 
patent medicines.

Ray




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