From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
Message-ID: <4779b6712137df1bf318abd67be50e00@plan9.ucalgary.ca>
To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu
Subject: Re: [9fans] UN to fund linux for the 3rd world 
Date: Thu,  2 Sep 2004 16:09:35 -0600
From: andrey mirtchovski <mirtchov@cpsc.ucalgary.ca>
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> There are so many natural thought leaders in the Plan 9 and *BSD
> communities. We need more who, like Dan Geer and Bruce Schneier, are willing
> to actually do what thought leaders do, add the voice of intelligent design
> to the public debate. Otherwise the only voices they hear are those of
> vendor PR flaks.

i invite you to participate in any IT-related discussion on any public
forum on the internet (Slashdot is usually the best (and worst) place
to do it) and observe the reactions -- suddenly everyone is an expert
at everything and everyone has their own opinion which won't change no
matter how much sanity you throw at them.  not even people with proven
track record as being smart (such as the ones above) will be listened
to.  enough people will tell them 'you don't know anything, this is
how it's done...' to throw them off the conversation.

the only reasonable way to filter out the people who know what they're
talking about from the cheerleeding crowd is to throw in some serious
mathematics -- that's the only thing everyone is scared of :)

andrey, still a cheerleader :)