Frequently Asked Questions
Don't you have anything better to do?
None of us would claim that this is the most important issue under the sun. But the ideals involved are very important. Slashdot has a wide audience within geek circles, and we're acting for the betterment of that community.
It's their website, why can't they run it however the want?
They are entitled to run it however they want. The problem comes in with the false pretenses. Where is it stated officially that moderators will be banned for citing certain comments as insightful? Slashdot appears on the surface to be an open source, idealistic oasis: user-driven content, moderation, and customization, but the reality is that slashdot's editors make lots of secret moves behind the scenes. We're here to fight the false pretense. As long as they continue to run their site in a poor manner, we will be there to point it out.
Why not just stop reading slashdot?
Slashdot articles are nothing short of currency in geek circles. If a geek stops reading slashdot, they won't know what their friends are talking about over lunch. Furthermore, we feel that slashdot is committing an injustice against the geek community. If a restaurant expelled black customers, it's not enough to just not go there; it's time to break out the picket signs.
Why are you calling this a "jihad"? Isn't that racist? Is this terrorism?
We mean absolutely no disrespect to Islam. The word "jihad" has been warped by the western media. Take this quote from a well respected Pakistani government official:
"The very meaning 'jihad' is to try hard for something. Jihad can be against illiteracy, against poverty..."
We identify with the term jihad because of how important all of the issues surrounding this are: Freedom, censorship, the future of the Internet...worth a holy struggle.
Why not join all the other slashdot ex-pats at Kuro5hin?
Many of us do like k5, and we suggest people check it out. K5 has its own set of problems: Perhaps the only place in America where Osama bin Laden will be described as "a misunderstood freedom fighter." K5 can get a bit extreme on both ends of the political spectrum. Even if K5 were perfect, the point remains that slashdot's abuses hurt the geek community, and we are out for justice.
If you hate Slashdot so much, why don't you start your own news site?
Suppose you had a son, and you sent him to school. His teacher really sucks, and you want to do something about it. You could try to get him into a different classroom, notify the school's administration, or even try to get the teacher replaced. Instead, you quit your job, go back to college and get teacher's certification, then get a job as a teacher at a local school, then get your son to start coming to your class instead of his current teacher's.
Our goal is not to replace Slashdot. Our goal is to drive its readership away by informing them of editor abuses, and by rendering the site even crappier. A new site will inevitably rise, but we don't want to be its steward; running a site of that caliber is a full-time job, and that's not a job that we want, just as the person in the analogy above shouldn't be expected to make a career switch.
Are you associated with GNAA?
Nope. Other than some shared membership, we have nothing to do with GNAA. We don't have anything against them, and we support a lot of what they do, but that is the extent of our relationship.
Why are you guys so small-time?
This site is developed and maintained in our spare time. We are sorry to offend your refined taste.
Why have you edited/deleted my link/forum post?
To be perfectly clear: we are not a bastion for free speech. This site is here to serve the needs of the jihad, and nothing more. We will delete submissions to the links table that are not relevant. We will delete any illegal content posted to any part of the site. We will edit or delete posts that attempt to break page rendering.
We are not fans of doing this, and will not do so without good cause.
Why have I been banned from the forums?
The forums are for discussion of the jihad. Those who continually post irrelevant and bothersome things will be banned. If you think this is unjust, send an email and we'll consider your case.
Aren't you just a bunch of hypocrites? You cry out whenever Slashdot does this type of stuff.
Anti-slash has never criticized Slashdot for banning users that crapflood, post illegal content, or post only to break page rendering (or for deleting those posts). That's not censorship. Get over it.
Furthermore, we state exactly what will get you banned from our forums. Slashdot has a history of modbombing and/or banning users for questionable reasons.