From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: news.gmane.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "James K. Lowden" Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: General advice beyond Org Date: Mon, 21 May 2018 12:26:56 -0400 Organization: http://www.NewsDemon.com Message-ID: <20180521122656.a231c79b16176761ea782c32@speakeasy.net> References: <3670f5d10c3f80646994f515711f0a30@openmail.cc> NNTP-Posting-Host: blaine.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: blaine.gmane.org 1526920107 20034 195.159.176.226 (21 May 2018 16:28:27 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@blaine.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 21 May 2018 16:28:27 +0000 (UTC) To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org Original-X-From: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Mon May 21 18:28:23 2018 Return-path: Envelope-to: geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from lists.gnu.org ([208.118.235.17]) by blaine.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.84_2) (envelope-from ) id 1fKnfb-00057a-84 for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Mon, 21 May 2018 18:28:23 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([::1]:51519 helo=lists.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1fKnhh-0006OK-UU for geh-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Mon, 21 May 2018 12:30:33 -0400 X-Received: by 2002:a1c:b2c6:: with SMTP id b189-v6mr1471315wmf.5.1526920027833; Mon, 21 May 2018 09:27:07 -0700 (PDT) Original-Path: usenet.stanford.edu!x17-v6no9631592wmh.0!news-out.google.com!o2-v6ni23215wmf.0!nntp.google.com!proxad.net!feeder1-2.proxad.net!fdn.fr!news.redatomik.org!newsfeed.xs4all.nl!newsfeed7.news.xs4all.nl!85.12.16.69.MISMATCH!peer02.ams1!peer.ams1.xlned.com!news.xlned.com!peer02.am4!peer.am4.highwinds-media.com!peer01.iad!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!post01.iad!fx41.iad.POSTED!not-for-mail Original-Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help X-Newsreader: Sylpheed 3.4.3 (GTK+ 2.24.28; x86_64--netbsd) Original-Lines: 39 Original-X-Complaints-To: abuse@newsdemon.com Original-NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 21 May 2018 16:27:07 UTC X-Received-Bytes: 2597 X-Received-Body-CRC: 2218876591 Original-Xref: usenet.stanford.edu gnu.emacs.help:222671 X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.21 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+geh-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Original-Sender: "help-gnu-emacs" Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:116792 Archived-At: On Mon, 21 May 2018 05:39:07 +0200 Marcin Borkowski wrote: > For instance, you go to the bakery, buy the bread and pay the baker > the money. He then takes the money and goes to buy a gun to kill his > wife. Are you responsible? I don't think so (at least under normal > circumstances). I'd like to respond, even though we're wandering off topic from the OP's OT message. No, you're not responsible. Neither could you have prevented the murder by not patronizing the baker. As I see it, we can individually do very little virtuous in the marketplace. You can recycle, buy organic, drive a hybrid, whatever. Your effect, positive or negative, is miniscule, taken alone. Likewise deciding not to work in a Windows shop on principle. Maximizing your knowledge and capacity is much more rewarding and, I'd argue, socially important. Your job is rewarding to the extent it requires you to work at the edge of your capacity, to learn and innovate. Human beings love to do what they're good at, whether it's pitching a baseball or devising a data structure. As someone not frustrated/stunted by the job, you have more energy and confidence to pay attention to nonwork, and to apply what you learn at work to the larger society. If your goal is to widen the aegis of free software, you can to more to further it by maximizing your capacity than by boycotting employers. Then, one day -- when you're in charge of a lab, say, or investing a small fortune -- you can make some actual difference. If that opportunity never comes to pass, at least you've pursued interesting work, and enriched your life and others' around you in the process. --jkl