When a community mistreats its members badly enough, it is important that the law be there as an escape hatch
I agree. But actually using the law is equal to making a statement that the community is too dysfunctional to solve the problem internally. (If that is true, it is a correct statement to make. If that is false, it is an incorrect statement to make.) There should be an option to escalate and people should not escalate needlessly.
As I see it, there are basically three things that can happen now:
Option 1 -- a few weeks later Ben (or someone else) will write an equally convincing response, which again will make most people update dramatically.
Option 2 -- Ben will write a public apology, admitting that he was wrong about most or all things. Then we will collectively brainstorm about how to make it up for Nonlinear and all individuals named, and how to make sure this never happens again.
Option 3 -- silence. This would be the most disappointing option, and because it doesn’t have a clear trigger, I guess unless by the end of January I get some information like “a thorough rebuttal is being written and it’s at least 40% done, some people have seen the working version and they think it is solid”, I will assume that this is what actually happened. In such case, either some high-profile person (Habryka?) will write the public apology on community’s behalf, and we continue like in Option 2… or I will conclude that we indeed are a dysfunctional community and I will be really sad about it. Also, in this case, I would approve of the lawsuit.
It’s the fact that these options realistically exist that makes it different from the cult analogy in my opinion. And if you decide to escalate before these options are exhausted, that’s kinda like jurisdiction shopping. You can be treated as a part of the community, or you can be treated as a faceless corporation, but you can’t just choose whatever is more convenient for you at the moment. (And yeah, maybe the community sucks and it’s not worth being its part.)
I agree. But actually using the law is equal to making a statement that the community is too dysfunctional to solve the problem internally. (If that is true, it is a correct statement to make. If that is false, it is an incorrect statement to make.) There should be an option to escalate and people should not escalate needlessly.
As I see it, there are basically three things that can happen now:
Option 1 -- a few weeks later Ben (or someone else) will write an equally convincing response, which again will make most people update dramatically.
Option 2 -- Ben will write a public apology, admitting that he was wrong about most or all things. Then we will collectively brainstorm about how to make it up for Nonlinear and all individuals named, and how to make sure this never happens again.
Option 3 -- silence. This would be the most disappointing option, and because it doesn’t have a clear trigger, I guess unless by the end of January I get some information like “a thorough rebuttal is being written and it’s at least 40% done, some people have seen the working version and they think it is solid”, I will assume that this is what actually happened. In such case, either some high-profile person (Habryka?) will write the public apology on community’s behalf, and we continue like in Option 2… or I will conclude that we indeed are a dysfunctional community and I will be really sad about it. Also, in this case, I would approve of the lawsuit.
It’s the fact that these options realistically exist that makes it different from the cult analogy in my opinion. And if you decide to escalate before these options are exhausted, that’s kinda like jurisdiction shopping. You can be treated as a part of the community, or you can be treated as a faceless corporation, but you can’t just choose whatever is more convenient for you at the moment. (And yeah, maybe the community sucks and it’s not worth being its part.)