] Today, the rights of individuals are being eroded: by
] government, by corporations, by society itself. This
] icon the Individual-i represents the rights
] of the individual.

So, here is Schneier's logo for individual rights. The problem with this symbol, much like Raymond's hacker logo, is that the originator of the symbol is attempting to impose a meaning for the symbol, while also associating the symbol with a concept that has a different meaning to most people. Symbols that work work because of the meaning that the masses choose for them and not because of the meaning their originators conjure up.

In Raymond's case he is holding on to a mid 80's view of computer ethics. He doesn't understand that computer security is orthagonal to the hacker ideal. The people who are most likely to use his symbol don't draw the lines he draws.

In Schneier's case he has taken a conservative concept (individual freedom) and wrapped it in some liberal ideas (such as freedom of sexual orientation.) This is a case where both sides claim to support individual freedom but neither really do. He should add gun ownership to his list of things the symbol stands for, just to see what impact that has on who employs it.

Individual-i