Linux Pride.
Sep. 28th, 2006 12:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reddragdiva"A lifetime of listening to Richard M. Stallman is a high price to pay for one's computing preference."
"RMS is out. Eric Raymond defines my computing style now."
~ Random Slashdot fanboy on Richard M. Stallman
"Eric Raymond who?"
~ Random Gentoo ricer on -funroll-loops
"Your superlative aesthetic sense reminds me that I have never had occasion to recompile the kernel on my Macintosh."
~ Oscar Wilde on GNOME
The Linux pride, or simply pride, campaign of the open source movement has three main premises:
- that all people of all computing orientations should be proud, not ashamed, of being young white middle-class male Linux geeks;
- that computing diversity is a gift to young white middle-class male Linux geeks;
- that computing orientation and operating system type are inherent, unless of course you use Mac OS X and are therefore only fooling yourself.
Remember: just because you have a personal coding output of zero doesn't mean that you can't take full credit for the programming genius of others for a lifestyle of Slashdot, caffeine and masturbation.
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Pride Parades
Pride Parades are held worldwide, wherein young male white middle-class Linux geeks of all colours, ages, operating system types and backgrounds can walk down the centre of the main street of their city and commemorate the original Stallmanwall printer driver riots.
Many parades still have at least some of the original political or activist character, especially in less Linux-positive settings. However, in more Linux-positive cities, the parades take on an installfest-like character. Large parades often involve floats, coders, Mountain Dew, venture capitalists, and amplified music; but even such celebratory parades usually include political and educational contingents, such as local politicians and marching groups from open source institutions of various kinds. In some countries, Linux parades are now also called Linux Pride Install Festivals.
Even the most festive parades usually offer some aspect dedicated to remembering victims of Stallmanwall and anti-Linux FUD. Some particularly important Linux parades are funded by governments and corporate sponsors, and promoted as major tourist attractions for the cities that host them. Other typical parade participants include local Linux-friendly churches such as Emacs Community Churches and BSD Universalist Churches, PFLAB (Parents and Friends of Linux and BSD), and the nerd employee associations from large businesses.
Though the Stallmanwall riots themselves as well as the immediate and the ongoing political organizing that occurred following them were events that were fully participated in by BSD users, X11 people and future Sun founders as well as by white middle-class male Linux users of all races, genders and backgrounds, historically these events were first named Linux, the word at that time being used in a more generic sense to cover the entire spectrum of what is now variously called the Red Hat, SuSE or Debian community and had been members of early activist organizations such as the Linux Liberation Front and Linux Activists Alliance.
But eventually the language caught up with the reality of the community and the names have become more inclusive. Changing first to Linux and BSD Pride, today most are called GNU/Linux/X11/KDE/GNOME/Mozilla/gcc (GLXKGMg) Pride Parades. But only by the sort of geeks even the other geeks don't want to hang out with.
And let me tell you: you haven't lived until you've seen twenty Linux geeks clad only in silver jockstraps.
Openness to diversity
"Oh, we got both kinds. We got free software and open source."
~ Distro head
Diversity is a fundamental and deeply respected principle of the free software subculture, and it is accepting of all varieties of Linux, Linux and even Linux.
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BSD is absolutely welcome at Linux user groups, provided it has the common decency to know its place in the financial pecking order and not try to get in on a Friday or Saturday.
The Linux Pride flag
Several years ago I thought up a graphic of Beastie and Tux spitroasting Bill Gates. If someone could draw it, that'd be dandy. Beastie, being the property of Kirk McKusick, is of course gay, so would have a big smile on his face as his cock plunged between Bill's luscious lips. Tux, being full of arrogant teenage hormones, would sodomise Bill with the glee of domination at last. Bill would be looking distressed (oddly enough) and sweating little Windows logos. Something you'd like someone to sneak onto Bill's computer at Microsoft as his wallpaper, to greet him first thing in the morning. It'll be fabulous.
Opposition
Within the free software community, some reject the notion of Linux pride, perceiving therein an undue emphasis on GPL orientation and a lack of discretion and modesty to the detriment of either computing morals or the cause of free software; they propose to soften strident activism in order to better integrate into the mainstream. (Others call these a pack of corporate whores while envying their pay packets.)
Others oppose Linux pride on account of its identity politics; they say that one's kernel orientation should not be one's quintessential defining characteristic.
It is not unusual to see small groups of software fundamentalists protesting at Linux pride events, usually against Microsoft for existing. Since Microsoft are (a) there and (b) give a shit.
The lessons Linux Pride has to teach us all
Even the Linux geeks prefer devil girls in red catsuits to socially differently-abled cat-piss-smelling nerdboys, and consider that Mac users are inherently sexier despite the Linux nerdboys actually having larger breasts.
Another for Uncyclopedia, cc-by-nc-sa 2.0. Suggestions welcomed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-27 11:55 pm (UTC)Was the repetition intentional?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-27 11:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 12:10 am (UTC)Just sayin'.
My brain's been sucked out by rationalism.
Good thing I'm cute.
pee ess. oh right, login.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 12:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 12:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 12:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 01:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 02:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 03:16 am (UTC)OSX is so shiney, and yet I don't have to think. Hmmmm shiney. Hmmm brainless.
Still I have to use a Windows SOE in my new job. I cry.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 03:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 04:30 am (UTC)(Not that this has ever happened to me, of course)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 08:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 08:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 08:17 am (UTC)I have! But that was before the xnu build required sacrificing a dozen chickens at 3:15 AM under a 3/4 gibbous moon in order to build seg_hack or whatever it was called, at which point it stopped being fun and I gave up.
And let me tell you: you haven't lived until you've seen twenty Linux geeks clad only in silver jockstraps.
See also: “72 virgins from the slashdot userbase”.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 08:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 09:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 09:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 09:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-28 09:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-29 01:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-29 07:50 am (UTC)It was very good, anyway.
stupid lj not logging me in
Date: 2006-09-29 07:50 am (UTC)It was very good, anyway.