[gentoo-dev] Nazi symbols on Gentoo (and other offending content)

[Santiago M. Mola]

Hi there,

Other devs and me have been worried about the use of Nazi symbols on
forums.gentoo.org [1]. While some find it specially a problem because
of German laws (which it seems make illegal to visit webs with such
symbols), I'm more worried because these symbols, as well as others
related to recent dictatorships or "hate-promoting" movements, are
offending for a good amount of people in the community.

The offending nature of Nazi symbols, and their total irrelevance in a
distro community makes me wonder "why the hell should we have this on
our communication channels?".

The fact that political and religious discussions are also irrelevant
in this context makes me wonder also "why the hell should we keep any
of this potentially offending and flame-maker?"

Gentoo is a community made of people of all around the world, with
different cultures and political views, and we have to work together.
So why don't put the politics aside and continue the work respecting
each other? The Internet is plenty of forums where people can flame
about politics or create a Nazi alter-ego and offend each other,
Gentoo should not be a place for this purpose.

Thoughts? Isn't there anyone else willing to keep Nazi symbols outside
forums? If yes, at the expense of punting all politics or just as a
special case?

Regards,

PS.1 - An apology for forum mods because the avatar I've been using
may offend them, my purpose was to raise awareness of the issue of
using extremely offending content on the forums. While I think my
avatar is valid, I prefer to calm things down and try to work out the
issue with forum mods without attacking. I decided to remove the
avatar.

PS.2- Before someone says Godwin, this is not using Nazis in a
discussion about something else, this is directly a discussion about
Nazi symbols.

[1] http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-480537.html

-- 
Santiago M. Mola
Jabber ID: cooldwind@×××××.com
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