[Debtags-devel] More tricky packages

[Thaddeus H. Black]

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Enrico:

>   verse  Daily Devotional Verse from KJV Bible
>     It's like fortune, but it quotes from the bible.  I'd tag it just as
>     fortune (interface::commandline and... game::toys), but I feel that
>     game::toys is going to be controversial.  Well, game::toys is
>     controversial also for "bugs: evolve biomorphs using genetic
>     algorithms", probably.
>     I'll leave it just like fortune, then we'll see.

Thanks for asking.  Why don't we open up a new "religion" classification
of some kind?  I recommend this.  More than one implementation is
possible---use your discretion---but in any case, it would allow
religious people like me to find relevant software and, as a bonus,
would help the handful of overheated blasphemers on debian-devel
conveniently to ban holy scripture from their atheistic boxen.  Such a
"religion" classification would be accurate, neutral and useful.
Relevant packages include bible-kjv (Protestantism), hebcal (Judaism)
libitl (Islam) and others.

We of the Black family are Roman Catholic, if anyone wonders.  There is
no Catholic software in Debian at the moment, but if free Catholic
software did emerge, I would very much prefer that it were treated
respectfully.  For this reason, I would offer other religions similar
respect.  Classifying bible-kjv like fortune is logical in one way, but
as you implicitly note, calling it a "toy" would quietly and
unnecessarily hurt the feelings of tens of thousands of good
Pentecostals and other devout Protestants who use and love Debian.
Debian's lead Postgresql maintainer Oliver Elphick (elphick) belongs to
that group of people.  I doubt that Oliver would complain loudly,
because that is not his way, but is this not all the more reason that we
should voluntarily treat his scriptures with respect and deference?
(They are not just *his* scriptures, of course, for my Catholic
scriptures are mostly similar.  I have bible-kjv installed on my
computer, and although I do not use it daily, I do find it convenient
from time to time.)  Similar remarks may apply to libitl and its
maintainer Thamer Mahmoud, whom I do not know.

This matter goes to the heart.  Although we do not want to proliferate
the vocabulary unnecessarily, neither do we want Debtags to be without a
heart.  It costs us little to add "religion" to the vocabulary.

(For courtesy, this message is copied to those whom it names.  No reply
is expected from them.)

--=20
Thaddeus H. Black
508 Nellie's Cave Road
Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, USA
+1 540 961 0920, t@b-tk.org

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