Re: Joint statement on the GNU Project

[Alfred M. Szmidt]

   > Since the GNU project is a software project, it has no gender to speak
   > of (it neither lacks one, or has one).  So there is little point
   > trying to define it as some specific gender.  And by virtue of being a
   > free software project, it cannot exclude anyone.

   Of course it can.  If a person belonging to group X knows that the
   GNU project includes a large number of people who are hostile to
   members of group X, which they show through their casual language
   and behavior, then the person is unlikely to become a contributor
   to GNU.

But they do not speak for the GNU project.  Whatever their personal
opinions are, it is theirs to hold.  We should not, and cannot dictate
what peoples opinions are -- everyone is welcome as long as they can
follow our guidelines -- and one of those is to keep topics unrelated
to the GNU project away from the GNU project.

Since the GNU project is a project to develop a operating system for
all computer users, it cannot speak for anyone specific.


   P.S.: Please tell me if this discussion is continuing on a mailing list
   where it's on-topic, so I can move there too.

I think maybe gnu-misc-discuss@ might be appropriate, what do you
think?  I don't read that list though.