Bad analogies
esr says:
I haven't seen a book quite so egregiously shoddy and dishonest since Michael Bellesisles's Arming America.
I agree with him that it is an atrocious book.
I think this comparison is very unfortunate, though predictable. Whatever you may think of Arming America — I have not read it — gun control is an issue on which reasonable people can and do differ. Perhaps there is no single answer: I can admit concealled carry suits the cultural and historical situation of Texas, but still prefer gun control in Canberra. It is one of those soft issues which are as much about values as evidence. It is certainly an issue that shows no signs of being settled soon.
Brown's output is garbage of a different order. It is simply, provably, unambiguously false. No informed person, whatever their politics, gives it any credibility. An intelligent reader with no knowledge of Linux whatsoever could see he makes wild assertions without proof. (Disagree? Mail me.)
Perhaps Arming America is provably wrong as well. I don't know or care. I do think it's a bad idea to even compare the provenance of Linux, which is an open-and-shut case, to contentious issues such as gun control. A more apt comparison is Brown insisting that powered flight is impossible.
posted Sat 29 May 2004 in /issues/adti | link
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