[vlc-devel] [vlc] Christmas Icon

[Bill C Riemers]

Activist Judge Cancels Christmas:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43438



On 19/12/09 11:51 AM, Keith Kyzivat wrote:
> Disclaimer: I am not a member of the VLC development team.
>
> Your request is sort of like demanding that an acquaintance of yours
> whom always makes delicious cake for a recurrent party with a symbol
> you find offensive, and demanding that they omit it.
>
> * They publish the recipe, so you could indeed make it for yourself,
> and omit whatever you wish, though you would need to be slightly
> familiar with baking to do it.
> * They aren't charging even a cent for it (though that should not matter)
> * There are plenty of other cakes you can choose from
>
> On the internet, as is in some places around the world, it is
> generally accepted that people have freedom of speech - to express
> their thoughts and opinions.  What you are demanding is for the VLC
> team to suppress their thoughts and opinions. That is wholly
> unacceptable. They are not hurting anyone, and I do not see how it
> could be considered hate speech in any sort of way.
>
> Sure, one could contact the ISP and ask them to put pressure on the
> team or shut down the VLC website, however, I highly doubt an ISP
> would do such over these matters.
>
> Oh, and I'm pretty sure there are plenty of VLC users that are not
> christian that find the Christmas holiday a fine occasion to
> celebrate.
>
> If you don't want to see the symbol, you could do a variety of things:
> * Check out the vlc sources, disable or change the Easter egg code,
> and build it yourself.
> * Stop using vlc.
> * Change the date on your computer.
>
> ~Keith
>
> The VLC team may be looking for help, but I imagine they would
> appreciate like-minded help, and the product they put out shapes the
> people that come to help, Santa hat icon and all.
>
> On Friday, December 18, 2009, Rob Whelan <rob-jc at charter.net> wrote:
>   
>> Mr. Kempf,
>>
>> I do not believe I ever stated that a Santa hat is a religious symbol.
>>
>> What I did state is that it is a symbol for a specific holiday that is by
>> definition a Christian one.  A dradle is not a religious symbol but is used
>> almost exclusively to celebrate Hanukkah. We do not have the option of
>> inserting one of those into VLC. The choice to place this holiday in a
>> special place above others and then hard code that into the software is one
>> made by the development team.
>>
>> It would be nice to be able to disable the icon.  To emphasize one religious
>> occasion over all others (even using a secular symbol) may not be in keeping
>> with good global policy.
>>
>> Your response in assuming I can't read wikipedia and also telling me where
>> and where not others should see images that refer to religious matters is
>> somewhat insensitive and inappropriate for a team asking for global help in
>> furthering its project.
>>
>> I would respectfully ask the team to reconsider its decision in this matter
>> and provide some means of removing references to religious occasions that
>> are not shared by a vast number of users around the world.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 04:23:26PM -0500, Rob Whelan wrote :
>>     
>>> Is there a way to remove or disable the Christian holiday Easter egg?
>>>       
>> Many
>>     
>>> users (myself included) are not Christian and feel that this icon is
>>>       
>> This is not a Christian reference.
>>
>> See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus
>> and "Christians say the Santa tradition detracts from the religious
>> origins and purpose of Christmas."
>> and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus#Christian_opposition
>>
>>     
>>> Is there a way I can remove this icon from my viewer without having to
>>> recompile my own copy which is something far beyond the average user's
>>> ability?
>>>       
>> No.
>>
>> You shouldn't see religious references everywhere.
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> --
>> Jean-Baptiste Kempf
>> http://www.jbkempf.com/
>>
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>>     
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