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GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

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Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#181

Post by scruple »

gizmo686 wrote: post #89
spdustin wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the developer had every right to say retard. 100% correct. And if they said it in front of me, I'd have every right to kick them, hard. Both of us will have paid a price, sure, but hey, freedom of speech wasn't violated. You're free to call me a retard. I'm free to kick you for doing it. Everybody wins. But your calling me a retard isn't a divinely bestowed right to get away with it without a response just becau…

>And if they said it in front of me, I'd have every right to kick them, hard. Where do you live? In most countries, that would be assault, and is considered a crime.

Just to nitpick... Battery is the physical act. Assault is telling someone that you're going to kick them, hard, and giving them the impression that you intend to actually do so. Both of these things are criminal, obviously.

But apparently saying $BAD_WORD is, too. /s

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#182

Post by tracker1 »

ThrustVectoring wrote: post #145
avolcano wrote: post #6

Fine with me. It's an offensive term and GitHub has every right to police their service and ban content like this. Am I supposed to be concerned by this, and if so, why?

Yes. It incentivizes loudly taking offense to things. Regardless of whether or not you care about the use of the word 'retard' being taken offense to, there are many things that you do care about. It's trivially easy to find examples - millions of Americans care deeply about violence in games and media. Should GitHub police the language a violent open-source video game uses to market itself? By setting itself up as t…

As someone of Irish-American descent... I'm offended by the use of the term "git" in "GitHub"... they should be banned..

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#183

Post by seivan »

It's kind of scary how many people here consider the word retard offensive.

I assume words like "fucker" or "dicks" would also trigger you?

I get that Github as a private corporation gets to decide what they want or don't want but that's driven on how many people genuinely get offended so I'm assuming a large portion of people genuinely got bothered by this compared to all the other shit happening in the world.

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#184

Post by ryandrake »

thedz wrote: post #86
kentonv wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it offensive? Yes. Does Github have the right to take it down? Yes. Is it unethical for Github to take it down? Not at all. But should they? I don't know, I don't think I would have. It's kind of scary to use cloud services where it's hard to tell if your content might be judged in violation of some rule and might suddenly disappear as a result. If the offensiveness were more extreme (say, a repo dedicated to maki…

Your first three questions/answers, summarized, is that "Github ethically and legally removed an offensive word" Should they? Yes. I feel slippery slope arguments get brought up way too much sometimes. Every issue is turning into a binary all-or-nothing ordeal, with no room for nuance or context. As long as what Github did is 1. ethical (removing a generally accepted as offensive word), 2. legal, then I see no proble…

It would also be ethical and legal to comb through their hosted content to remove any other words, but I'd argue it's a ret...er...wasteful use of their resources.

Also, I must have missed the memo when 'retarded' became "generally accepted as an offensive word". Are "stupid" "moronic" and "idiotic" also offensive? I guess I need to keep up with the times--as soon as I think I've figured out the list of everything that could possibly offend someone, we come up with something else.

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#186

Post by KirinDave »

aerovistae wrote: post #80
KirinDave wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would it actually bother you if you couldn't use those words in those contexts? You're arguing over a principle while dismissing the real harm people have suffered. The word that got banned has no meaning or use outside the most base kind of interactions. It's not like you can no longer say the word "eggplant" at the supermarket to refer to a vegetable.

'Retard' has no meaning or use? https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=retard&num=10 Also, please be careful how you use the word 'vegetable.' My aunt is in a coma, and many people find that offensive.

> 'Retard' has no meaning or use?

Homonyms are not the same word, you ridiculous caricature.

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#187

Post by forrestthewoods »

eastbayjake wrote: post #167
forrestthewoods wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

False. When Trey Parker and Matt Stone wished to show Muhammad in South Park Comedy Central overruled them and placed a big black censored box over Muhammad in the cartoon. If you want to say that a black box with the word censored doesn't qualify as censorship then you're retarded. You are ever correct that GitHub can ban the word if they want. They're fully within their legal right to do so.

> If you want to say that a black box with the word censored doesn't qualify as censorship then you're regarded. This is a definition of censorship that removes any useful descriptive meaning from the word. It's not censorship when I refuse to listen to offensive things or refuse to repeat them to others or allow you to graffiti it on the side of my house. Similarly, it's not censorship when a private company decline…

I could not possibly disagree with you any more strongly. I'm far from alone in my opinion. I may even be on the majority side. That doesn't make me right of course. But it is worth your consideration.

I could defend my stance. I think you're probably smart and probably know almost everything I'd say. If that's the case then we're resigned to agree to disagree.

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#188

Post by PopeOfNope »

Retra wrote: post #169
PopeOfNope wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"standards of professionalism" are used as a device of exclusion. It has a fairly narrow definition now, but that will change, just like the words "racist", "sexist" and "homophobic". You used to have to perform an action of actual malice to be accused of those things. Now, all you have to do is make an honest mistake and the entire internet's on you like jackals.

When are you referring to? Of course nobody jumped on you like jackals before you had a global platform to offend people. You used to have to look someone in the face to offend them. Then we invented writing and the world changed. >"standards of professionalism" are used as a device of exclusion Indeed. You exclude the behavior that doesn't mesh well with your goals. Every law, standard, and community that has ever e…

When are you referring to?

Do you use twitter at all? And nobody here jumps on me like jackals because they use downvotes to do that for them.

Hacker News is a device of exclusion. That's not a bad thing.

You can't claim to be for free and open source software for all humanity, except for those people. Those people aren't ideologically pure, they can't participate. That mindset is why GNU is a footnote in programming history, but everybody knows what linux is.

Code quality, not political ideology.

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#189

Post by thedz »

ryandrake wrote: post #26
avolcano wrote: post #6

Fine with me. It's an offensive term and GitHub has every right to police their service and ban content like this. Am I supposed to be concerned by this, and if so, why?

They have every right to do it, but that doesn't make it productive. Is github really going to anoint itself word-police and comb through the source code of every project they host looking for words they [currently] consider potty-mouthed? Is that really where we have ended up? Do they have nothing better to do? What if the word "fail" offended somebody at github? Should they take down projects that have that variabl…

> 1. Think of yourself as an investor who has put money into GitHub. Someone drawing a salary using your money is sending out a message telling a developer not to use a potty-mouth word on the Internet. Do you feel they are putting your investment to the best possible use?

Someone drawing a salary using my money is also: playing foosball in the office, buying a foosball table in the office, probably watching cats on Youtube. This is a silly line of reasoning.

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#190

Post by kodablah »

thedz wrote: post #86
kentonv wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it offensive? Yes. Does Github have the right to take it down? Yes. Is it unethical for Github to take it down? Not at all. But should they? I don't know, I don't think I would have. It's kind of scary to use cloud services where it's hard to tell if your content might be judged in violation of some rule and might suddenly disappear as a result. If the offensiveness were more extreme (say, a repo dedicated to maki…

Your first three questions/answers, summarized, is that "Github ethically and legally removed an offensive word" Should they? Yes. I feel slippery slope arguments get brought up way too much sometimes. Every issue is turning into a binary all-or-nothing ordeal, with no room for nuance or context. As long as what Github did is 1. ethical (removing a generally accepted as offensive word), 2. legal, then I see no proble…

I think the slippery slope argument is justified here. Things like "offensive" and "arbitrary calls" are fairly subjective. Of course GitHub can do what they want, but it is quite noteworthy to point out that they are policing offensive words now. They have a lot of work to do[0].

0 - https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=retard

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