Stargates (In Defense of J.F.)

Paul A Vixie paul at vix.com
Mon May 27 06:26:13 UTC 1996


Warning.  This has nothing to do with network operations.  Hit D now.

I warned you.  You don't want to read this.  It's off topic in the worse way.

Tim, you wrote:

>Excuse me just a little, but I would like to follow-up on the
>Bush-o-Gram with regard to Jim Fleming and others whom Randy
>would love to silence in this world.

While on the one hand Randy and I have not always seen eye to eye
and I am reluctant to be seen here as his apologist or defender, I
want to set the record straight.

Randy doesn't want to silence you.  In fact, in the spirit of Patrick
Henry, Randy would (and has) risk his career and reputation to defend
the means by which you propagate your ideas.  When you are looking for
censorship, you will end up looking elsewhere than in Randy's record.

Randy's post of his .mumblerc was meant to show that he does not read
your articles.  Last time I checked, he has that right.  Posting his
.mumblerc has at least two goals: (a) letting folks know why he might
not respond to something you write some time, and (b) setting an
example that others can follow should they become as disgusted with
your material as he is.

I don't kill your articles automagically; I'm still young enough and
irrational enough that I take some pleasure out of killing them by hand.

The fact that you can read what Randy wrote and somehow infer from it
that he wants to silence you is a shining example of why we were all
so sad that you didn't show up for your CIDRD slots at the LA IETF.
On the other hand, with the whole room (minus Randy) lined up at the
microphone to "ask questions" I don't know if we could have gotten
through the agenda.

I think you should LISTEN to the things folks say about you.  Don't just
look for ways to dispute, or reasons to ignore, accusations of technical
ignorance or malevolent intent.  LISTEN to the fact that they are made,
and try to see if you can find the things in your behaviour which lead
so many others to think that you are such a total loss.

Paul





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