Foreign language posts (was: Pooomooocyyyy ;()

[Ted Mittelstaedt]

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Roger 'Rocky' Vetterberg [mailto:listsub at 401.cx]
>Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2006 9:55 AM
>To: Ted Mittelstaedt
>Cc: zettel at acm.org; freebsd-questions at freebsd.org; Chad Leigh --
>Shire.Net LLC
>Subject: Re: Foreign language posts (was: Pooomooocyyyy ;()
>
>
>Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
>> Maybe it's just me but the idea of a bunch of English speakers
>> sitting around and debating whether or not to permit foreign
>> languages on the mailing list is a bit like a bunch of men sitting
>> around and debating whether or not to legalize abortion.
>> 
>> It's an issue that so obviously does not affect the discussors
>> that it's incredible any of them would believe it possibly affects
>> them in any way whatsoever.
>> 
>> Ted
>> 
>
>Why is that?

Because if the only language you know is English, you really don't
deserve to weigh in with you opinion on the issue.  Just as in abortion,
since if your a man you could never possibly have one, you don't deserve
to weigh in with an opinion, either.

>Because we have put down the effort of learning the 
>de facto standard language on the internet, we no longer may have 
>an opinion about the ones that haven't?
>Or did you just assume that everyone who speaks english is from 
>an english-speaking country?
>
>I'm swedish. I (naturally) prefer to speak swedish. But, I speak 
>2 other languages without problems

Then, you deserve to air your opinions on whether to speak English,
Swedish, and whatever other language you know on the mailing list, which
you have done so in response to the post.  In short, since you
know other languages than English, your opinion that we should use
English and nothing else on the mailing list carries far, far more
weight than that of the other english-only bozos that have posted
to this thread.

just as if science ever figues out how to allow a man to get pregnant
and carry a baby to term, then men would then have authority to speak
on the topic of abortion.

>and can make myself understood 
>in a few more. Still, I would never dream of posting to a 
>mailinglist in any other language then english, unless otherwise 
>requested.
>
>There are plenty of mailinglists and supportforums available in 
>almost every language you can imagine. There is no need to 
>increase the noise on @questions with posts that perhaps 1 or 2 
>percent of the subscribers can understand.
>

And if everyone that said that also stated that they knew other
languages, I think the discussion would have some merit.  Unfortunately
most of the posts have been attempts to justify why we should only
use English on the list.  No one else in support of the English-only
position has stated that they knew multiple languages and CHOSE
English INSTEAD of their native tongue.

Ted