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Dell Censors IdeaStorm Linux Dissent

Posted by kdawson on from the why-bother? dept.

thefickler writes "It seems pointless to seek ideas and feedback if you're going to ignore and delete the opinions you don't like. That's exactly what Dell is doing with its IdeaStorm website, which the company set up to solicit such ideas and feedback. Dell deleted a post linking to an article that criticizes its handling of the 'pre-installed Linux' issue."

4 of 228 comments (clear)

  1. Seesh People.. better things to do? by blantonl · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think it is important for everyone to understand that First Amendment rights don't exist on Websites, blogs, and message forums. Those that own those communication platforms are free to delete or censure anything they feel necessary to maintain the spirit and intentions of both the supporting business and the site as a whole.

    What exacerbates the issue is whenever a moderation activity takes place against either the open source community, or the Linux community, the reaction is swift, dramatic, and overdone. OMFG my post was removed.. it is a conspiracy!!!

    So what! Dell removed a post on a site that was soliciting user input. Aren't there bigger problems in the world?

    If I asked you to come in my house, and provide me feedback on how my living room looks, and you responded "that's the biggest piece of crap I've ever seen," then I would probably censure you and throw you out.

    --
    Lindsay Blanton
    RadioReference.com
  2. Much Ado about deleting a Troll Post? by Silentknyght · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Did you read the post that was deleted? It's a brief post that came off as if it was written by an angry teenager. It smacked more of a personal attack than a cool-tempered, well-written, logical argument.

    There has to be some moderation of flame-bait and trolling posts on any forum. Moreover, the post was deleted probably by an overzealous moderator, rather than through some evil Dell mastermind with a conspiracy against linux.

  3. Censor this by jamesl · · Score: 3, Interesting

    One man's censor is another man's editor.

  4. Re:Ahh. by mdkathon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is it not Dell's right to remove anything that they feel is negative coverage on their own website? As much as I want to get behind this "damn the man" smear job (not). I'd like to think that fellow Slashdotters understand that it is not in Dell's interest to try and make Linux available to the masses. It's a headache from a support standpoint. Though their management may be a little heavy handed for our liking we cannot blame them for not allowing participants of IdeaStorm to cross-link to articles criticizing Dell for not having Linux as a choice. We can install Linux if we want to. We can also choose hardware vendors that support Linux. Do we need to whine and complain as well?