[core-questions]

> but nothing about this message strikes me as someone who's acting in good faith

So you don't know who ESR is, and you're going to act like the man who has put his entire life into this effort as though he's not "acting in good faith". Wow.

If anything, I'd question whether everyone else on the list even knows what 'good faith' is, as they voluntarily proceed to censor themselves.

[Lazare]

I know exactly who ESR is, have read his blog off and on over the years, and agree with him on many political points.

However, that's still a ridiculous email, and inappropriate for any context where grownups are trying to have a serious conversation about adult matters.

First off, it's unprofessional. But even beyond that, the email is either intended to persuade through facts and reasoned argument, or bully though shouting. It's clearly not written to persuade (there are no facts or reasoned arguments), ergo its intended to bully.

> Its originator is a toxic loonytoon who believes "show me the code" meritocracy is at best outmoded and in general a sinister supremacist plot by straight white cisgender males.

"Show me the code" is a good principle, and not just in programming. Hard data is much better than ad hominems or making arguments from authority. It is, therefore, sadly ironic that ESRs linked email is purely comprised of ad hominems, and the best his defenders can do is to make arguments from authority. Your code isn't automatically right because you're the CTO, and your arguments aren't automatically right because you're the co-founder, and the more heated and inflated your claims get, with no citations or links or proof, the less time I have for you.

ESR remains correct on the principles he has spent his life advocating for. His email is still garbage, and I fully support the removal of anyone who authors emails like that from a mailing list until they apologise and commit to behaving better in the future.

[core-questions]

> unprofessional

This isn't a profession. It's a volunteer effort. ESR has spent enough time talking about this now that expecting every single email he writes to include a total re-encapsulation of the entire effort is ridiculous. Of course, this is why arguing with these sorts of people is such a pain; they forget everything you've ever said, and any point ever admitted-to is forgotten the next day like as though no such admission had ever been made.

[Lazare]

> This isn't a profession. It's a volunteer effort.

I would suggest that is a distinction without a (in this context) relevant difference.

Also, you didn't address my other, larger point.

[thaneross]

It seems to me much of what is considered "professional" is the result of corporations trying to control employee behaviour to avoid liability. I hope we can do better than that.