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submitted 6 days ago by diamat@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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[-] toothbrush 13 points 6 days ago

I read the "thin blue line" email and it seems... reasonable and sensible? And seeing how he is so appaled by it makes me question his judgement a bit.

[-] arisunz 41 points 6 days ago

knowing where "thin blue line" comes from, you don't see anything wrong with a maintainer randomly dropping it on the mailing list?

[-] beeng@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

https://archive.org/details/thethinbluelinecomplete

Starring Rowan Atkinson

Its simply the Police in general...

You scrolled half a wiki page to the part that fits your narrative.

The metaphor of a thin blue line is that they "the police" are not in the typical sense very large, like an army, but they do keep the order with a thin presence of rule and order. Sounds like what maintainers do in this case.

[-] arisunz 8 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

i scrolled half a wiki page to link to... facts.

[-] beeng@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 5 days ago

That's not where "it comes from" though. Since if it were,it wouldnt need to be half a page down.

It's associated yes, but not in everybodies mind is that the case.

[-] toothbrush 7 points 6 days ago

Alright, fair. I was more refering to the content of the message, not the (botched) metaphore of maintainers as a force of order.

[-] arisunz 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

ah, fair enough. i guess that's kind of the thing with potential dogwhistles. if you know, you know.

[-] Patch@feddit.uk 6 points 5 days ago

where [it] comes from

You imply it comes from:

The "thin blue line" symbol has been used by the "Blue Lives Matter" movement, which emerged in 2014

But you link to a Wikipedia article that says:

New York police commissioner Richard Enright used the phrase in 1922. In the 1950s, Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Parker often used the term in speeches, and he also lent the phrase to the department-produced television show The Thin Blue Line. Parker used the term "thin blue line" to further reinforce the role of the LAPD. As Parker explained, the thin blue line, representing the LAPD, was the barrier between law and order and social and civil anarchy.

The Oxford English Dictionary records its use in 1962 by The Sunday Times referring to police presence at an anti-nuclear demonstration. The phrase is also documented in a 1965 pamphlet by the Massachusetts government, referring to its state police force, and in even earlier police reports of the NYPD. By the early 1970s, the term had spread to police departments across the United States. Author and police officer Joseph Wambaugh helped to further popularize the phrase with his police novels throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

The term was used for the title of Errol Morris's 1988 documentary film The Thin Blue Line about the murder of the Dallas Police officer Robert W. Wood.

I have no idea about this guy's politics, but it's a pretty well known phrase with a lot of different contexts.

[-] arisunz 11 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

we don't live in the 80s though. we live in contemporary times where things have different now meanings to what they did 40 years ago. meanings that might be influenced by recent happenings. hope that helps!

[-] Hawke@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago

You’re the one who brought up the origin of the term, why would you do that if you’re wanting to refer to the contemporary meaning?

[-] Grapho@lemmy.ml 10 points 5 days ago

This is just being disingenuous. They clearly mean the origin of the current usage, which is rooted in police "sheepdog" ideology and all that fascist bullshit. Not that the old usage was much better considering the state of police gangs in LA and the kind of laws they were enforcing in the 60s.

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this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2025
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Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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