On 2014-07-21 20:59 (GMT-0400) Jim Henderson composed:
Giving everyone here a heads-up that we have a user who has decided to take issue with an objection raised to their signature in the forums.
In the forums, we very explicitly prohibit religious discussions and topics, because those topics are divisive and have no place in the forum community.
Felix Miata - a long-time user - has been asked by the forum staff to remove his signature, which includes a bible verse quote. He has declared that we are not permitted to ask him to remove his signature, and that if we pursue the issue, he will escalate it to opensuse-web and admin.
Our rules are there for a purpose, and that is because religion and religious topics are extremely divisive. That's why we exclude religious (and political) discourse from the forums.
We would ask that you assist us in enforcing the forum community standard and back us up on this decision.
Note that this mailing list arguably may or may not constitute a "forum", same as the newsgroups if been posting in. I generally do not post to forums for which suitable newsgroups and/or mailing lists exists. One of the reasons I don't applies to http://forums.opensuse.org/forum.php for the same reason as most others: it's rudely designed (as is most of the wwww) as demonstrated by this image (proper viewing perspective necessitates a viewer that can size the 1" wide block 1" wide): http://fm.no-ip.com/SS/Suse/suseforums1200-144-1407.png Quoting the rules: http://forums.opensuse.org/faq.php?faq=novfor "Board Content ... In recognition of the diversity of backgrounds of the Members and in the interests of community harmony, religious or political comment is not allowed. ... "Signatures Signatures may contain up to 256 characters (including spaces) at the forums' default font size and one image. All images must be under 100 pixels wide by 40 pixels high. Links to external sites shall not contravene the clause on Advertising/Spam. Members in violation of this rule will be given an opportunity to adjust their signature within guidelines. If the appropriate action is not taken within 2 days, the signature will be removed by staff. Only trusted users are allowed to create/use signatures. Trusted user status is obtained automatically based on time in membership and number of posts." It's overwhelmingly understood by long time users, and often revisited in the mailing lists, that .sigs do not constitute the content refered to in the first section quoted. The .sig Henderson refers to is the exact same .sig affixed to this message, the same one affixed to all my messages wherever directed for well over a year, including a significant number here on opensuse-web, and hundreds on the opensuse@, opensuse-kde@, opensuse-kde3@, opensuse-factory@ and several other openSUSE mailing lists. It makes no direct mention of any God or religion, or even religious subject matter, but merely quotes wisdom from the most popular and widely read book ever written. Without mention of the source of the quote, it has no facial connection with the disallowed subject matter that isn't even relevant because it is .sig and not content. It is good writing etiquette everywhere to source a quote when a quote is presented. To reject as unacceptable the subject .sig fails to serve any reasonable purpose, and constitutes nothing more than censorship. FWIW: Those with competent mail and news readers should configure their readers to not even show .sigs if they are sensitive to whatever .sigs may contain. -- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-web+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-web+owner@opensuse.org