I was quite disconcerted to find a screed on vaccines in my Linux advice newsletter from It’s FOSS. I deeply appreciate the high quality of your Linux articles, and I guess that is the only thing that stopped me from clicking on the unsubscribe button on the spot.
While I spend a lot of time on PubMed, I do not go there for advice on my Linux system. And I have no intention of accepting medical advice from a Linux programmer, regardless of how highly qualified in Linux. Had you carefully provided high-quality medical research to peruse supporting your position, that would have made it a bit more palatable, but I am supposed to accept the advice just on your say so? Please stick to something you have a clue about.
If it happens again, I will not hesitate to click the button.
Thank you for this feedback. I fully agree and had the same feeling about this.
It’sFOSS usually tries to stay off politics and tries to force everyone engaging in this community to stay off this topic – now It’sFOSS itself couldn’t resist to make political statements, which are highly controversial.
It’s FOSS News covers news related to Linux and Open Source. Linus Torvalds is quite evidently related to Linux. If he says something, it could be considered newsworthy.
He made some statements on the vaccination in Linux kernel mailing list. We covered it as a news item.
You disagree with him, that’s your personal choice. But please don’t blame us. We published the news. No need to shoot the messenger here
Right, except that wasn’t the first mistake. The first one I noticed was the India charity funding thing in an earlier newsletter. That’s pure politics and it doesn’t belong in this newsletter. Perhaps in a non-It’sFOSS newsletter, but not in a Linux/FOSS newsletter.
You may see that as politics but it was a charity appeal.
Please keep in mind that the country was suffering heavily at that time. Hospitals were out of oxygen, people were dying outside.
Desperate situation calls for desperate measures. I never do these kind of things, but at that time my mental state was to help people in any way possible. I donated from my pocket and I requested the readers if they would like to help as well in their capacity. Many readers did and I am thankful to them.
Also, many readers reply to the weekly newsletter emails. I have had pleasant discussions with so many readers. The newsletter is not strictly a business/professional one. It is written by a human and for humans. I see it as a way to connect to the readers/subscribers.
In any case, we are ephemeral in this world. Helping others in need, in our own capacity, is what makes us human. This is what I think.
I hope I am not too sentimental or philosophical in this message
Please do not gaslight me!!! Do you not know the difference between reporting what Torvalds said and editorializing on it? If you don’t, you are in the wrong business. Had you only reported what Linus said, I would not have reacted at all.
This kind of dishonest answer only makes it worse.
Just a sign of the times, anybody, including half witted software developers, like to pretend they are health professionals and are always willing to give their worthless opinions.
I cannot agree with you. The 2nd wave in India was a tsunami. An appeal for help to the helpless (without regard to religion, colour, region etc) cannot be politics. I feel it was a humanitarian gesture and hopefully well responded.
I’ll keep that in mind, next time I will spread my political propaganda. Then I’ll just call it “non-political” and I hope we are done.
Please, have a taste of it:
I think one of the worst things on global matters, besides world hunger and war, is charity. It helps people in a way that makes them think, they get stuff for free. This way, they will stop putting effort in what they do, because they get stuff for free, anyway.
Same reason why you should never ever give someone living on the street a single penny, well at least if you are in a country, where they are not allowed to starve or freeze.
A thorough explanation on why charity sucks:
This video goes for over 30 minutes, and it doesn’t even display everything that’s wrong with charity, but only a small part of it.
Well, England weren’t that rich country today without having other territories colonized before, including India. And that wasn’t charity, but getting for almost free.
I think…
Had to look her up. I’m not for pure egoism, but I’m against helping people that always rely on being helped by others, even though they are physically and mentally capable to help themselves. I only would want to help people, who really need it, like someone who is not able to walk properly.
However, in my personal life, I already know tons of people, who live their lives for decades, solely based on the fact, that they will be helped anyway, so they don’t have to do much or anything at all. Such people are close to air thiefs, from the perspective of the society they live in.
Too many people make themselves look like they need help, when they don’t need it.
Some time ago, I even met someone who gave birth to children. Yet, even when the children grew and grew, with normal desires and wishes, all this person did was play online games all day long. I’m not even exaggerating.
The children eventually got taken away by child services.
This person was physically and mentally capable of dealing with her life, yet she did not, because all her life she was helped by others.
Once all the others left, she literally threw away her life.
Hi @abhishek
I have been following It’s FOSS website and blog since I started my Linux journey, later Mastodon channel and then recently joined the forum. It was very helpful which led me to be as experienced as I’m right now in Linux. I really appreciate your effort promoting FOSS software which helps both people who thought “Linux is for coders, not me” and people who develop free software.
Unfortunately, this was the first article from It’s FOSS that have ever made me disappointed, which I have never expected from it
It’s easy to say that you just wrote what Linus said, but it gives the readers the impression that you support and are pro vaccination. It’s your choice, your freedom of speech, but keep in mind that by doing so you are hurting people like me.
Yes, right. But it’s also right that you added this:
Linus Torvalds is furious again, and this time, again for a good reason.
How the hell is it a good reason? Note that you just did not write what he said, but also added your flavor to it, (mis)leading people in an unrelated field.
I doon’t support what Linus promoted in an unrelated forum either. He shouldn’t have promoted vaccines, at least in a Linux discussion. I can’t ask him anything as he is out of my range, but I can ask it here, please don’t promote/support stuff that you have no idea about but just by believing what commercial shit thrown on you.
I personally like and follow (till now) your articles. Please don’t make me add “not anymore”. Your efforts on promoting FOSS is more than just great, but please limit yourself to it, not in political opinions.
This was the first disappointing article and I hope it will remain the only.
There is certainly a great plurality about the vaccine topic, however this is not the place to discuss this, neither is it the point of this topic.
The whole point is, that politics are mixed into a FOSS website’s article, disguised as “charity” or “health crisis” or whatever. It’s still politics, no matter how you call it.
YES, I do not care if the statement was pro or anti vaccines. It just bothers me, that it is made a topic, at all, especially on the same FOSS website, that is strictly forbidding political discussions in its fora.
It could’ve been any political statement. It just happens to be the mainstream view of this specific topic, in this case. Not surprising. Yet, it doesn’t matter. It just shouldn’t be a topic, at all, especially when it is not questioned!
If such discussions are forbidden, they shouldn’t be a topic in any article of the forum’s website.
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