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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'

#351

Post by shadowmint »

otherusername2 wrote: post #230
thedz wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. This isn't censorship of the type that is illegal or not allowed. It is a private company deciding a word was inappropriate. 2. It seems like most in this comment thread agree that this action, as a singular act, is a good thing. The word was offensive. Github asked the repo to change it. They did. The end. 3. As for the larger context, the problem with the frequent use of slippery slope arguments and cries of "ce…

> It seems like most in this comment thread agree that this action, as a singular act, is a good thing That's just because those of us who don't are afraid we'll get chewed out here, so we're not commenting.

Frankly, good.

I honestly have no issue with people managing to contain their own righteous opinions (for either side of the debate) and not smash thousands of characters of spam and spam images into issue trackers.

That's not what they're for.

If the issue doesn't affect you directly (and it doesnt), and you're not a contributor to the project, then dont get involved.

There are places for discussions to happen.

Github issue trackers are not that place.

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

#352

Post by DanBC »

lazzlazzlazz wrote: post #339
msoad wrote: post #283

Meanwhile the guy with Hitler profile picture is still enjoying GitHub despite multiple reports! https://github.com/followtheart

Who cares about this? If you felt the need to "report" an image of Hitler, you should feel very silly.

Anyone related to a person with LD probably somewhat cares about it, especially if their relative has been the victim of hate crime or life-risking stigma.

"Hate incidents" (not necessarily crime) are very common. In the UK a person with LD is more likely to experience a hate incident than someone who is gay, or someone who is a member of a religion.

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

#353

Post by Snesker »

mbillie1 wrote: post #93
CoryG89 wrote: post #40

For people who don't see what's wrong here. The issue is not about whether the word 'retard' is or is not offensive to anyone. You need to consider that GitHub currently hosts a large percentage of the web's open source repositories. This is censorship plain and simple, something that IMO has no place in open source. The issue is that there are plenty of things some people might find offensive on GitHub but you dont…

A private company choosing not to allow content for whatever reason is not censorship . People who choose to use the word "retard" are not a protected class, Github can ban this word as they see fit.

Read the last part carefully so as to fully understand why your first statement is incorrect. >Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions.[1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship :^)

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

#354

Post by pron »

CoryG89 wrote: post #40

For people who don't see what's wrong here. The issue is not about whether the word 'retard' is or is not offensive to anyone. You need to consider that GitHub currently hosts a large percentage of the web's open source repositories. This is censorship plain and simple, something that IMO has no place in open source. The issue is that there are plenty of things some people might find offensive on GitHub but you dont…

I'm not saying that this particular case is reasonable, but:

> Who decides what is and is not appropriate?

Common sense. For millennia, human society has regulated itself by employing common sense, civility and good judgement. It's not that hard, really, even without a foolproof mathematical algorithm. Sometimes mistakes are made, but that's just how we people roll. If you accidentally go beyond the confines of civility, someone will point that out to you, you say "sorry", fix your mistake and move on. It's no big deal. Your freedom of expression is not hurt, just your freedom to behave rudely in public with no good reason. AFAIK, this has always been regulated pretty much in every civilized society since the dawn of mankind.

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

#355

Post by okasaki »

Retra wrote: post #79
CoryG89 wrote: post #40

For people who don't see what's wrong here. The issue is not about whether the word 'retard' is or is not offensive to anyone. You need to consider that GitHub currently hosts a large percentage of the web's open source repositories. This is censorship plain and simple, something that IMO has no place in open source. The issue is that there are plenty of things some people might find offensive on GitHub but you dont…

You don't think standards of professionalism have a place in open source, or on GitHub?

Should I be wearing a suit when I'm interacting with github?

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

#356

Post by hhandoko »

_jgdh wrote: post #342
hhandoko wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like entitlement to me. Just because it's an open source project, does not grant the author free pass to do whatever he/she likes. If I come and visit someone at their house, I make sure I observe their house rules. So GitHub makes it clear that this is unacceptable. Whilst their actions / decisions may sometimes look arbitrary, we need to remember that GitHub is not just one person. In addition, in a publi…

I know of one country that operates a web content filter to prevent its citizens from being exposed to offensive and objectionable content. The citizens of this country find it incredibly offensive that there exists instructions on how to circumvent this filter. However, github proudly hosts these instructions[1] in spite of repeated polite requests to remove it. Now I'd like to know why the views of Bay Area SJWs is…

So what you're saying is that you're afraid that GitHub will go down the slippery slope of censorship?

If I reframe this another way, do you think this is an acceptable behaviour in a professional setting? Then the issue becomes less of censorship, but more of acceptable conduct.

Calling names for laughs is probably OK in private, between friends, but perhaps not appropriate in a public setting.

Again, I get that the author is just having a bit of fun. But not everyone will understand that.

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

#357

Post by zurn »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #319
thedz wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. This isn't censorship of the type that is illegal or not allowed. It is a private company deciding a word was inappropriate. 2. It seems like most in this comment thread agree that this action, as a singular act, is a good thing. The word was offensive. Github asked the repo to change it. They did. The end. 3. As for the larger context, the problem with the frequent use of slippery slope arguments and cries of "ce…

> This isn't censorship of the type that is illegal or not allowed. This is a weirdly common kind of thing for people to say. I don't understand what the point is supposed to be. It's still a bad thing. We have prohibitions on the government doing this because it's bad. We don't have prohibitions on people censoring third parties in their own homes, because that would be worse. This is still bad for all the same reas…

No, government censorship is qualitatively different. It is specially regulated for good reason.

The term isn't even usually applied in contexts like this one. This here is usually called moderation or content policy or editorial standards etc. And most people don't consider it a bad thing.

But certainly are arguments for largest market share holders to have some kind of neutrality standards, like implemented in common carrier or net neutrality regulations. And in the other direction: at least in the EU there has been a big push to hold forums responsible for things like defamation and hate speech. eg http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/06/shock-european-co...

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

#358

Post by mirimir »

DanBC wrote: post #261
mirimir wrote: post #77

It's not the word that's offensive, but rather the insult. Is it offensive to say "retard the cam by 15 degrees"?

Obviously the word has acceptable uses (eg watch mechanisms). Equally fucking obviously the word is not being used in that way in this project. (Your English is very good, but maybe you don't speak English as a first language?)

Yes, that's so in this case. But it's still not accurate to say that GitHub is censoring words. It's regulating behavior.

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

#359

Post by DanBC »

CoryG89 wrote: post #40

For people who don't see what's wrong here. The issue is not about whether the word 'retard' is or is not offensive to anyone. You need to consider that GitHub currently hosts a large percentage of the web's open source repositories. This is censorship plain and simple, something that IMO has no place in open source. The issue is that there are plenty of things some people might find offensive on GitHub but you dont…

Your argument is incoherant.

You complain about censorship, but then you complain that Github doesn't censor everything. You ask for free speech, but you seek to deny Github the freedom to chose what they want to publish.

The sense of entitlement in this thread is baffling. "I want the freedom to use your property whoever I like, and how dare you try to stop me".

You're also not allowed to use github to insult your employer if you worked in UAE - that's censorship worth fighting over.

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

#360

Post by tattler »

tattler wrote: post #299
thedz wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. This isn't censorship of the type that is illegal or not allowed. It is a private company deciding a word was inappropriate. 2. It seems like most in this comment thread agree that this action, as a singular act, is a good thing. The word was offensive. Github asked the repo to change it. They did. The end. 3. As for the larger context, the problem with the frequent use of slippery slope arguments and cries of "ce…

> The word was offensive. It's not offensive to me, or a lot of people I know. I can think of far more offensive words to use for disabled people, but retard is just colloquial slang now AFAIC.

...And I'm being downvoted, as proof of what `otherusername2` said above:

"That's just because those of us who don't are afraid we'll get chewed out here, so we're not commenting."

Words have different meanings for different people it's that simple. These guys shouldn't have had to change their docs.

Where will this end? Will we not be able to use cretin next either? What about moron or imbecile? PC gone mad because some people don't understand a joke. Good job South Park isn't hosted on github...

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