On Thu, 20 Jan 2005, Marcello Perathoner wrote:
Michael Hart wrote:
However, there are at least a dozen or two very outspoken volunteers at Project Gutenberg among a dozen or two thousand of such volunteers, who would prefer to delete many of the original Project Gutenberg eBooks in favor of replacing them with something else, as opposed to just working on them to bring them up to the standards of the modern era of eBooks.
This is a deliberate mis-statement of the facts.
Glossary: "A dozen or two very outspoken volunteers": those who spoke up against Michael. "among 12 thousand": the rhetoric of the silent majorities is an instrument widely used in propaganda. The speaker stipulates the existence of a fictitious silent majority who are in favour of his ideas. This didn't work when used against the peace movement in the 80s and doesn't work now.
I presume you can see through the fallacy of this misstatement as easily as you could see through the fallacy of starting Moore's Law projections from having 1 file in 1971. Some people remember these fallacious notes, not only from the most recent week or month. I tried to engage some of the authors of these fallacies offline, but it becomes obvious they only want to speak in front of a large crowd, and not to actually solve or resolve the situtation, or to stand or understand, concerning the actual questions at hand. To use the words misused above in a proper context, I have never mentioned any kind of "silent majority," much less "stipulated the existence of a ficticious silent majority," nor is there any need for anyone to do so, because virtually anyone can do as they please in Project Gutenberg. There can no tyranny of the majority, nor of a very vocal minority, as has been previously stated quite clearly by the various FAQs, Mission Statements, etc. . . . There is no need for any ruling by any portion of Project Gutenberg simply because we give the OK for virtually every project proposed. As for those who would like to rule OUT what others have done, "Moving and Removing" various efforts from our past history, that is not very likely. If you want to suggestion removing something, why not look at some of the new Science Fiction that was requested? Those were posted purely as an experiment, and only recently, with minimal effort by Project Gutenberg personnel. . . . As for picking on items that have been in our collection for over a decade, you are a little late, and history will not be rewritten at such requests, nor will it be swept under a rug. "Those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it." For those who have not studied the history of Project Gutenberg, this is not the first time we have had very vocal suggestions to change history, change direction, or any of the other suggestions made by a very vocal 1/1000th of our volunteers that would change Project Gutenberg into their own private fiefdom. When these people try to take charge, which is every 5 years or so, the answer is inevitably, "You can do virtually anything you like in your own portion of Project Gutenberg, but you can't tell others they cannot do virtually anything they like in their portion of PG." Project Gutenberg has what is generally known as an "Open Door Policy." This means that virtually anyone and everyone are welcome, and their contribution will be used as best we can manage, even if, as has been the case throughout our history, when items might not be quite proper for Project Gutenberg, so we pass them on to other eBook operations, as others have also done in our direction. Our Mission is to: "ENCOURAGE THE CREATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF eBOOKS" and "BREAK DOWN THE BARS OF IGNORANCE AND ILLITERACY" Rather than imposing our will on everyone, we prefer to: "LEAD BY EXAMPLE" To lead by example the examples have to be there, in full view of the world, so people can see what has been tried in the past, how it works presently, and hopefully figure out ways things will work in the future. This is why we do not "Move or Remove" eBooks from the more visble locations to the less visible. Michael