4 ms·

Offensive is far too strong. Controversial would be much better, and it clearly (in my opinion) was, and would have continued to be. Why choose a name which is

Offensive is far too strong. Controversial would be much better, and it clearly (in my opinion) was, and would have continued to be. Why choose a name which is going to cause such issues, when there wasn't (yet) any reason not to change it?

d0lph 11y ago
Controversial is a bit much, I really don't see how this could be offensive at all.
- brink 11y ago
  It's much less "is it offensive", and more "can people find a reason for it to be offensive" these days.
- efuquen 11y ago
  How about just unprofessional then?
  - EdHominem 11y ago
    Nope. Everything can be offensive to someone if they try hard enough. Just pick something that doesn't intend to be rude and ignore the few haters who have to make everything about them.
    - CJefferson 11y ago
      To be fair, you don't have to try very hard to find 'bro' offensive. The definition of bro I'm familar with (quoting wikipedia here) is 'a type of "fratty masculinity", predominantly "if not exclusively" white'. See also the phrase 'bros before hoes'. This isn't the most serious thing in the world, but there are definitely people who find it excluding, and that seems reasonable to me.
      - d0lph 11y ago
        Excluding? How? If it were a .chick or something similar I would not feel like it was meant for only female use. This is CS, a lack of groupthink-y "professionalism" is why I like this field.
        ant6n 11y ago
        .chick sounds offensive, but for different reasons.
        CJefferson 11y ago
        The reason you wouldn't feel it was only for female use is that (I imagine, I'm sorry if I misinterpret your life) you have not been made to feel that a field you love (computing) is mainly "not for you", but for the other gender (or another group). While it's not nice to accept, most women I know well in computing have had bad experiences with "bro"-type people, saying they shouldn't / can't use a computer because they are a woman. On an at least monthly basis. For years. It grinds slowly over time. If you think CS is professional, I've got some bad news for you -- there are quite a lot of toxic badly behaved people around unfortunately.
        d0lph 11y ago
        I agree, women should not be discouraged from the CS field. It is in fact bizarre to me that someone would tell women they don't belong in CS. But my point is that this is not particularly offensive, it's purely a pun. I think being oversensitive can be as damaging as being unsensitive.
      - EdHominem 11y ago
        It could be. I could mean it that way, or I could mean it like "Sis", or I could just like the sound. Without intent to be rude, it's not. But I disagree with how hard you have to try. The people on here are trying fairly hard to make sure everyone knows how offensive they might find it. It didn't offend you, but you're offended that it might offend someone, or worse - that it might not offend someone. Nobody said "It's the compression method for white men", that whole racist angle is yours. I find your shaming word-police game to be exclusionary. Please stop it.
- manigandham 11y ago
  Unfortunately today's social/culture/politics environment is very sensitive and it's pretty much guaranteed that there will be a problem with this being offensive, insensitive or otherwise unprofessional. It's the world we live in today and much better to just avoid altogether now rather than try to defend/fix it later.
- CJefferson 11y ago
  The common definition of the term "bro" is (quoting wikipedia) 'a type of "fratty masculinity", predominantly "if not exclusively" white'. Now, you can not like that definition of bro, but that is for many people to common definition. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear 'bro' is the phrase 'bros before hoes', which is hard to interpret as not offensive to women. Does this really connect to a compression format? Of course not, but if that is the first thing that comes to people's minds, why not switch to something with less baggage? If you can't see how any of this could be offensive, then I'm afraid we just have different points of view.

d0lph 11y ago

Controversial is a bit much, I really don't see how this could be offensive at all.

brink 11y ago
It's much less "is it offensive", and more "can people find a reason for it to be offensive" these days.
efuquen 11y ago
How about just unprofessional then?
- EdHominem 11y ago
  Nope. Everything can be offensive to someone if they try hard enough. Just pick something that doesn't intend to be rude and ignore the few haters who have to make everything about them.
  - CJefferson 11y ago
    To be fair, you don't have to try very hard to find 'bro' offensive. The definition of bro I'm familar with (quoting wikipedia here) is 'a type of "fratty masculinity", predominantly "if not exclusively" white'. See also the phrase 'bros before hoes'. This isn't the most serious thing in the world, but there are definitely people who find it excluding, and that seems reasonable to me.
    - d0lph 11y ago
      Excluding? How? If it were a .chick or something similar I would not feel like it was meant for only female use. This is CS, a lack of groupthink-y "professionalism" is why I like this field.
      - ant6n 11y ago
        .chick sounds offensive, but for different reasons.
      - CJefferson 11y ago
        The reason you wouldn't feel it was only for female use is that (I imagine, I'm sorry if I misinterpret your life) you have not been made to feel that a field you love (computing) is mainly "not for you", but for the other gender (or another group). While it's not nice to accept, most women I know well in computing have had bad experiences with "bro"-type people, saying they shouldn't / can't use a computer because they are a woman. On an at least monthly basis. For years. It grinds slowly over time. If you think CS is professional, I've got some bad news for you -- there are quite a lot of toxic badly behaved people around unfortunately.
        d0lph 11y ago
        I agree, women should not be discouraged from the CS field. It is in fact bizarre to me that someone would tell women they don't belong in CS. But my point is that this is not particularly offensive, it's purely a pun. I think being oversensitive can be as damaging as being unsensitive.
    - EdHominem 11y ago
      It could be. I could mean it that way, or I could mean it like "Sis", or I could just like the sound. Without intent to be rude, it's not. But I disagree with how hard you have to try. The people on here are trying fairly hard to make sure everyone knows how offensive they might find it. It didn't offend you, but you're offended that it might offend someone, or worse - that it might not offend someone. Nobody said "It's the compression method for white men", that whole racist angle is yours. I find your shaming word-police game to be exclusionary. Please stop it.
manigandham 11y ago
Unfortunately today's social/culture/politics environment is very sensitive and it's pretty much guaranteed that there will be a problem with this being offensive, insensitive or otherwise unprofessional. It's the world we live in today and much better to just avoid altogether now rather than try to defend/fix it later.
CJefferson 11y ago
The common definition of the term "bro" is (quoting wikipedia) 'a type of "fratty masculinity", predominantly "if not exclusively" white'. Now, you can not like that definition of bro, but that is for many people to common definition. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear 'bro' is the phrase 'bros before hoes', which is hard to interpret as not offensive to women. Does this really connect to a compression format? Of course not, but if that is the first thing that comes to people's minds, why not switch to something with less baggage? If you can't see how any of this could be offensive, then I'm afraid we just have different points of view.