Re: Life must go on...

To All,



                    Normally I don't talk much on this forum, I prefer to
watch, listen, learn from a dark corner somewhere:), but in this case I have
to say something. Sebastian is right, at this most critical of times our
country,USA (for those of you who are Americans like me) needs us to be
there. To continue building and strengthening the WWW. The world needs us to
be there for the same reasons. Why? Because we can keep the flow of
information going. We can keep the truth from being shut out. Am I putting
too much importance on our roles in life? No. As always, we the technically
gifted have been put to the back of our societies' minds. An after thought,
if you will, under appreciated and underpaid, yet we continue to do what we
do, not for gains materially, but for ourselves. In the process we have
become the very guardians of the net, of the thousands of corporate and
private networks all over the world. We are our own society, and our own
state. We are the community of the net and we are global. That said, this
event hurt us as well. We lost many guardians in that act of cowardice, many
talented and knowledgeable fellow geeks who were or are still trapped in
those towers. So like everyone else we have felt the loss.

                We must rise to the occasion and continue our duties, to
show these cowards that not only are we still alive and thriving, but that
we are also the worst enemy they could have made. We who distribute truth,
we who manage and maintain information. We who program and develop software
that will not forget these tragedies. Do I feel strongly about this? Yes I
do, and I have been tempted to, for the first time ever, to cross a line
that I have protected for a long time. To raid their systems and cause
chaos, but that will not crush them, nor will it stop them. It will only
cause them to find more low tech ways of doing their crimes. Instead I chose
to fight the only way I know how, I shall distribute truth, information, and
I shall do my most humble of parts, to ensure that the WWW continues to grow
and grow until there is nowhere these people can hide.

My Rant, sorry for the book.
RDT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer" <schnitz@mozquito.com>
To: <www-forms@w3.org>
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2001 6:04 AM
Subject: Life must go on...


> Dear Friends and fellow Humans,
>
> the recent events make it hard to continue our
> daily businesses. After many moments of sadness
> shock, anger and hatred, we must realize that the
> discontinuation of our efforts towards creating an
> open, liberal and unselfish world would give those
> cowards exactly what they wanted.
>
> The W3C is a manifestation of the world those
> cowards wanted to destroy. The W3C is an
> international forum where the entire IT industry
> meets to collectively work together to improve
> the state of the world for all of us. The mission
> and spirit Tim Berners-Lee gave to all of us, to
> lead the Web to its full potential, never has been
> more true and important than today. The Web and XML
> are the products of this spirit, a manifestation of
> these core values of liberty and freedom melted into
> software.
>
> What the World Trade Center is for international
> trade and commerce, the W3C is for the IT industry,
> fueling international trade and commerce.
>
> That is why we must continue to build the XML
> cathedral. It is our responsibility to create the
> technical infrastructure, the wiring and plumbing
> of a globalized, liberal and peaceful world. The
> world needs us, now more than ever. This gives us
> the strength to continue our mission and to lead
> the World Wide Web to its full potential.
>
> God bless you,
>
> Sebastian Schnitzenbaumer
>
>

Received on Friday, 14 September 2001 09:37:52 UTC