: On 17/12/2007, Dean S. Messing <deanm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: : > imalone wrote: : > : It's a little unfair to call them zealots : > : > I called them zealots because that's what they are. : > According to my Webster's, the primary meaning is: : > : > "One who engages warmly in any cause, and pursues his object with : > earnestness and ardor". : > : : What you wrote: : "On the other hand you are certainly right, that the kernel maintainers : will turn a deaf ear to you if your kernel crashes and you are running : the binary driver. They are religious zealots." : : The first entry in a dictionary isn't always the meaning in context is it? : Did you mean they pursue kernel development with earnestness : and ardour or was there a negative connotation there? I meant precisely this: they pursue the purity of the kernel with a religious-like zeal (in the first dictionary sense of the word). I also made clear that, in most cases, in fact nearly all, I agreed with the need for that by the kernel maintainers. But not by ordinary users. : > : > :(and as others have done : > : claim that it's used as an excuse for not solving problems) : > : > I made no such claim. Please re-read what I wrote. : > : : Please re-read what I wrote. N.B. 'others'. Are you arguing that your verb "claim" didn't have me as its referent? If you are not a native English speak, then I apologise. In English, if I have just written something that refers to X (your 1st paragraph), and then say "and, as others have done, claim [something]", the "as others have done" is an adverbial clause amplifying "claim" that refers back to X, which can be dropped since the referent of "claim" is clear. I admit that you left out the two commas, but I wrote that off to the usual e-mail sloppiness we all practice. If you _are_ a native English speaker, then I have nothing more to say on this. Dean
