[Foundation-l] Image filter brainstorming: Personal filter lists

Mon Dec 5 16:59:43 UTC 2011

On 01/12/2011 7:58 AM, Jussi-Ville Heiskanen wrote:
> "[...] yes, we may be building up a list of categories that could be 
> reused by censorware sellers, but that’s not our primary intention." 

I'm sorry, but who the fsck cares about intentions?  The road to hell is 
paved with the best ones.  The net effect is the only thing that counts.

A personal filter that allows individual editors to hide things they 
don't want to see is okay-ish, and the concept is something I can get 
behind.  I still think we're over-engineering this - a simple "hide all 
images everywhere/on this page" button with a trivial "show/hide that 
specific image" toggle is more than adequate; but I'm not fundamentally 
opposed to a more elaborate system *iff* it can be demonstrated to not 
be usable by third parties to find out -- let alone use or impose -- 
what those settings may be.

Building a system that can (and /will/) be used for censorship is a 
fork-level nonstarter, and "but we didn't intend it for that" is not a 
justification.  Prejudicial labeling is already *known* to be usable 
(and used) for censorship; why do you think librarians oppose any form 
of it as a matter of principle?

Surely nobody here has the hubris to believe that we, amazingly, know 
better than what over half a century of experience has taught our 
predecessors?

-- Coren / Marc