USENIX and South Africa

[King Ables]

Obviously what has happened here is either Peter began expounding his
opinion in a forum which was previously ignorant of the issues that caused
him to feel the need to express himself, or the subject was introduced
but did not propogate to all the sites. 

Personally, the first thing I knew about any of this was when I saw Peter's
message.  I was somewhat taken aback as well.  Not that I disagree, but I saw
no cause for its origin.

Inferring from Elizabeth's last paragraph, apparently there is an issue with
the uunet machine and South Africa (users, network connection, something) of
which most of us seem to be unaware.  If this newsgroup wasn't included in the
beginning of the discussion, this is where Peter should have provided us all
with an introduction to the subject as a preface to what he wanted to say.
He may very well have (albeit falsly) assumed that we were aware of it through
another avenue.

Or, if something did happen in this newsgroup, I (and apparently others) missed
it, so perhaps dropped messages are still a regular occurence.

In either case, could someone familiar with it (perhaps even Peter?) post
a "prequel" message about what's happening?  I think this would help us
put Peter's message in better context.

\begin{soapbox}

In general, I agree that people representing an organization about a subject
should concern themselves with the subject only as it relates to the organization
which they are representing.  I.e. if an issue concerning South Africa and
Usenix does arise, then certainly the decision should be made based both on how
it would affect Usenix and how it would affect the people involved (and how that
affect would reflect on the Usenix organization).

We (Usenix) shouldn't ever go LOOKING for political (or any other kind of)
trouble unless it affects the ORGANIZATION or its members or something the
organization is directly involved in.  I'm sure the Usenix membership would
unanimously agree that dumping seven bizillion gallons of crude oil into
the ocean would be a "bad" thing.  However, I don't think the Usenix organization
has any business taking a public stand against that.  There are other organizations
through which that happens (which we can all go out and join if we so desire).

\end{soapbox}

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King Ables                    Micro Electronics and Computer Technology Corp.
ables at mcc.com                 3500 W. Balcones Center Drive
+1 512 338 3749               Austin, TX  78759
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"It's tough playing James Bond in an Abbott and Costello world."
					- Hope Steadman