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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'

#541

Post by jessaustin »

DanBC wrote: post #496
jessaustin wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"LD" is your term, which apparently is too general to be useful. As problematic as "retard" may be, no English speaker would hear it and ask herself, "are they talking about a dyslexic?"

People who don't know what they're talking about might make incorrect assumptions. I agree with you there. I don't think ignorance of a topic is a valid excuse to continue to be wrong. http://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/dyslexi... From the "Learning Disabilities Association of America" > The severity of this specific learning disability can differ in each individual but can affect reading fluency, d…

It seems you're attempting to convince people to use the word "retard" less. Introducing another term, and haranguing people for using (or potentially using?) that idiom incorrectly as well, is a rhetorical technique unlikely to accomplish that goal. However, if you need to get it off your chest anyway, I'll stop complaining about it.

[EDIT] The fact you think LD is "my term"...

I just counted. There are 536 comments [aside: why the hell hasn't this discussion been throttled off the front page by now?], and every single one that mentions "LD" or "learning disability" is either yours or in a thread responding to your use of the term. There is one "learning deficits" that seems to be someone else...

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

#542

Post by wlesieutre »

larsiusprime wrote: post #486
chronic40 wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Advertising is a higher margin business.

I'm pretty sure Advertising is about as low margin as it gets.

And Github users run ad blockers at a much higher rate than the general public

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

#543

Post by golemotron »

I think GitHub should stop policing language and the reason why is simple: it never ends. This is our future, people. Endless discussions about particular words, what they mean to particular people and particular groups of people, second guessing, and endless discussion threads.

This is our future and it's not software development.

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

#544

Post by crimsonalucard »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #468
crimsonalucard wrote: post #433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We view this type of censorship as offensive because the word "retard" doesn't carry much weight. Nobody would be fighting for this man's freedom of speech if he littered the code with the word "nigger" or "lynching" One of the executives probably has a son or daughter who is a retard. Makes sense why such censorship can occur. When you own a product, your bias will inevitably saturate into the product. Having a son…

I have a son (or daughter) who is a git - I am offended by *hub and demand they change their name to 'basebornhub' or 'intellectuallychallengedhub'

I bet you don't have a son or daughter who is a git or a retard. You definitely wouldn't be writing this otherwise.

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

#545

Post by mangeletti »

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…

The slippery slope argument is the only way to go when it comes to censorship, and it is not a fallacy. I can't even believe this is happening. I will end my years long relationship with GitHub over this, if this is not publicly addressed.

I can see at least one user in that comment stream that should also be censored (account deleted), if we're going down this disgusting road of censorship (https://github.com/MarbleFag). FTR, I wouldn't add him/her as a friend, but let me make that choice for myself. Don't censor my community, or I'll find a new one.

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

#546

Post by samch »

There has, for several years, been a campaign[1] promoted by the Special Olympics to end the r-word. I have signed on, and I encourage others to do so as well. I've known a lot of awesome people with intellectual disabilities who have had this label applied to them in the past. It's amazingly hurtful. No matter how you feel about Github's decision, I encourage all of us to consider how the r-word lingers in daily usage and pledge to stop using it ourselves.

Thanks!

1. http://www.r-word.org/

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

#547

Post by KirinDave »

sklogic wrote: post #393
DanBC wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your first line is wrong. This is not about swearing, it's about using a word that causes harm. > Then they came for me, and there was none left to speak out. ...apart from the vast majority of people, because most people don't feel the need to use words like nigger or retard in their open source projects.

> it's about using a word that causes harm Words do not cause harm. It's a slippery slope to total censorship and thought policing to think otherwise.

Hi. I've lived my life with a closeted gender because of words spoken by my parents, friends, and incredulous members of the LGBT community. It lead to depression, frustration, and many wasted opportunities. Now that I am no longer concealing this I still receive regular discouragement that is extremely frustrating.

The idea that "words do not cause harm" is so ludicrous. What if I started a rumor that cost you your job? What if I planted drawings (no one harmed) of child pornography on your computer? What if I reveal you perjured yourself in court?

All these things are just words. All these things could lead to consequences in your life, of varying types.

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

#548

Post by wlesieutre »

cryptoglyph wrote: post #345
DanBC wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Self-censorship only has value when people fear retribution by government. "I won't use the word retard in my project hosted on github because github's TOS prevents it" is not self-censorship in any meaningful sense of the word. (Just as "Github doesn't let me spam all these users" is not Github censoring people.) Nothing is stopping you from hosting the repo in a wide number of other places. "I won't insult my emplo…

This is nonsense. Self-censorship occurs whenever somebody censors himself. In polite conversation we might call it discretion (or valor). In a fiduciary or confidential relationship, we might call it adherence to the duty of confidentiality. In a contractual relationship, we would call it nondisclosure. In employment, on one hand we might call it professionalism—or self censorship on the other—depending on the conte…

People self-censor constantly on social media. You're not worried about the government taking a tweet out of context and driving your reputation into the ground, the mob of internet idiots has that covered. Fear of internet mobs causes people to censor themselves, and a definition of "censorship" that doesn't cover uses like that is not a particularly useful one.

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

#549

Post by kefka »

Akujin wrote: post #170

I don't like framing this debate in the prism of government versus private company policing. Freedom of speech is not mutually exclusive to the government. Consider a programming club meeting once a week that is open to the public. You get there and it's 6 dudes and they are accepting of you as a coder but completely at odds with you on the social justice spectrum (using words like "gay" and "retard" as examples). Yo…

"Lookie here, your compiler does some absolutely insane things with the spilling, including spilling a constant. For chrissake, that compiler shouldn't have been allowed to graduate from kindergarten. We're talking "sloth that was dropped on the head as a baby" level retardation levels here .... Anyway, this is not a kernel bug. This is your compiler creating completely broken code. We may need to add a warning to make sure nobody compiles with gcc-4.9.0, and the Debian people should probably downgrate their shiny new compiler."

Linus Torvalds, http://lkml.iu.edu//hypermail/linux/kernel/1407.3/00650.html

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

#550

Post by [deleted] »

thedz wrote: post #116
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…

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…

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