[techtalk] Almost arrested for using telnet

[Telsa Gwynne]

On Tue, Apr 10, 2001 at 09:18:26PM -0500 or thereabouts, Kathryn Hogg wrote:
> Mary E. Mulderrig said:
> > It is offensive to me.  It seems homophobic.
> > -Mary.
> > 
> > > This is in your recognition of your efforts to be a person that increases
> > > the level of faggotry and lameness on this planet!
> 
> I'm not sure of the meaning in this case but I suspect that the word 
> faggotry has a different meaning in the UK.  My dad learned quite 
> quickly that asking someone if he could "bum a fag" wasn't interepreted 
> as "borrow a cigarette" when we first moved to the US.
> 
> However, it was indeed intended as euphenism for gay, then I agree
> wholeheartedly.

I can answer this. 

"fag" is used for a cigarette, yes. But I've had so many "um, I mean cig"
experiences talking to people not from here that I try to avoid it.
It's also used as a word for gay people, and is generally not intended
nicely, although I believe some gay people use it to make a point. 
"faggotry" is not used very often here, and would certainly be associated
with "faggot" in its "not a bundle of wood" sense. It would not remotely
be associated with smoking.

To get back on topic, I do not see that handing out insulting leaflets
saying, effectively, "YEW R LAME" is actually going to help in a 
situation where you are trying to explain you are a reasonably competent 
computer user who is not trying to break rules and is not going to
cause the system to crash, be cracked, or receive a virus. It's just
impolite and unhelpful. (Rather the opposite of linuxchix guidelines,
really :))

Like Mary, I find the use of that term in that context offensive, but
I also find this leaflet hand-out idea itself rather off, too.

Replies to, um, I dunno. One of the other lists. Leaflet wording is
probably not techtalk material :) 

Telsa