Microsoft fixes 'big boobs' coding gaffe
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Re: Microsoft fixes 'big boobs' coding gaffe
#2Dear god. Microsoft ought just chill. Anyone offended by a Hex string needs iCouch.me. It would be different if it were some Nazi slogan or some Al Sharpton quote. Either way, it's in Hex. Consider it a funny Easter egg. Let the nerds have some fun! After all, for some MS engineers, that's a close to big boobies as they'll ever get.
Re: Microsoft fixes 'big boobs' coding gaffe
#3Dear god. Microsoft ought just chill. Anyone offended by a Hex string needs iCouch.me. It would be different if it were some Nazi slogan or some Al Sharpton quote. Either way, it's in Hex. Consider it a funny Easter egg. Let the nerds have some fun! After all, for some MS engineers, that's a close to big boobies as they'll ever get.
It's a bit bigger of an issue than that. There's nothing wrong with easter eggs, but the big issue here is that it is a sexist remark at a time when women are having a difficult time making it in many STEM fields, specifically software development, directly because of the actions like this that affect them in the workplace.
Re: Microsoft fixes 'big boobs' coding gaffe
#4> His comments, and those on the Linux mailing list, have started a huge debate about whether use of the string was sexist and how male developers should conduct themselves.
Re: Microsoft fixes 'big boobs' coding gaffe
#5I find it funny that this is offensive to some people. I cringe that some of the silly names we have given internal code bits or projects might one day offend someone somewhere and need to have a formal apology. It's a good thing people can't get under the paint of their walls as it's common for construction workers to write notes and draw on unfinished sheetrock.
Re: Microsoft fixes 'big boobs' coding gaffe
#6So someone set 0xB16B00B5 as the guest ID in the hyper-v code in the Linux kernel, and some other people got offended and asked Microsoft to change it.
I don't see the problem, I don't know how someone could be offended because of this. And as Paule Bolle says [1], it can be changed without breaking anything.
The only serious thing that comes to mind about this is the MS Trustworthy Computing initiative, but I don't think it has anything to say here.
Re: Microsoft fixes 'big boobs' coding gaffe
#7I find it funny that this is offensive to some people. I cringe that some of the silly names we have given internal code bits or projects might one day offend someone somewhere and need to have a formal apology. It's a good thing people can't get under the paint of their walls as it's common for construction workers to write notes and draw on unfinished sheetrock.
It's not about leaving a humorous note or reference (I know I've left plenty), but that it's a sexist one reflects poorly on developer culture.
Re: Microsoft fixes 'big boobs' coding gaffe
#8The mere fact that so many software developers don't see the big issue here is exactly the big issue.
Re: Microsoft fixes 'big boobs' coding gaffe
#9I find it funny that this is offensive to some people. I cringe that some of the silly names we have given internal code bits or projects might one day offend someone somewhere and need to have a formal apology. It's a good thing people can't get under the paint of their walls as it's common for construction workers to write notes and draw on unfinished sheetrock.
It's not about leaving a humorous note or reference (I know I've left plenty), but that it's a sexist one reflects poorly on developer culture.
Men have boobs too, and some men have big boobs (often referred to as moobs). This just shows that people can get angry at any and everything. Sexist? Only if you want it to be.
Re: Microsoft fixes 'big boobs' coding gaffe
#10I find it funny that this is offensive to some people. I cringe that some of the silly names we have given internal code bits or projects might one day offend someone somewhere and need to have a formal apology. It's a good thing people can't get under the paint of their walls as it's common for construction workers to write notes and draw on unfinished sheetrock.
It's not about leaving a humorous note or reference (I know I've left plenty), but that it's a sexist one reflects poorly on developer culture.
Now there's a limit to draw too. I don't approve of some of the blatant sexism going on in our field, but this is a little too much don't you think?
If I tell someone I like boobs, should I issue a formal apology too? Should Microsoft issue a public apology to their cafeteria workers for using 0xBAADF00D? OpenSolaris for 0xDEFEC8ED?*
They're hex strings ffs. Can we stop pretending we're so prude and perfect, call out the real offensive stuff and not fret over this kind of irrelevance?