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Political correctness run amok! My company has now official guidelines that discourage 'whitelist' and 'blacklist' in new features, but I wonder how long before

Political correctness run amok! My company has now official guidelines that discourage 'whitelist' and 'blacklist' in new features, but I wonder how long before they make everyone go back and refactor these names. Git 'master' branch derangement is another example of this BS.

reaperducer 6y ago
See also: Master and slave in device controllers.
- azernik 6y ago
  That one's a bit more understandable in that it's actually referencing a master/slave relationship. "Master" as in "master copy" is... not that.
  - Fogest 6y ago
    Yes, a master/slave relationship in technology. Don't drop the context to support policing words. Context very much matters when dealing with words yet for some reason the context is dropped in order to make it seem like a word is being used in an offensive way. Except it's not, you're just forgetting the context to make it that way. If a process is directly commanding and telling another process what to do I don't see how calling it a master is wrong? It is one of it's definitions.
    - deanCommie 6y ago
      There is an open source tool that randomly terminates EC2 instances in the interest of chaos engineering called "chaos monkey". What would you think if the tool was called "concentration camp executioner"? You might think I'm making an extreme example to make a point, and I am - you would have a viscerally emotional reaction and recognize that the accuracy of a word does not offset the negative connotations associated with it. I use the word "gypped" in my vocabulary. It never occurred to me that it is a derogatory term towards gypsies. Until very recently, "jewed" was a perfectly appropriate term to use in professional contexts with the same meaning. The definition of a word is not relevant to the reasons why people are asking for terms like master/slave to exit our ubiquitous technical vocabulary.
      - Fogest 6y ago
        Honestly that it's a stupid comparison. In one case you're talking about an animal that is chaotic. Monkeys by nature are pretty wild and chaotic animal so that word makes sense. Your example doesn't make sense. Why would a tool be called that? You're describing a specific tragic event in event where as a monkey is.... a monkey.... Just stop. Your logic makes zero sense. Do not try and compare an animal to a historically tragic event to justify word policing. That is absolutely insane and is incredibly disrespectful. Your use of tragedies to justify your woke word policing is quite frankly disgusting. The fact that you can't explain how it makes sense without comparing it to some random tragedy is no better than the people who call everyone with a conservative view a "nazi". Just knock it off. Chaos monkey sounds completely fine and I can't see how any sane non-racist person would associate that with a black person. If that is what you are doing, I think you need to do some self-reflection on what that says about your own subconscious racist biases.
        npinguy 6y ago
        > Do not try and compare an animal to a historically tragic event to justify word policing. Your use of tragedies to justify your woke word policing is quite frankly disgusting. deanCommie was trying to get you to see that SLAVERY was also a historically tragic event that people are reminded of when they see terminology like master/slave. > Chaos monkey sounds completely fine and I can't see how any sane non-racist person would associate that with a black person. They weren't trying to say that. This whole discussion is master/slave. This is precisely the point - chaos monkey is a fine neutral term that describes what is needed without any negative connotations. "Concentration camp guard" isn't. Primary/replica is a fine neutral term. "Master/slave" aren't. Honestly, your outrage about the comparison to concentration camps exactly proves the point that language matters regardless of intent.
nanagojo 6y ago
See if any of them have attainted a Masters degree ;)
- zelphirkalt 6y ago
  That's my favorite example of how silly it is! Lets give all the people with a master degree a change to "main degree". "main of arts", "main of engineering", "main of science" lol
  - umvi 6y ago
    I suppose you could replace "master" with "graduate"
    - Minor49er 6y ago
      What if you graduate with an associate or bachelor's degree instead?
      - umvi 6y ago
        "graduate degree" (pronounced gra-jə-wət) is generally understood to mean master's degree (or uncommonly, PhD). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_school https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_school
        Minor49er 6y ago
        So according to your link and yourself, a graduate degree may encompass both master's and doctoral degrees, which would only serve to obscure the meaning. Also, I don't think you intended it to be this way, but your inclusion of the pronunciation comes off as condescending.
        umvi 6y ago
        I only included the pronunciation because you used a version of "graduate" in your original comment that has a different pronunciation and different meaning. (gra-jə-wāt vs. gra-jə-wət) > a graduate degree may encompass both master's and doctoral degrees, which would only serve to obscure the meaning. Nope, 99% of the time "graduate degree" == "master's degree". Usually "postgraduate degree" is used to refer to doctoral degrees. "graduate degree" is very common and generally unambiguous. "undergraduate degree" = bachelor's degree, etc. "graduate degree" = master's degree, etc. "postgraduate degree" = doctorate, etc.
tacitusarc 6y ago
My company has mandated all of this. Change blacklist and whitelist, change the git master branch name, don't use master-slave, there's a list of "racially charged" terms and the replacements we're supposed to use. It's all a corporate virtue signal mask so they can lay people off and increase exec compensation and still claim to have some moral high ground.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 6y ago
  And the list is constantly growing (and growing more ridiculous).
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- tp3 6y ago
  It's amazing how much of the world operates in this manner. People are stupid and think they're acting on the right course by banning names they don't like and encouraging them to take action. And because their moral positions are so thin, they don't want to be held accountable and they want their money back.
- epx 6y ago
  Will the company operate in the red instead of in the black as well?
  - a1369209993 6y ago
    > Will the company operate in the red instead of in the black as well? Pretty sure that'd just 'offend' (wannabe representatives of) Native Americans instead.
  - retox 6y ago
    Only if they get rid of the CHIEF executives
nostromo 6y ago
We were told to no longer call free time between meetings “white space.”
- ttt0 6y ago
  What about the whitespace character?
  - wincy 6y ago
    If your computer is running in dark mode it’s now darkspace.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

reaperducer 6y ago

See also: Master and slave in device controllers.

azernik 6y ago
That one's a bit more understandable in that it's actually referencing a master/slave relationship. "Master" as in "master copy" is... not that.
- Fogest 6y ago
  Yes, a master/slave relationship in technology. Don't drop the context to support policing words. Context very much matters when dealing with words yet for some reason the context is dropped in order to make it seem like a word is being used in an offensive way. Except it's not, you're just forgetting the context to make it that way. If a process is directly commanding and telling another process what to do I don't see how calling it a master is wrong? It is one of it's definitions.
  - deanCommie 6y ago
    There is an open source tool that randomly terminates EC2 instances in the interest of chaos engineering called "chaos monkey". What would you think if the tool was called "concentration camp executioner"? You might think I'm making an extreme example to make a point, and I am - you would have a viscerally emotional reaction and recognize that the accuracy of a word does not offset the negative connotations associated with it. I use the word "gypped" in my vocabulary. It never occurred to me that it is a derogatory term towards gypsies. Until very recently, "jewed" was a perfectly appropriate term to use in professional contexts with the same meaning. The definition of a word is not relevant to the reasons why people are asking for terms like master/slave to exit our ubiquitous technical vocabulary.
    - Fogest 6y ago
      Honestly that it's a stupid comparison. In one case you're talking about an animal that is chaotic. Monkeys by nature are pretty wild and chaotic animal so that word makes sense. Your example doesn't make sense. Why would a tool be called that? You're describing a specific tragic event in event where as a monkey is.... a monkey.... Just stop. Your logic makes zero sense. Do not try and compare an animal to a historically tragic event to justify word policing. That is absolutely insane and is incredibly disrespectful. Your use of tragedies to justify your woke word policing is quite frankly disgusting. The fact that you can't explain how it makes sense without comparing it to some random tragedy is no better than the people who call everyone with a conservative view a "nazi". Just knock it off. Chaos monkey sounds completely fine and I can't see how any sane non-racist person would associate that with a black person. If that is what you are doing, I think you need to do some self-reflection on what that says about your own subconscious racist biases.
      - npinguy 6y ago
        > Do not try and compare an animal to a historically tragic event to justify word policing. Your use of tragedies to justify your woke word policing is quite frankly disgusting. deanCommie was trying to get you to see that SLAVERY was also a historically tragic event that people are reminded of when they see terminology like master/slave. > Chaos monkey sounds completely fine and I can't see how any sane non-racist person would associate that with a black person. They weren't trying to say that. This whole discussion is master/slave. This is precisely the point - chaos monkey is a fine neutral term that describes what is needed without any negative connotations. "Concentration camp guard" isn't. Primary/replica is a fine neutral term. "Master/slave" aren't. Honestly, your outrage about the comparison to concentration camps exactly proves the point that language matters regardless of intent.

nanagojo 6y ago

See if any of them have attainted a Masters degree ;)

zelphirkalt 6y ago
That's my favorite example of how silly it is! Lets give all the people with a master degree a change to "main degree". "main of arts", "main of engineering", "main of science" lol
- umvi 6y ago
  I suppose you could replace "master" with "graduate"
  - Minor49er 6y ago
    What if you graduate with an associate or bachelor's degree instead?
    - umvi 6y ago
      "graduate degree" (pronounced gra-jə-wət) is generally understood to mean master's degree (or uncommonly, PhD). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_school https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_school
      - Minor49er 6y ago
        So according to your link and yourself, a graduate degree may encompass both master's and doctoral degrees, which would only serve to obscure the meaning. Also, I don't think you intended it to be this way, but your inclusion of the pronunciation comes off as condescending.
        umvi 6y ago
        I only included the pronunciation because you used a version of "graduate" in your original comment that has a different pronunciation and different meaning. (gra-jə-wāt vs. gra-jə-wət) > a graduate degree may encompass both master's and doctoral degrees, which would only serve to obscure the meaning. Nope, 99% of the time "graduate degree" == "master's degree". Usually "postgraduate degree" is used to refer to doctoral degrees. "graduate degree" is very common and generally unambiguous. "undergraduate degree" = bachelor's degree, etc. "graduate degree" = master's degree, etc. "postgraduate degree" = doctorate, etc.

tacitusarc 6y ago

My company has mandated all of this. Change blacklist and whitelist, change the git master branch name, don't use master-slave, there's a list of "racially charged" terms and the replacements we're supposed to use. It's all a corporate virtue signal mask so they can lay people off and increase exec compensation and still claim to have some moral high ground.

tgsovlerkhgsel 6y ago
And the list is constantly growing (and growing more ridiculous).
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
tp3 6y ago
It's amazing how much of the world operates in this manner. People are stupid and think they're acting on the right course by banning names they don't like and encouraging them to take action. And because their moral positions are so thin, they don't want to be held accountable and they want their money back.
epx 6y ago
Will the company operate in the red instead of in the black as well?
- a1369209993 6y ago
  > Will the company operate in the red instead of in the black as well? Pretty sure that'd just 'offend' (wannabe representatives of) Native Americans instead.
- retox 6y ago
  Only if they get rid of the CHIEF executives

nostromo 6y ago

We were told to no longer call free time between meetings “white space.”

ttt0 6y ago
What about the whitespace character?
- wincy 6y ago
  If your computer is running in dark mode it’s now darkspace.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]