Re: Rebuttal of Defamatory Public Comments - The Differencebetween Criticism and Personal Attack

I didn't want to respond to this in the heat of the moment; instead I
thought I'd let things settle down a bit.  I believe it is now time to
respond, because the statements quoted below are defamatory.  While I would
prefer to let this go completely, I believe the issue is importantenough
that it needs to be addressed.

I categorically deny calling any person an idiot.  A growing problem in our
industry is an inability to accept criticism.  At some point the line
between constructive criticism and personal castigation became blurred, and
today even the intimation that someone's design is not perfect is
immediately perceived as a personal attack.  Many in our industry have
become too invested in their designs, which in turn means that
cross-pollination of ideas is being stunted.

I reject that trend.  I in fact embrace challenge.  You can feel free at any
time to attack my architectures, as vituperatively as you want, as long as
you back it up with facts (and hopefully some alternatives).  Believe me,
I've defended my architectures in the past, and at times I've even admitted
that someone's criticism was correct, and went on to change it.

And to be honest, the latter situations are the ones that have always
afforded me the most growth.  To have someone succinctly and specifically
point out flaws in my approach and suggest alternatives is the quickest way
for me to grow as a designer.

It seems that this concept is lost on you, Mr. Phippard, and you too,
evidently, Mr. Carr, because you read a criticism of a design approach and
somehow it is transformed within your perception into some sort of personal
attack on the designer.  And then you use your misformed perception to
justify unsubstantiated personal attacks on the person making the criticism.
This probably isn't good for anyone.  It certainly isn't good for me.

So let me set the record straight.  I categorically deny every charge in the
mailing list posting quoted below.  Specifically:

1. I have never called the SWT team idiots.
2. I have never called the designers of WebFacing (or WDSc) idiots.
3. I have never called the designers of J2EE idiots.
4. I have never called Buck an idiot.
5. I have never called Mr. Phippard an idiot.
6. I have never (to the best of my recollection) called anyone on MIDRANGE-L
an idiot.

The last is a little hazy - I've been on MIDRANGE-L for years, and there
have been some pretty heated discussions.  But even so, I'm pretty sure I
never called anyone an idiot, and if I did, I'm sure I would have
immediately apologized.  I'm quite sure I haven't done so in the last few
weeks as stated by Mr. Phippard.  I also know I haven't said "When you
become Emperor please have pity on us all" to anyone, anywhere, anytime.

I try to deal in facts.  The statements quoted below had none.
Unfortunately, they were made in a public forum and statements in public
forums tend to be quoted out of context, sometimes through ignorance,
sometimes through malice.  Because of that, I am issuing the following
rebuttal:

If you, Mssrs. Phippard and Carr, can quote any of my posts that contradicts
any of the above six statements, I will publicly apologize to the person
involved.  If you can find instances of all of those things, I will publicly
apologize to you both.

If however, you cannot substantiate all of your accusations, then I expect a
public apology FROM you.  As public an apology as I was willing to make, and
as public as your defamatory statements were.  And I believe it goes without
saying that I expect no more unsubstantiated attacks on my character.

Joe Pluta
President
Pluta Brothers Design, Inc.


> From: jpcarr@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> I am soooooooooooooooooo
> glad that I didn't come to that conclusion in isolation.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> Joe,
>
> It must be difficult being so brilliant and surrounded by such
> knuckle-dragging incompetence.  Let's see, in just the past few weeks you
> have declared ...
>
> 1)  The designers of SWT to be a bunch of idiots.
>
> 2)  The designers of WebFacing are idiots.
>
> 3)  The designers of J2EE are idiots.
>
> 4)  I am an idiot and I think Buck was one too for a while.
>
> 5)  Numerous people on the midrange-l list are idiots.
>
> On behalf of us all, thanks for showing us the light.  When you become
> Emperor please show some pity on us all.