Re: [Womeninfreesoftware] Hello, and a Question

[Leigh Honeywell]

On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 01:31:16PM -0400, Chris Ball wrote:
> In any case, see the discussion starting at:
> 
> http://lwn.net/Articles/348662/

It's a long thread, so I'll quote the part I think is the most
important, from mjg59:

[Perhaps the most important issue] is the difference between
misjudging your audience and refusing to accept that you've misjudged
your audience. I'd have been absolutely fine with RMS apologising for
misjudging the audience and accepting that he may face similar audiences
in future and adjusting his act to cope. He's given no indication that
he's going to do so. I don't think anyone expects people to be perfect
all the time.  But I do think that the community expects its leaders to
be willing to accept that they've fucked up and do better in future. If
they're unwilling to do that then they don't deserve to be the community's
leaders, regardless of what else they've accomplished. Implying that
people with Asperger's are unable to tell the difference between these two
situations is a significantly further stretch than I'd take. The response
to "I'm offended, please don't do that again" does not require empathy.