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ESR has done, and apparently continues to do, many useful things for open source. But his various personality disorders have reset that karma back to zero, or p

by neilk 7y ago

ESR has done, and apparently continues to do, many useful things for open source. But his various personality disorders have reset that karma back to zero, or possibly put him in negative territory. It started early... https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/1999/04/msg00623.html https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/1999/04/msg00623.html And here is a generally well-sourced summary: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Eric_S._Raymond https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Eric_S._Raymond

nudq 7y ago
> his various personality disorders Lovely. To inject some psychological precision, only his narcissism can be considered a personality disorder. Being old, white, or male... no. Not yet.
brandmeyer 7y ago
Its kinda hard to accept a reference as rational when the opening summary describes him as having "batshit insane wingnut tendencies." Those are not appeals to reason, they are appeals to emotion and tribalism.
- tptacek 7y ago
  Raymond is an avowed and weirdly obsessed racial supremacist (and, at times, an advocate of political violence). That's not an appeal to tribalism but rather a recorded fact; both conservatives and liberals alike would find his stated beliefs horrifying if laid out in front of them rather than scattered throughout his various discursive blog posts and comment threads. There is a general and valid concern in our industry about a liberal orthodoxy that makes it at least socially unsafe to express political thoughts. People who share that concern should have an even bigger problem with Raymond, who is an attention-seeking caricature of conservative or libertarian belief. People who have couched their bigotry in far more careful and subtle language than Raymond have found themselves ostracized from conservative circles, and for good reason. I think the better way to engage with Raymond is on his manifest deficiencies as a professional engineer and technologist, and wouldn't want to start a rebuttal to his request for donations with his politics. But I also wouldn't want to let stand the idea that the opprobrium he attracts is rooted in orthodoxy or tribalism.
  - mwcampbell 7y ago
    > his manifest deficiencies as a professional engineer and technologist Do you have references to more information on that?
    - tptacek 7y ago
      I believe I could back that statement up with references, yes.
DanBC 7y ago
> his various personality disorders It's possible to be an arsehole and not have a PD, and probably most arseholes don't meet the criteria for PD.

by neilk 7y ago

nudq 7y ago

> his various personality disorders Lovely. To inject some psychological precision, only his narcissism can be considered a personality disorder. Being old, white, or male... no. Not yet.

brandmeyer 7y ago

Its kinda hard to accept a reference as rational when the opening summary describes him as having "batshit insane wingnut tendencies." Those are not appeals to reason, they are appeals to emotion and tribalism.

tptacek 7y ago
Raymond is an avowed and weirdly obsessed racial supremacist (and, at times, an advocate of political violence). That's not an appeal to tribalism but rather a recorded fact; both conservatives and liberals alike would find his stated beliefs horrifying if laid out in front of them rather than scattered throughout his various discursive blog posts and comment threads. There is a general and valid concern in our industry about a liberal orthodoxy that makes it at least socially unsafe to express political thoughts. People who share that concern should have an even bigger problem with Raymond, who is an attention-seeking caricature of conservative or libertarian belief. People who have couched their bigotry in far more careful and subtle language than Raymond have found themselves ostracized from conservative circles, and for good reason. I think the better way to engage with Raymond is on his manifest deficiencies as a professional engineer and technologist, and wouldn't want to start a rebuttal to his request for donations with his politics. But I also wouldn't want to let stand the idea that the opprobrium he attracts is rooted in orthodoxy or tribalism.
- mwcampbell 7y ago
  > his manifest deficiencies as a professional engineer and technologist Do you have references to more information on that?
  - tptacek 7y ago
    I believe I could back that statement up with references, yes.

DanBC 7y ago

> his various personality disorders It's possible to be an arsehole and not have a PD, and probably most arseholes don't meet the criteria for PD.