[FOSDEM] messages missing/changed (was: Academic Freedom vs CoC at FOSDEM)

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

On 11/01/2022 09:21, Wouter Verhelst wrote:

> You have made your point. The FOSDEM team disagrees with you. The code
> of conduct is not going to go away, and you are expected to abide by it.

i was sufficiently alarmed by seeing this to step in and comment.

over the years i have been regularly subjected to censorship by
FOSS groups, enough to have a handle on why they do it.  it
comes down to a conflation between "asking difficult questions"
there is an automatic tendency to assume "the PERSON is difficult".

by making people feel "uncomfortable" because they're being
challenged to face up to difficult realities, they automatically
assume that they are PERSONALLY being attacked, and respond
by attacking the speaker, personally.

in more recent times with the [often toxic] Conductment Codes in
place the conflation gets worse: raising a difficult topic is assumed
to be a Conductment violation.

it therefore comes down to respect for each other as PEOPLE

on various lists over the past 4 years, i've witnessed that
Daniel has no fear of personal consequences when asking difficult
questions, whereas many people - far from not *wishing* to engage
with those difficult questions are simply too afraid to do so publicly.
thus we may *not* conclude that the "lack of response indicates
nobody wishes to hear about it"

so the reasons that i am alarmed at the direction of this conversation
has nothing to do with the actual topic, it has to do with peoples'
reactions *to* the questions that Daniel is asking.

in the spirit of FOSDEM i would very much like to see everyone
treated with respect and understanding, particularly when someone
is brave enough to raise difficult and challenging topics that
most of us are not comfortable facing or considering.

l.