Ad Hominum attacks (was Re: PC Week Clipper article

["Pat Farrell" <pfarrell@cs.gmu.edu>]

I'm more than a little concerned about the vicious personal attacks that
this list makes on folks that have strongly held beliefs that disagree with
some (or all) of the beliefs of hot headed posters to cypherpunks.
I thought this was a technical mailing list, that dabbled in politics only
as necessary. I see no justification for the personal attacks, especially on
3rd parties that do not read this list. These uncalled for attacks will not
convince anyone on the list, and do not become the poster.

In Message Tue, 29 Jun 1993 , (someone who should know better) writes:
>Dorothy Denning is a fucking idiot.
I strongly object to this posting. D.E.Denning is neither an idiot nor a
"wicked witch of the East." She just happens to support a view that she
strongly believes in. The fact that I think her side is dead wrong does not
make her an idiot. Name calling accomplishes nothing but does hurt the
signal to noise ratio of this list.

Even more annoying are the attacks on Jim Bidzos. He is trying to make a
buck, which was legal last time I looked. And on many issues, he is far more
in our camp than against us. He at least likes strong cryptography, and his
disputable patents expire in a relatively short time. He has agreed to allow
a PGP-compatible program to use RSA without cost, providing the legal
version that many U.S. users would like to see.

I thought cypherpunks wrote code. I think that personal attacks on folks
that are not on the list is a waste of bandwidth. (If you want to attack me
here, fine, at least I get to respond firsthand)

Pat

Pat Farrell      Grad Student                 pfarrell@cs.gmu.edu
Department of Computer Science    George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Public key availble via finger          #include <standard.disclaimer>