We’re doing exactly what I’ve been criticizing the rest of the fediverse for doing. There are no stakes here. Neither of us have been harmed or otherwise inconvenienced by the other. Yet we’re ramping up the outrage. We’ve abandoned all discussion of the original topic and are nitpicking over the tone of adjacent comments. Stoking outrage has become the point.

Be honest, does that sound about right? Does that sound familiar? Isn’t that what always happens in these sorts of discussions? It’s not healthy, and I perceive the same rotten motivation in much of the community responses to this tesseract case.

I can’t and don’t approve of, excuse, or defend the actions of the tesseract dev. I do empathize with him though. I can understand the impulse to double down and lash out. That’s just human psychology. So I don’t fault the dev for feeling that way, even if I do fault their actions. But I deem the fault to be immaturity, not malice.

I do think that, had the community not gone straight to the outrage memes, that perhaps things would have shaken out differently. If tesseract is/was as popular with the community as the level of outrage suggests, then it would seem that losing the developer of that software is a net loss for the community.

Had the dev been more mature… well they probably wouldn’t have gotten themselves into this mess in the first place. But had they been more mature in the aftermath, and had the community been more forgiving, then the situation might have resolved amicably to everyone’s benefit. Instead, we traded a valued community member for outrage memes.

This I sincerely believe. This I have given due consideration. This I am willing to discuss and be persuaded against, if a person can be found who honestly disagrees with most of what I’ve just said and can explain why.

Can you point to a comment that you would describe as insincere, and can you explain why you think so?

Can you point to a comment where I am not?

Don’t stress over labels. They don’t fit anyone perfectly.

My dismissiveness is a sincere, considered position.

Your dismissiveness is a spiteful, knee-jerk reaction.

We are not the same.

Don’t you find that to be dismissive?

That’s my point. People are crying crocodile tears over spilled milk.

Yeah… But what if it gets upvotes?

Explode and catch fire.

Fair enough. That was an unkind remark on my part, and your comment does demand a more thorough rebuttal.

The idea that “popular” = “correct” is stupid on its face. Examples predate the internet, abound on the internet, and will continue to arise long after the internet dies. I could go into a white supremacist forum and talk about racial harmony and get downvoted into oblivion, but that wouldn’t make me the asshole. And even if I were the asshole, I wouldn’t be wrong.

Upvotes do not confer moral rectitude. Downvotes are not damnation. And an opinion is not necessarily valid just because it is held by a majority.

And I’m sorry for presuming your emotional state. But if you’re not outraged by this, then why are you arguing that people should be outraged by this?

Warning: this product was processed in facility which processes olives and olive products.

You must be new to the internet.

I’m sincere. If you’re experiencing real outrage then you have my sympathy and I do hope you feel better soon. Real outrage is not a fun emotional state to be in.

It’d be pretty funny if the anarchists called the feds, though.

Well, I hope you recover from this experience quickly and completely!

Yes, my super secret manipulation campaign which involves (checks notes) expressing my disapproval.

Yeah. That’s what I mean by melodramatic. The situation is not actually that serious. If this situation is the worst thing to happen to you this week then I’d say you had a good week.

People are outraged by what it is doing and how it is doing it, not by whether it fits the strict definition of malware.

Which is kind of what I’m getting at. “Outraged”? Really? Isn’t that at least a bit melodramatic considering the stakes and circumstances?

Best I can do is an upvote.

I wasn’t trying to misquote you, but you did imply that entertainment is your primary motivation.

Quote:

upset? heavens no, this is terrific free entertainment, this is hilarious to watch.

To me, this sounds like someone who is pouring gas on a fire just to watch it burn.

If it is malware then harshness is justified, but I’d be willing to debate over the strict definition of malware and whether it technically applies here.

But I don’t think most of the harshness we’ve seen is actually borne of that kind of outrage. Even the OP of this meme says they are not upset and are having a wonderful time.