Re: CEB 5 - The Hangover

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

Gary Jeffers apparently blames me for his dropping of the "Cypherpunks
Electronic Book" project:

>        Cypherpunks' Electronic Book (CEB) part 5 - the hangover.
> 
>    Tim May writes on & on & on about my failure to write the CEB.
> Hey, just where did I pick up GUILT? I had a really great idea for

I did not write "on and on" about this--go back and read what I wrote.

> Cypherpunks that I also felt was a glaring omission of Cypherpunks'.
> I wrote up the idea as best as I could & tried to interest some com-
> petent C'punk to do it. I thought I did a really good job of writing
> up the idea. Unfortunately, I lack the skills to write the particular
> code to do the idea. Its sort of like bringing home a rabbit for supper
> & everybody dumps on you cause it wasn't a moose. What kind of guilt do
> you dump on people who actually do bad things?

Flaky ranters like you and Hettinga are but the latest in a string of
ranters who wring their hands and cry "*Do* something@! I tried to be
polite in my comments, even saying "So, if the CEB enthusiasts want to
try this, I applaud them." 

In most of these cases, including Detweiler's similar wailings that no
one would create "alt.whistleblowers" for him, such politeness is
apparently unappreciated. Ranting is ever so much more fun, I guess.

(Hettinga's rants about "Garth and Wayne," broken windows, fleas on
his head, and "I'm not worthy" are just too strange for me to follow.
I sense a proto-Detweiler is forming in the great void.)

>    Admittedly, implementing the idea is magnitudes more work that get-
> ting the idea. However, it was a great idea & why should I suppress it
> because I personally couldn't implement it? No doubt, great ideas fall
> from Tim May like rain from the skies & he considers them cheap if not
> nuisances. However, in most of the world, they are in short supply & are
> considered valuable.

Nonsense. Like Detweiler's "electrocracy," this idea was just an old
notion in new clothes. In this case, the "stone soup" FAQ idea all
over again. 

I said it before, so I'll be brief: worrying about the details of
distribution instead of the writing is the big mistake. Distribution
is relatively trivial, whether by ftp at the soda site, distribution
by mail, whatever. 

>    I have discovered that the idea of bunches of creative, skilled
> programmers with lots of time on their hands is a myth. I guess they
> all manage to figure out something worth while to write. Originally, I
> had thought that there would be at least one of them around looking
> for something worthy to do.

If _you_ think it is worth, and _others_ think it is worthy, then
absolutely nothing is stopping you all from doing this project! Do you
think the comments of _me_ are enough to stop you? Jeesh.

What you seem to have done is to see my comments about such "stone
soup" let's-volunteer-the-others appraches and then just _given up_ in
a huff. Methinks you just have no staying power and were hoping the
Cyperpunks Masses would make your CEB project the centerpiece of their
efforts with little further work on your part. It just doesn't happen
that way.

>    I believe that I have described a very worthwhile project for anyone
> who wants to do it. I have a lot of hope that someone will do it later.
> I don't think its going to be forgotten. I would like to thank the
> people who supported the idea. CEB doesn't look like it is going to
> happen soon but if Cypherpunks grows, I think it is inevitable that it
> will happen.

It won't happen because nobody out there is going to do it, not
because your feelings got hurt. 

>    But, Tim, if you decide you want this done - do it yourself. You
> just have no idea how you get dumped on when you suggest others do
> it for you! :-)

More nonsense. Nonsense I am finished responding to. 


--Tim May


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