*NIXEDBLOG 3.0

Thomas Holbrook II | *NIXEDBLOG 3.0

I saw a recent announcement for a new site under the wing of Phoronix Media.  It’s interesting to see that they’re attempting to expand the horizons a little bit.  It would be a wonderful way to expand into another market and bring people closer together.  However, I have noticed a trend lately that could not only hinder progress, but utterly destroy it as well.  By reading this thread on a popular Linux news site, I hope you, the reader, can figure out what I’m getting at.  Michael Larabel was essentially accused of being a sexist, and wrongfully so.  A similar thing occurred with Richard Stallman and his joke pertaining to Emacs virgins.  I don’t always agree with everything that RMS says or does, but I think his words were taken out of context.  It appeared that he was poking fun at religion, and for those who bother to read his personal website know, he is far from ignorant on the issues of today.  So what am I getting at?

Here’s the deal.  For a good portion of my life, I lived with my mom and sister.  Jokes were made about how I was outnumbered most of the time.  It was all in good fun.  If anybody were to say that women were worthless and that they should stay home in the kitchen "where they belong," I wouldn’t be amused in the slightest.  But what about the wonderful ladies out there who do stay at home to raise a family and who do cook?  Who is standing up for them?  Before anyone accuses me of being a "sexist," allow me to explain.

A friend of mine goes by the nickname Squirrel.  She follows an alternative religion to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.  She has a wonderful sense of humor and does things that are not very traditional in today’s world.  She once explained to me how she wouldn’t mind being a stay at home mom, raising children.  Plenty of people today would actually see something wrong with such a notion, especially if things such as home schooling were to enter into the fray.  Is it now becoming unacceptable to consciously choose something that was more common decades ago?  Let’s hope not.  Kids need guidance when they get home, and I personally don’t care if it involves a "stay at home mom" or a "stay at home dad."  I don’t even care if it’s another family member, friend, etc.

With that said, there are still plenty of women out there who do indeed cook.  There are still plenty of women out there who want their significant other to get off the computer and stay off the computer.  Foodstruments could be a way to bring people together, even if it doesn’t involve a married couple.  People have to eat sometime.  That is a simple inevitable fact.  The only issue I see with the site is that it doesn’t have recipes.  Adding recipes would be a great way to attract a new audience, and while we’re at it, why not link it to Phoronix?  That could bring in a whole new audience.

Unfortunately, it seems that too many of us out there are busy being offended.  Larabel stated that it wasn’t his intent to offend, yet people went on being offended anyway.  It sort of reminds me how too many people are fighting over the ethical implications of Mono to realize that Microsoft has essentially re-armed itself with Windows 7, thus diminishing chances of alternative operating systems being able give the Redmond giant a run for its money.  For those who are looking for a reason to be offended, please!  Get a life!