psc@lznv.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (08/03/87)
I recently posted a list of UNIX(R)-like tools that run on MS-DOS (e.g., IBM and compatible) PCs. I said quite a few things about Mortice Kern Systems and their MKS Toolkit. I also said: > A friend of mine just ordered from them. He said they > sounded like stereotypical, "Great White North" Canadians. I'm sorry if my comments on the "Great White North" accent offended anyone. I certainly didn't mean to; both my Chisholm grandparents were born and raised in Nova Scotia, and I loved Canada both times I've visited. The comment on the accent came from someone who's lived all his life in New Jersey. When I talked someone at MKS, her accent was very familiar; I've heard it a lot in Wisconsin and Minnesota. It's not a Canadian accent; it's the way people talk in that part of the continent, no matter what side of the border they're from. ("Great White North" is a buzz phrase from a series of Second City comedy sketches. I certainly don't think the McKensie (sp.?) brothers are typical Canadians!) Also: In article <399@aucs.UUCP>, peter@aucs.UUCP writes: > In article <1112@lznv.ATT.COM>, psc@lznv.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm) says: > > Final note: how come we Americans can't sell > > those nasty furriners *any* encryption software, but these Canadians > > can sell us crypt(1)? (Flames to /dev/null, *please*!) > > That's because the Americans are so paranoid about the Russians stealing > technology from them that they won't sell encryption software to any > "furriners". Canadians aren't that paranoid I guess... Hear, hear! That's not a Canadian problem, it's an American one. Specifically, the U.S. Department of Defense has managed to handicap many American software publishers, including AT&T. Look at Borland; they can't sell Superkey to Canadians, or Mexacans, or anyone outside the country, because it has a (probably trivial) file encryption utility. When I said "nasty furriners", I was trying to mock this paranoid attitude. Sorry if my sarcasm seemed genuinely xenophobic. There are some Americans who think of Canada as a second class nation. On behalf of my country, I apologize for their bigotry. I'm *not* one of them. This discussion obviously has nothing to do with PC compatibles. If you have anything else to say about the matter, either American/ Canadian xenophobia or U.S. export restrictions on encryption software, please post it to talk.politics.misc (or soc.culture.canada, if there is such a beast anywhere)-. Please *remove* the cross-posting to comp.sys.ibm.pc. Better still, *mail* your complaints directly to me at the address below. (If you're a talk.politics.misc reader who thinks I've redirected to the wrong place, tell me that via mail, also.) -Paul S. R. Chisholm, UUCP {ihnp4,cbosgd,allegra,vax135,mtune}!lznv!psc AT&T Mail !psrchisholm, Internet psc@lznv.att.com I wasn't speaking for my employer, I was just speaking my mind, and I'm really sorry to any of you I offended.