From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Carl-Daniel Hailfinger Subject: Re: Fwd: reiser4 non-free? Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 09:52:25 +0200 Message-ID: <40974BB9.1000509@gmx.net> References: <13518599fb1119aa327235ecc3e01dc7@bouncing.localnet> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Return-path: list-help: list-unsubscribe: list-post: Errors-To: flx@namesys.com In-Reply-To: <13518599fb1119aa327235ecc3e01dc7@bouncing.localnet> List-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" To: MJ Ray Cc: debian-legal@lists.debian.org, reiserfs-list@namesys.com MJ Ray wrote: > On 2004-05-03 22:53:05 +0100 Carl-Daniel Hailfinger > wrote: >=20 >> MJ Ray wrote: >> >>> because of its dumb developers who won't answer simple questions abou= t >> >> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> Hey, can you do anything else but insult people? >=20 >=20 > I'm not sure what you mean. I've reread the email and I'm surprised tha= t > you think there are "at least 3 insults" in it. I count one and that wa= s > an intentional illustration of the unnecessarily insulting language it > was replying to. >=20 > Dumb \Dumb\, a. [...] >=20 > 2. Not willing to speak; mute; silent; not speaking; not > accompanied by words; I'm sorry to have misunderstood you. The meaning of dumb I was referring to is slightly different. Quoting from dictionary.reference.com: -------------------------------------- dumb ( P ) adj. dumb=B7er, dumb=B7est 1.a Lacking the power of speech. Used of animals and inanimate objects. 1.b Often Offensive. Incapable of using speech; mute. Used of humans. See= Usage Note at mute. 2. Temporarily speechless, as with shock or fear: I was dumb with disbeli= ef. 3. Unwilling to speak; taciturn. [...] 6. Conspicuously unintelligent; stupid: dumb officials; a dumb decision. [...] Our Living Language In ordinary spoken English, a sentence such as He is dumb will be interpreted to mean =93He is stupid=94 rather than =93He lac= ks the power of speech.=94 =93Lacking the power of speech=94 is, however, the or= iginal sense of the word, but it has been eclipsed by the meaning =93stupid.=94 -------------------------------------- > It seems an apt description of how some XFree86 developers reacted to > questions. They went dumb. Other XFree86 developers were helpful, but > they are not the reason I plan to stop using it, so I do not blame them= =2E I mistook your phrase "its dumb developers" as referring to all XFree86 developers. Now that you clarified it, it doesn't look like an insult anymore. Carl-Daniel