Also for the record, ShadowAce, Clement LeFebvre (sp?) the primary author of Mint, asked those who support Israel NOT to use or donate to Mint. He believes Israel is such a bad actor in the Middle East, and the Palestinian cause so just, that this is dragged into software. Distrowatch did an article on this “ban” a while back, and I do not know if Mr. Mint still holds this view or proscription.
Can’t Linux geeks just get along?
Linux Geeks, as you put it, are just like every other person. Their shared enthusiasm for a technical platform does not erase their differences in other arenas of life.
While I did not know that about Mint, or its developer(s), I was never interested in it anyway, as it is a derivative of Ubuntu. This revelation (on my part) only strengthens my resolve to not try it.
I will stick with a capitalism-friendly distro like Fedora.
Your question implies that any shared enthusiasm brings together clones of the same type of people. Much like a shared enthusiasm for, say, Free Republic brings together only those who like Apple, and who are very religious.
“I do not know if Mr. Mint still holds this view or proscription.”
No, he does not. Clem publicly apologized after realizing that personal politics has no place on an OS website.