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Torvalds Uses Profanity To Lambaste Romney Remarks
netbuzz writes "Last night Linux creator Linus Torvalds took to his Google+ page and called Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney 'a f***ing moron.' Torvalds' stated reason? Romney's much-ridiculed suggestion that air passengers would be safer in emergencies if aircraft windows could be opened (a suggestion which some, including Snopes.com, have taken as a joke). Torvalds also recently called Mormonism, Romney's religion, 'bats**t crazy.' Is this just Linus being Linus? Or does such outspokenness on non-technical matters reflect poorly on the Linux community that Torvalds leads?"
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Since Linus is speaking honestly, he makes the entire community look good.
"If you're not passionate about your operating system, you're married to the wrong one."
"does such outspokenness on non-technical matters reflect poorly on the Linux community that Torvalds leads?"
Every member of the Linux community checks to see what Linus is wearing before getting dressed in the morning, right? No? Then why are you asking such an apparently stupid question?
Bask in it, motherfuckers.
he's not a leader, he's a coder, bug difference
and if their is one thing the OS community is, it's grassroots, no leader needed
Linus is entitled to his opinions no matter how correct they are. However, I would go further and say that the two party system is largely staffed by fucking corrupt morons, and that if you think they are different you are batshit crazy. The two parties are just two arms of the *same machine*. Thank you.
I admire Linus for daring to speak his mind, in the language he does speak his mind, as a person of public interest (or how you call it). More people should do that, it's honest and you quickly learn where you stand, not only after interpreting the words this or that way and weighing the options.
this sig is useless
You don't need "expertise" in religion (whatever that means) to know that religions are `the stupid virus`, and that Mormonism in particular is really fucking stupid.
Seriously, if I started a religion today and said that you have to hit your hand with a hammer every morning, does it make hitting your hand with a hammer not stupid? If not, what test have these other, stupid, religions passed which makes them not-stupid but my one stupid?
Profanity? From "profane"? Is language sacred now? Even if you think so, are you so immature that someone else's use of language constitutes offensive speech? Grow up (or as he might say, grow the FUCK up).
Captcha: mischief
I had no clue in Romney's tone or anything else he was joking.
It was obvious from his tone in the video (and from body language, and from his laughing while saying it) he was joking. The reporter who was actually there said he was joking. No rational person on earth thinks airplane windows should roll down.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I do agree with him in this sense: you shouldn't need to censor your personal thoughts just for political correctness. Or even "professionalism", as TFA asks for. Even if you're someone of popularity. It shouldn't reflect at all on the Linux community, in the same way Reiser FS didn't become complete shit after Hans' better judgement slipped away from him.
Could he have used more mature words? Sure. But does anyone really care?
Some points:
1. All religion is bats**t crazy. Mormonism is just bats**t crazy with nuts on top.
2. Linus is probably one of the most important figures in the technology industry during the last 20 years or so. Because of that he is a public figure, so like Romney his offhand statements are bound to be criticized, analyzed, etc. He's much less of a public figure than most politicians so he probably isn't used to this as much, but I guess he'll have to. However, he's not a politician, he's a technical leader, so I think people *should* lay off analyzing such comments.
3. Linus is known for speaking his mind and being somewhat harsh. I don't think Linux would have happened otherwise. However, compared to RMS, Linus is a real gentleman.
Allowing aircraft windows to be opened is recipe for disaster, pressure and whatnot.
I've opened the window on a plane. I've even opened the door on a plane. If you are at a low enough altitude, it doesn't matter. Of course, I was on a plane that probably wouldn't make it to an altitude that is unsafe, but it was an aircraft and opening them was not a recipe for disaster. The damn thing had air vents!
I don't ask Romney to fix kernel bugs just as I don't look to Linux for political advice. Both should stick to what they know.
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
It is not unusual for emergency exit doors over wings to have windows in them. It is not unusual for normal boarding doors to have windows in them. There is nothing in engineering or science that precludes the idea of an airliner with pressure-rated window-doors that have an arm-able open for passengers. The only thing preventing aircraft designers from doing this is expense and weight. There's no reason it couldn't be done, just like there's no reason airbags couldn't be installed to prevent passenger injuries in crashes. At some point you make engineering tradeoffs. Romney isn't crazy for suggesting this. But an airplane manufacturer might be crazy to build one.
I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
It's no more crazy than any other religion. Once you cross the magic man in the sky line, the other differences are trivial.
A Republican gaffe is when they state their party platform in public.
Doesn't matter now, damage has already been done. It's amazing how whenever the news media doesn't like a politician they will release half-truths, outright lies, and stuff taken out of context and plaster the world with it. Then a few days later a little snippet of, "Oh, we were bad, we're sorry, honest!"
Love sees no species.
This is the Official Statement of the Open Source Community: The Open Source community is amorphous, and follows no leader. Thus, nobody is capable of making an Official Statement for the Open Source Community. This has been an Official Statement of the Open Source Comunity.
Bruce Perens.
What does Romney know about political advice?
And then apologizes the next day because the idiot on MSNBC got it wrong.
And we wonder why politicians never speak their minds about anything under any circumstances.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
Mr. Romney himself has said: "It's a terrible course for America to stand in apology for its values." Thus, no doubt he would condemn Mr. Torvalds apology as "appeasing our enemies".
Bruce Perens.
So ... if you have anything to tell Romney, just say it the way you like it.
But if Romney is a Democrat, you sure ain't gonna use colorful descriptions such as "batshit crazy" or "fucking moron", or you will be chastised as "hateful" and whatever you say will be deemed as "hatespeech".
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
In my experience, people who criticize Mormonism and call it "batshit insane" don't know anything about it other than "Magic Underwear! Har har har!" and the other tripe they've seen on TV. Nor do they actually know any Mormons. They don't know a thing about the history, the reasons why they do, or don't do, certain things.
It's pretty obnoxious. Mormons are good people - they have different values and traditions than a lot of others, and some of them are certainly weird from an outsider's perspective, but they're good people. You don't see Mormons blowing up buildings. They're more likely to be seen helping needy people - and not making a big deal out of it.
I'd rather live next to a dozen Mormon families than be surrounded by "trollololol spageti monster har har arent i funy" types.
And no, not those fringe cults that bonk 12 year old girls say they're Mormon - because they're not.
I'm sure I'll get flamed for daring to defend a Mormon though, because this is Slashdot and FSM forbid I actually, you know, say anything GOOD about religious people...
Love sees no species.
Interesting how some people can fully justify blatant media bias.
Bias should bother you, whether it's a candidate you like or dislike, you should be comfortable knowing that the news your receive is honest. When you are accepting of what is an outright lie, you are allowing yourself to live in a fantasy world.
-- Will program for bandwidth
The Snopes article says Romney was perhaps joking though it isn't definitive.
The irony is palpable. Romney's camp is accusing his opponents of misquoting him, but the centerpiece of Romney's campaign against Obama is a misquote of Obama saying "Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen" where they cut out the first part so it says "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen" - something very different.
Romney's camp can't have it both ways: If they want to run on the Obama misquote then how about they accept Romney doesn't understand why aircraft windows don't open.
And as usual, the real issues remain pushed to the sideline as too hard for an electorate who don't have an attention span that lasts long than a soundbite.
Politics, in the broader sense is the domain of everyone, not just the professional liars we call 'politicians.' Everyone has a right to have an opinion and to give input into the process of maintaining society. Linus has as much right to call Romney a fucking moron as Romney has to express the opinion that 47% of Americans are freeloaders.
As for using words that some people find offensive, they are just sounds - combinations of phonemes. There are few adjectives better than 'fucking' for expressing disgust and disrespect.
I don't ask Romney to fix kernel bugs just as I don't look to Linux for political advice. Both should stick to what they know.
The issue is that the comments come from Linus' personal G+ page. If they should "stick to what they know", then you're implying censorship. Fuck that, and fuck you for implying it.
If this was Brazil, he'd be in jail for mocking politicians.
We had only a couple of days, a paper outlawing 'language abuse' in the EU as an anti-terror move. Requiring filtering, automatic language detection, crimes for saying things. Torvalds should be glad he is free to call Mitt Romney bat shit crazy, and I for one will defend his right to say it.
http://www.edri.org/files/cleanIT_sept2012.pdf
Read it, and before anyone says it was just a discussion document, it's not, it's a concrete set of action points in a secret document to which the UK police have already committed themselves.
Bollocks. Everybody should speak about politics if they feel like it, democracy works better that way.
Maybe the motherf***cker is just telling it like it is? I mean, yes, most religions are batsh*t crazy and in America, anything except Catholic, Protestant, or a direct, Jesus-wrote that sh*t his-self, fer sure, is just not going to fly.
Everyone can plainly see that everyone else's religion is just a bunch of hooey.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I've opened the window on a plane.
You've opened the window on a PRIVATE plane, and at low altitude. Or in some Eastern European budget crackpot "airline"; You CANNOT open the window on a modern commercial US airliner. Even so, having just watched the Romney gaff, a few comments. It doesn't look to me like Romney is joking, on the other hand, it doesn't look like a studious, contemplative comment either. Romney, whatever he is, is not a guy who needs to be aware of how windows on a modern airliner work. Ok, he's stupid, I get that. But this isn't an indicator of how stupid he is. Its an indicator of how careless he is about everyday crap, just like 90% of the public. He doesn't really need to know precisiely how airliner windows work, so he doesn't. Ask him anything about money and I bet he could tell you a few things that Obama couldn't. Torvalds is out of line here.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
A Republican gaffe is when they state their party platform in public.
You got that right. 98% of the Republican party's difficulties come from the fact that they have to pretend they're about something other than plutocracy.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I hate to have to retract my statement after it has already gone +5 Informative. But it was technically incorrect. He didn't actually apologize. What he said was:
Ok, since I publicly called the guy a f*cking moron, I guess I should also publicly follow up: it does seem Romney was joking. Whew.
Which my brain, fluent in Torvaldish, automatically translated into the English
I am ever so sorry, it seems I have wronged you my good sir. My deepest apologies etc. etc.
If my comment didn't sound as good in your head as it did in mine, then I guess we all know who's to blame
It is both amusing and aggravating to me how many people fall for someone else's predigested spin on any topic you name from their favorite media source. It is also amusing an aggravating to me how you can't find unbiased reporting on anything. There seems to be so much hysteria in the news lately both about politics and mormons. It is also amusing an aggravating to me how much the people who preach tolerance and acceptance of all viewpoints almost immediately turn around and slam people they don't agree with, often using strong words to demonstrate their disgust and lack of tolerance and acceptance. Don't like Romney and think he's a moron? Whatever. He is richer and accomplished more as governor and as a businessman that most of the people that call him a moron. Want to call Obama a bozo. Whatever. He is rich and president of the united states, which is more than most of the people who call him a moron have accomplished. Want to call mormons a crazy religion with unbelievable stories and majic underwear and all that? Whatever. They must have something going for them if they have 15 million or so members across the world. I try to listen some to liberal media and some to conservative media and figure the truth is somewhere between each sides spin. If I want to know more about what Mormons really believe, I will read their Book of Mormon. If I want to know more about what Muslims really believe, I will read the Koran. I won't listen to the stupid rumors that seem to be prevalent in the media or comments.
He's not really talking to people who hate Democrats anymore. He did that during the primary.
Now he's talking to independent voters who don't vote straight party ticket. People who hate Democrats are going to vote for him no matter what he says.
Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
He has a record of taking things that are failing and turning them around.
What 'record' did you read? He runs an economic chop shop, runs up huge debts and then sells off the pieces and fires the workers. He's second hand 'Reaganomics'.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Here's the video:
http://www.politico.com/multimedia/video/2012/09/romney-airplane-windows-not-opening-a-real-problem.html
Judge for yourself. My only comment is that IF he was joking, he really needs to work on his delivery.
No it fucking isn't. It's a tool to provide emphasis - for instance compare "that may be damaged" to "it's fucked". It's difficult to get a group of welders to understand how serious a situation is without using profanity.
who's F**king Moronic idea was it, that this is even /. newsworthy?
In the run up to the US election, any excuse to publish political story will be taken. It guarantees hundreds of posts ignoring the supposed topic, just rehashing the usual political talking points.
And why is this dumb story sourced to "networkworld.com"? These assholes are just playing the same game, getting pagehits. Link to what Linus actually wrote: https://plus.google.com/+LinusTorvalds/posts/2Z4pgYDFeEm?hl=en
Linus is allowed to have personal opinions. He's not putting "Fuck Romney" in the Linux kernel, just writing a personal blog.
So, the next time you have something glib to say about Mormons, just run it by a real Mormon first. We'll tell you the truth.
If I ask a Catholic about Catholicism, they'll tell me the truth, if I ask a Muslim about Islam, they'll tell me the truth, if I ask a Hindu about Hindi, they'll tell me the truth, etc.
When I add all those truths together, I'll realise that none of them can be correct without falsifying the others, and so it is unlikely that any of their statements can objectively be considered truth. Especially when there is no existing external evidence to support any of these truths.
I know about the three and the eight witnesses, and other people in this thread have debunked them adequately- including the reasons why they didn't recant. You may be a nice person, and I'm sorry that you base your morals and ethics on a foundation that has no basis in fact. For the record, my statement was about the Mormon religion, not the Mormon people. I don't blame people for holding beliefs that they were indoctrinated with from an early age. However, I believe that people can have sound morals and ethics without appealing to a supernatural authority.
A bigot is someone who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief or opinion. As a strong atheist, I am a bigot about religion in much the same way I am a bigot about my mathematical belief that 1+1=2, that is, there is no question about the facts.
I don't believe that religions should get a pass when being analysed under the spot light of critical thinking, and I certainly don't think that they should get tax-exempt status. It is a pity that so much of the world labours under the misconceptions of their religious belief. I can only hope that one day, with enough education, religions will become as rare as they deserve.
You can never know everything, and part of what you do know will always be wrong. Perhaps even the most important part.
Is it a religion? Yes? Then it's batshit insane, not just crazy.
This was my experience in college.
If someone brings up an aspect of reality that doesn't affirm that we're all exactly 100% equal, then call them a racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe, redneck, chauvinist, classist, ageist or genderist.
This allows all discussion to be shut down except that which fawningly panders to the idea of Total Equality, which has started to become a State religion here in the United States and Europe.
This reminds me of the final days of the Soviet Union. There was a shortage of manufacturing parts that made it impossible to make parts for some machinery. However, if you said that there was no way to make parts, that was admitting that the Soviet system had failed, so you would be shot. The only way to survive was to load boxes with irrelevant junk, deliver them as parts, and then when the failure was discovered, claim it was the weather or a manufacturing error. As a result, the Soviet system had no idea it couldn't make parts that it needed until years later.
I'm not denying the good intentions of many in this regard. I, too, have good intentions toward others. As a scientist however I'm only interested in truth, and not political "truth." That kind of fake truth can get us all killed in a nuclear war or other catastrophic failure, like the collapse of the Soviet Union.