4 ms·

I'm not aware of Microsoft Word or any editor I've ever used or heard of forbidding me from using the word "retards" or any other. Heck, Gnu Emacs allows me to

by hga 11y ago

I'm not aware of Microsoft Word or any editor I've ever used or heard of forbidding me from using the word "retards" or any other. Heck, Gnu Emacs allows me to write proprietary software, a user freedom RMS is no doubt not entirely happy with. I require that general freedom of expression in my tools and do no tolerate vendors who engage in these sorts of damaging stunts. I suspect I'm not alone, and I note GitHub has a further problem of not being all that sticky, e.g. I moved all my repos off it earlier today after we got confirmation of this.

seanflyon 11y ago
Could you explicitly state what it is you are referring to? I'm not familiar with github's content restrictions.
- gizmo686 11y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9966118 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9966118 This was on the front page recently. 741 comments and only 480 upvotes, so it wouldn't suprise me if it set off the flamewar filter and got pushed off.
  - jessaustin 11y ago
    It was surprising how long that stayed on the front page: it was still there when comments were ~550 and upvotes were at least a hundred less.
- hga 11y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9966118 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9966118 tl;dr: Observed fact, GitHub disappeared a repo (this I personally know for a fact) and all its forks, the only reason we can surmise is that it described itself as "X for retards". I believe it's this one https://github.com/WebMBro/WebMConverter https://github.com/WebMBro/WebMConverter now described as "WebM for bakas." (Japanglish for idiots or fools). Per this https://imgur.com/QC51FZz https://imgur.com/QC51FZz it was indeed for the use of that word. I'd be more willing to extend some slack to GitHub if they hadn't precipitously turned off their service for these repos, that's worse than this example of their "tolerance", but who knows what it'll be next? Who knows how this will play out in the long term; their trashing of their meritocracy rug suggests this is not a one off (ADDED: and erics32 reminded me of C+=). Why should I or anyone else concerned about long term stability invest in their particular value adds when they show such capriciousness? The great point, in relation to this topic of their latest investment, is that companies that depend almost entirely on their "communities" can screw those up and destroy their value.
  - geographomics 11y ago
    What a curious turn of events. Is "retard" particularly offensive in some cultures? I wasn't aware it had such inflammatory power behind it.
    - samt 11y ago
      Yes it is highly offensive to many English speaking individuals in the US. It has historically been used as a highly derogatory term for disabled individuals.
      - hga 11y ago
        It's certainly at minimum an insulting word, and in this context unambiguously so. In the context of, say, aerodynamics, its merely a word of art, e.g. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aerodynamic+braking http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aerodynamic+braking It'll be another word, perhaps in a more ambigious context, next time. Which brings up another point: I just don't want to have to worry about what will become this politically incorrect in the future when I'm writing code and documentation.
        ams6110 11y ago
        It's a perfectly good word that should not be banned: This patch retards the rate of retry attempts after three consecutive failures
        onion2k 11y ago
        It wouldn't be banned in that context.
        saryant 11y ago
        That requires people to understand context and nuance. We live in a world where a guy wants to ban Mel Brooks' The Producers because he doesn't realize it's a satire of Hitler, not an homage. Lots of people don't or won't appreciate context.
deleted 11y ago
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erics32 11y ago
Also not the first time Github has deleted a repo for ideological reasons. See: C+=
- netheril96 11y ago
  Care to elaborate about it? I just found it accessible at https://github.com/ErisBlastar/cplusequality https://github.com/ErisBlastar/cplusequality
  - erics32 11y ago
    The original C+= repo (https://github.com/FeministSoftwareFoundation/C-plus-Equality https://github.com/FeministSoftwareFoundation/C-plus-Equalit...) was taken down by Github after twitter backlash. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/12/14/1618239/github-takes-down-satirical-c-plus-equality-language http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/12/14/1618239/github-takes...
    - huac 11y ago
      it was removed by bitbucket as well. god, this repo is reprehensive.
      - brighteyes 11y ago
        It's satire. edit: why the downvotes? honest question.
        huac 11y ago
        4CHAN
        issaria 11y ago
        People feel the power when the click the downvote button.
      - colllectorof 11y ago
        I don't get the outrage. In fact, I think it's a brilliant parody of post-structuralist jargon, self-contradictions and pretentious verbal mannerisms. If you take this repo as a serious attack against feminism I have to point out that as far as I can see the whole thing has no substance and offers no comments on real-life issues. Zero. It satirizes a certain vacuous style of writing. Saying that it threatens feminism is like saying that satirizing jargon-heavy research papers threatens science. Is the jargon really all that matters? I went to Slashdot through the link above which led me back to HN. The reactions just seem bizarre. Even if offensive to some, the readme.md is fully within the traditions of American comedy. You don't get all angry about Jeff Foxworthy's You Might be a Redneck, right? You don't proclaim that he misrepresents the rural poor and trivializes their hardships? Or do you?
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deleted 11y ago
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proveanegative 11y ago
If this is where the things are going the time may soon come for someone to launch a GitHub clone that deliberately only bans illegal content and provides technological means of protection against Twitter mobs. Meanwhile, it would be nice to have a reusable code of conduct written with the same attitude. E.g., it would only forbid personal attacks, credible threats of violence against other contributors and violations of the law (like committing warez to the repository). It would deny any responsibility for what the contributors say elsewhere on the Internet and state an unwillingness to discuss their speech on the project grounds. It could include anti-blackmail clauses like that agitating people on social media to "support" your issue by shaming the maintainers will get you banned and the issue closed immediately and irrevocably. The latter would have to be carefully written, though, to not be exploitable.

by hga 11y ago

seanflyon 11y ago

Could you explicitly state what it is you are referring to? I'm not familiar with github's content restrictions.

gizmo686 11y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9966118 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9966118 This was on the front page recently. 741 comments and only 480 upvotes, so it wouldn't suprise me if it set off the flamewar filter and got pushed off.
- jessaustin 11y ago
  It was surprising how long that stayed on the front page: it was still there when comments were ~550 and upvotes were at least a hundred less.
hga 11y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9966118 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9966118 tl;dr: Observed fact, GitHub disappeared a repo (this I personally know for a fact) and all its forks, the only reason we can surmise is that it described itself as "X for retards". I believe it's this one https://github.com/WebMBro/WebMConverter https://github.com/WebMBro/WebMConverter now described as "WebM for bakas." (Japanglish for idiots or fools). Per this https://imgur.com/QC51FZz https://imgur.com/QC51FZz it was indeed for the use of that word. I'd be more willing to extend some slack to GitHub if they hadn't precipitously turned off their service for these repos, that's worse than this example of their "tolerance", but who knows what it'll be next? Who knows how this will play out in the long term; their trashing of their meritocracy rug suggests this is not a one off (ADDED: and erics32 reminded me of C+=). Why should I or anyone else concerned about long term stability invest in their particular value adds when they show such capriciousness? The great point, in relation to this topic of their latest investment, is that companies that depend almost entirely on their "communities" can screw those up and destroy their value.
- geographomics 11y ago
  What a curious turn of events. Is "retard" particularly offensive in some cultures? I wasn't aware it had such inflammatory power behind it.
  - samt 11y ago
    Yes it is highly offensive to many English speaking individuals in the US. It has historically been used as a highly derogatory term for disabled individuals.
    - hga 11y ago
      It's certainly at minimum an insulting word, and in this context unambiguously so. In the context of, say, aerodynamics, its merely a word of art, e.g. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aerodynamic+braking http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aerodynamic+braking It'll be another word, perhaps in a more ambigious context, next time. Which brings up another point: I just don't want to have to worry about what will become this politically incorrect in the future when I'm writing code and documentation.
      - ams6110 11y ago
        It's a perfectly good word that should not be banned: This patch retards the rate of retry attempts after three consecutive failures
        onion2k 11y ago
        It wouldn't be banned in that context.
        saryant 11y ago
        That requires people to understand context and nuance. We live in a world where a guy wants to ban Mel Brooks' The Producers because he doesn't realize it's a satire of Hitler, not an homage. Lots of people don't or won't appreciate context.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

erics32 11y ago

Also not the first time Github has deleted a repo for ideological reasons. See: C+=

netheril96 11y ago
Care to elaborate about it? I just found it accessible at https://github.com/ErisBlastar/cplusequality https://github.com/ErisBlastar/cplusequality
- erics32 11y ago
  The original C+= repo (https://github.com/FeministSoftwareFoundation/C-plus-Equality https://github.com/FeministSoftwareFoundation/C-plus-Equalit...) was taken down by Github after twitter backlash. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/12/14/1618239/github-takes-down-satirical-c-plus-equality-language http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/12/14/1618239/github-takes...
  - huac 11y ago
    it was removed by bitbucket as well. god, this repo is reprehensive.
    - brighteyes 11y ago
      It's satire. edit: why the downvotes? honest question.
      - huac 11y ago
        4CHAN
      - issaria 11y ago
        People feel the power when the click the downvote button.
    - colllectorof 11y ago
      I don't get the outrage. In fact, I think it's a brilliant parody of post-structuralist jargon, self-contradictions and pretentious verbal mannerisms. If you take this repo as a serious attack against feminism I have to point out that as far as I can see the whole thing has no substance and offers no comments on real-life issues. Zero. It satirizes a certain vacuous style of writing. Saying that it threatens feminism is like saying that satirizing jargon-heavy research papers threatens science. Is the jargon really all that matters? I went to Slashdot through the link above which led me back to HN. The reactions just seem bizarre. Even if offensive to some, the readme.md is fully within the traditions of American comedy. You don't get all angry about Jeff Foxworthy's You Might be a Redneck, right? You don't proclaim that he misrepresents the rural poor and trivializes their hardships? Or do you?

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

proveanegative 11y ago

If this is where the things are going the time may soon come for someone to launch a GitHub clone that deliberately only bans illegal content and provides technological means of protection against Twitter mobs. Meanwhile, it would be nice to have a reusable code of conduct written with the same attitude. E.g., it would only forbid personal attacks, credible threats of violence against other contributors and violations of the law (like committing warez to the repository). It would deny any responsibility for what the contributors say elsewhere on the Internet and state an unwillingness to discuss their speech on the project grounds. It could include anti-blackmail clauses like that agitating people on social media to "support" your issue by shaming the maintainers will get you banned and the issue closed immediately and irrevocably. The latter would have to be carefully written, though, to not be exploitable.