6 ms·

People upset by the "bro" word. Peak Mozilla.

by mahouse 11y ago

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
reitanqild 11y ago
I think they are smart to sidestep it right away. That said I think the current trend of limiting not just insults but whatever can possibly be construed as an insult by anyone, -that might not be a smart move in the long run. Especially as some people seems very good at getting insulted.
- TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
  The "current trend" (although this is by no means new) isn't about insults per se. It doesn't really matter if someone is insulted.
jug5 11y ago
Peak idiocy so far, but given the extreme "feminism" that is taking ahold of the industry this is just the beginning.
TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
Why shouldn't they be? Words can have unfortunate connotations. When you name something, you try to avoid such things.
- DonHopkins 11y ago
  That's exactly the point of Tim Minchin's song about the power of the language of prejudice, about a word with a terrible history of being used to abuse, oppress and subdue: just six seemingly harmless letter arranged in a way to form a word with more power than the pieces of metal that are forged to make swords: a couple of G's, an R and an E, a I and an N... [1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
    - DonHopkins 11y ago
      Thanks for the spoiler! Do you really think there's anyone here on Hacker News who wouldn't get the joke without needing you to explain it to them? The point the song makes is relevant to the conversation, and the song's well worth listening to even after you spoiled the surprise, if not just for Tim's facial expressions. I posted the link because I believe his humor is a relevant path to enlightenment, not just an end to itself.
      - reitanqild 11y ago
        Thanks for the spoiler! Do you really think there's anyone here on Hacker News who wouldn't get the joke without needing you to explain it to them? Just to point out your own prejudice, not everyone here is a native English speaker.
        DonHopkins 11y ago
        Are you suggesting it's good manners to reply to all the jokes on Hacker News and preemptively explain them for people who aren't native English speakers, and it's prejudiced to be against that? (That's a rhetorical joke. Please don't reply and explain it.)
        reitanqild 11y ago
        No I'm pointing out that you have a borderline rude "I and I alone knows best" attitude that detracts from the discussion.
      - detaro 11y ago
        And him giving the detail allows all the people who can't right now look at a video a chance to understand your point, and I don't see how the explanation detracts from the argument.
- lcswi 11y ago
  As a burn victim the name of mozilla's browser is highly insensitive.
DonHopkins 11y ago
Let's deal with the extreme sexism and misogyny that has always had a stranglehold on the entire world first, before whining about recent beginnings of extreme "feminism" in the computer industry, m'kay?
- reitanqild 11y ago
  No. Disagree with the first part. At least where I live girls have had an advantage all the way through school at least since I was a kid which means at least more than two decades.
  - DonHopkins 11y ago
    Care to reveal what planet you're from, or is there a reason you're coy about it?
    - reitanqild 11y ago
      Please keep this civil. I grew up somewhere in western Europe. Girls got(, and still get get) extra points when applying to schools there. This is not limited to subjects that have a overrepresentation of boys, it is like this at chemistry and nursery studies as well.
    - DanBC 11y ago
      Do you realise how rude you sometimes are?
  - DanBC 11y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action#Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action#Europe That shows a bunch of places where positive discrimination is not legal, and a few where it's tried, but none of them mention that it happens in universities. Did I miss it? Is Wikipedia missing something?
    - reitanqild 11y ago
      Wikipedia is missing something.
teddyh 11y ago
Context: The original suggested three-character file name extention name was “.bro”. From (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=366559#c147 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=366559#c147): “I received a series of 'bro' jokes in response to my posting about this new feature.” This proves that the name “bro” actually has significant meaning for many people, some of which find it a bad thing. This would be unnecessarily distracting, so it should simply be replaced with something like br, btl, bli or bti. Save your outrage for when the solution actually has a downside of any significance.
- yoodenvranx 11y ago
  > “I received a series of 'bro' jokes in response to my posting about this new feature.” But this is not the part why people are pissed. If this would be the only reason then everybody would be fine, but before your quote the guy wrote: > "bro" has a gender problem, even though the dual meaning is unintentional. It comes of misogynistic [...] And this reasoning is just tumblerlina-SRS-gamergate-outrage-bullshit. People are not pissed because of the change of the extension but by the ridiculous reason given in the bug report. They should have just stated that ".bro" might result in acceptance problems in large corporate culture and everybody would have understood this. But stating that .bro has a gender problem is just crazy.
- 0xcde4c3db 11y ago
  > Save your outrage for when the solution actually has a downside of any significance. In cases like this, much of the outrage stems not from dissatisfaction with any particular solution, but from people being offended that the concern was taken seriously at all.
- mcphage 11y ago
  > This proves that the name “bro” actually has significant meaning for many people, some of which find it a bad thing. No doubt the same people who snickered at the name of the Nintento Wii and Apple iPad.
donatj 11y ago
While I usually am peeved by this type of thing I think it's probably wise to avoid setting off stupid people if you can. That said, the commenters stereotyping of "bro"s as misogynist is offensive in and of itself. I know MANY bro's who treat women with respect. Stereotyping any group of people is hurtful and wrong.

People upset by the "bro" word. Peak Mozilla.

by mahouse 11y ago

People upset by the "bro" word. Peak Mozilla.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

reitanqild 11y ago

I think they are smart to sidestep it right away. That said I think the current trend of limiting not just insults but whatever can possibly be construed as an insult by anyone, -that might not be a smart move in the long run. Especially as some people seems very good at getting insulted.

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
The "current trend" (although this is by no means new) isn't about insults per se. It doesn't really matter if someone is insulted.

jug5 11y ago

Peak idiocy so far, but given the extreme "feminism" that is taking ahold of the industry this is just the beginning.

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago

Why shouldn't they be? Words can have unfortunate connotations. When you name something, you try to avoid such things.

DonHopkins 11y ago
That's exactly the point of Tim Minchin's song about the power of the language of prejudice, about a word with a terrible history of being used to abuse, oppress and subdue: just six seemingly harmless letter arranged in a way to form a word with more power than the pieces of metal that are forged to make swords: a couple of G's, an R and an E, a I and an N... [1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
  - DonHopkins 11y ago
    Thanks for the spoiler! Do you really think there's anyone here on Hacker News who wouldn't get the joke without needing you to explain it to them? The point the song makes is relevant to the conversation, and the song's well worth listening to even after you spoiled the surprise, if not just for Tim's facial expressions. I posted the link because I believe his humor is a relevant path to enlightenment, not just an end to itself.
    - reitanqild 11y ago
      Thanks for the spoiler! Do you really think there's anyone here on Hacker News who wouldn't get the joke without needing you to explain it to them? Just to point out your own prejudice, not everyone here is a native English speaker.
      - DonHopkins 11y ago
        Are you suggesting it's good manners to reply to all the jokes on Hacker News and preemptively explain them for people who aren't native English speakers, and it's prejudiced to be against that? (That's a rhetorical joke. Please don't reply and explain it.)
        reitanqild 11y ago
        No I'm pointing out that you have a borderline rude "I and I alone knows best" attitude that detracts from the discussion.
    - detaro 11y ago
      And him giving the detail allows all the people who can't right now look at a video a chance to understand your point, and I don't see how the explanation detracts from the argument.
lcswi 11y ago
As a burn victim the name of mozilla's browser is highly insensitive.

DonHopkins 11y ago

Let's deal with the extreme sexism and misogyny that has always had a stranglehold on the entire world first, before whining about recent beginnings of extreme "feminism" in the computer industry, m'kay?

reitanqild 11y ago
No. Disagree with the first part. At least where I live girls have had an advantage all the way through school at least since I was a kid which means at least more than two decades.
- DonHopkins 11y ago
  Care to reveal what planet you're from, or is there a reason you're coy about it?
  - reitanqild 11y ago
    Please keep this civil. I grew up somewhere in western Europe. Girls got(, and still get get) extra points when applying to schools there. This is not limited to subjects that have a overrepresentation of boys, it is like this at chemistry and nursery studies as well.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    Do you realise how rude you sometimes are?
- DanBC 11y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action#Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action#Europe That shows a bunch of places where positive discrimination is not legal, and a few where it's tried, but none of them mention that it happens in universities. Did I miss it? Is Wikipedia missing something?
  - reitanqild 11y ago
    Wikipedia is missing something.

teddyh 11y ago

Context: The original suggested three-character file name extention name was “.bro”. From (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=366559#c147 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=366559#c147): “I received a series of 'bro' jokes in response to my posting about this new feature.” This proves that the name “bro” actually has significant meaning for many people, some of which find it a bad thing. This would be unnecessarily distracting, so it should simply be replaced with something like br, btl, bli or bti. Save your outrage for when the solution actually has a downside of any significance.

yoodenvranx 11y ago
> “I received a series of 'bro' jokes in response to my posting about this new feature.” But this is not the part why people are pissed. If this would be the only reason then everybody would be fine, but before your quote the guy wrote: > "bro" has a gender problem, even though the dual meaning is unintentional. It comes of misogynistic [...] And this reasoning is just tumblerlina-SRS-gamergate-outrage-bullshit. People are not pissed because of the change of the extension but by the ridiculous reason given in the bug report. They should have just stated that ".bro" might result in acceptance problems in large corporate culture and everybody would have understood this. But stating that .bro has a gender problem is just crazy.
0xcde4c3db 11y ago
> Save your outrage for when the solution actually has a downside of any significance. In cases like this, much of the outrage stems not from dissatisfaction with any particular solution, but from people being offended that the concern was taken seriously at all.
mcphage 11y ago
> This proves that the name “bro” actually has significant meaning for many people, some of which find it a bad thing. No doubt the same people who snickered at the name of the Nintento Wii and Apple iPad.

donatj 11y ago

While I usually am peeved by this type of thing I think it's probably wise to avoid setting off stupid people if you can. That said, the commenters stereotyping of "bro"s as misogynist is offensive in and of itself. I know MANY bro's who treat women with respect. Stereotyping any group of people is hurtful and wrong.