Re: [OT] Shameless troll ;o)

[Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>]

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On Tue, 3 Jan 2006, Theodore Ts'o wrote:
> 
> I'm not aware of any positive articles ever written from Dan Lyons; if
> you know of any, feel free to send me the URL.

Well, here's one I know Dan researched..

	http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2004/0920/180_print.html

The fact that you don't like the man, and that he's more critical than 
over-the-top enthusiastic, hey. That doesn't make him unprofessional or 
mean that he has no journalistic integrity. Being critical is way too 
seldom seen, and as you admit, Lyons is by no means one-sidedly critical. 

So maybe his glass is half full. Still no reason to dismiss him.

> 	Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob
> 	spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective. Their
> 	potent allies in this pursuit include Google and Yahoo.
> 
> People can make their own decision whether they would consider this
> "balanced journalism".

Hey, he's been vilified by some of those blogs. Unnecessarily, I say. 

> I'm not actually aware of any bad experience IBM had with Mr. Lyons,
> and I'm not aware of any "don't talk to Dan Lyons" warning from
> management, other than the standard rules requesting IBM engineers not
> talk with _any_ journalist or analyst without first clearing things
> with press or analyst relations --- but that's pretty standard for any
> large corporation.

Yes. And when trying to clear it with IBM legal, Greg KH was told not to 
talk to Dan Lyons. 

> Certainly, journalists are people; but they are supposed to check
> their biases at the door when they start writing (except on the
> editorials page); that's part of the stated advantages of
> "professional journalists" over the undiscplined bloggers which Dan
> Lyons so gleefully trashed in most recent cover article.  Given that
> he makes no effort hide his biases, at least in my book that makes him
> a lousy journalist.

What naïve school did you go through where journalists aren't idealistic 
puppies with an agenda?

The fact is, they all have their biases. The fact that open source tends 
to strike a chord with them and they almost universally end up 
understanding about freedom of the GPL kind is usually a big help. The 
fact that some have other biases don't make them worse journalists. It 
just means that you see different kinds of stories from them.

			Linus