Defining the Linux identity

[Kenneth Porter]

--On Friday, August 06, 2004 10:02 PM -0400 Lew Bloch 
<conrad at lewscanon.com> wrote:

> I beg to differ.  This has been my absolute favorite topic in the
> fedora-list to date, and not just for its entertainment value.

I agree. I keep swearing I'll unsubscribe from this list due to the volume 
but this thread is holding my attention.

> This does not argue prima facie for the removal of such goofy gags. What
> matters is the discussion to define the public face of Linux, and
> RH/Fedora in particular.  What is its identity?  What is ours, as
> promoters of this product, not to say devot'es?  Do we sacrifice the
> playful irreverent spirit of open source to gain respect?  Do we abandon
> the emotionally arrested social ineptitude of the past to create a more
> useful O.S.?

I'd hate to see us lose the irreverence to placate the buttoned-down crowd. 
The world is already too joyless for that. I love the witty little nuggets 
one finds buried in technical stuff. Anybody remember the embossed 
signatures on the inside of the Amiga 1000 case, later replicated in other 
products like Sun's 386i? But humor is in the eye of the beholder, so 
there's *always* the risk of offending someone.