[spitx]

A not-so entirely tangential thought:

Would Jimmy Wales have taken up this cause if Richard O'Dwyer wasn't a put-together specimen? You know if he was a socially-awkward, not-sure-of-himself, social-grace-lacking and all around clumsy-looking hacker. If the answer to this was manifestly in the affirmative, the question wouldn't be begging to be asked.

This is a no-lose proposition for Jimmy. Whether the guy is actually extradited or worse convicted, this low hanging PR fruit is already in Jimmy's satchel.

This is not to cast a doubt on JW's intentions.

However, holding all details of the alleged crime constant, I bet he wouldn't touch this case with a 10 foot pole if the guy didn't fit the archetype that wouldn't soil JW's image.

[icebraining]

These accusations in the form of hypothesis are disgusting. Do you have any evidence to believe Wales decided to help based on the guy's "social grace"?

[spitx]

I never meant to assail his intentions in this case. However you can't refute the PR implications of what kind of candidate he throws his support behind. As much as personalities like JW want to be associated with Net Neutrality initiatives and the like, they still have their apprehensions when it comes to associating themselves with the geek / hacker types. Take this guy (picked totally at random from a YT search for Linux distro) in the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xeZaUyixvk

I am not entirely convinced if JW would have come out in his support if he were the culprit (keeping every other detail of the case untouched). Yes, I am suggesting that JW threw his weight in - atleast in some measure - due the seemingly well-adjusted looks of Richard O'Dwyer.

[icebraining]

I never meant to assail his intentions in this case.

Then what did you meant to do by posting that?

As much as personalities like JW want to be associated with Net Neutrality initiatives and the like, they still have their apprehensions when it comes to associating themselves with the geek / hacker types.

And on what do you base that assertion?

I am not entirely convinced if JW would have come out in his support if he were the culprit (keeping every other detail of the case untouched). Yes, I am suggesting that JW threw his weight in - atleast in some measure - due the seemingly well-adjusted looks of Richard O'Dwyer.

I do not know Wales and I certainly cannot say whether he would or he wouldn't. But I do not see the purpose in posting such speculative "suggestions" except for smearing him.

[spitx]

It's not a smear campaign. It's the unspoken truth.

Unkempt and maladjusted hacker types are still social pariahs. People on HN whine about the necessary evils of hustling but fail to tie into issues like the one at hand the contiguous issues of essential fairness and even-handedness. Or else the Morins, Cashmores, Roses and the Systroms of this world will continue to rake it in while the grungy hacker genius will rot in seclusion.

[icebraining]

Unkempt and maladjusted hacker types are still social pariahs.

Yes, often they (we? ¹) are.

But that doesn't mean it's OK to accuse Wales personally of something that is not only unfounded, but completely impossible to defend oneself against.

Do you want to make that argument? Sure - write a blog post making your case, show examples of people being discriminated against and submit it to HN.

But using people like that to promote your own arguments is not only detestable, as it makes you lose the respect of people who may agree with you otherwise. You certainly lost mine.

¹ I'm certainly a bearded, introvert and definitively unphotogenic geek, although I can't complain about being a pariah, except for the fact that my interests rarely aligned with others'.

[sp332]

Possibly. After all there was a lot of popular support for Gary McKinnon and he actually has an autism-spectrum disorder and clinical depression.