Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

711–720 of 845 posts

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

#711

Post by sleepybrett »

Jonasen wrote: post #315
tn13 wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is very sensible. Github is free to impose any arbitrary rule and repo admins are free to use competitor's products. In fact Github cares very little about "offense" but probably only cares about their own profits. Private companies applying this sort of censorship is not a bad thing. For example Apple, Google completely control the apps that will feature in their apps stores. That has actually improved the secu…

There are 53 other repos containing the word retard.. https://github.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=retard It seems to me they are just singling out a single commit to be a problem, probably because of someone oversensitive complaining about this single commit, not knowing that github is full of what could be considered offensive to some. I am personally very happy we solved all world problems and now can focus on wordi…

I think making the subtitle of the project 'Webm for retards' might have something to do with it.

It's possible this project was reported by an offended user. If it is automated I expect other projects that use the word 'retard' as a project name or subtitle might have email notifications giving them some length of time to change or be banned.

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

#712

Post by dmansen »

GauntletWizard wrote: post #696
DanBC wrote: post #571

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People with learning disability have been the target of eugenics in various forms. They've been subjected to sterilisation sometimes without their knowledge and sometimes against their will. They've been interned in segregated care homes. They've been murdered - either directly killed because they have LD or allowed to die by doctors refusing to provide medical care or placing DNR notices without the patient's (or th…

Good. Let us have genocide, then, for people with learning disabilities, starting with you. This is not an isolated incident - A large portion of the population legitimately believes that allowing people with learning disabilities to live and breed will lead to negative outcomes for all involved, including the disabled. I do not want to kill, or even order mistreatment. I want everyone, regardless of their abilities…

> Good. Let us have genocide, then, for people with learning disabilities, starting with you.

uh

> Call me hitler, but

okay. you're hitler

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

#713

Post by nucleardog »

nols wrote: post #698
kenrikm wrote: post #690

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stupid, Git, Retard, Idiot, Dimwit etc.. In the context they are used all have very similar intentions to put someone down for not being smart. There is one really important point to keep in mind, when someone is offended about something someone else says or writes that is their decision and it is their problem not the one who did the offending. I personally don't generally use the term "retard" I also don't generall…

No, they really don't. Retard has historically been used to classify the mentally disabled, it literally was a definition. Using it to call someone mentally disabled as an insult is more offensive to the mentally disabled than calling someone stupid. That's the issue. You're free to use retard in your code as much as you want, apparently not on Github though. They, as a private company, are allowed to pick and choose…

Ditto for a lot of the words we use as synonyms for "stupid".

There's actually an entire ranking for those with disabilities - just below a "normal" person was the "feeble-minded", which ranked ahead of a "moron", which was more functional than an "imbecile" which was the last step before an "idiot".

This was all common parlance in the 19th and 20th century.

So explain to me again why retard is specifically offensive.

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

#714

Post by kefka »

shkkmo wrote: post #710
kefka wrote: post #665

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feminism, by its very name, is a sexist philosophy. And according to feminists, sexism (mainly patriarchy) is bad. Unless it's feminism. Feminism -> Feminine -> Female Definition of -ism: a distinctive practice, system, or philosophy, typically a political ideology or an artistic movement.

> Feminism, by its very name, is a sexist philosophy. And according to feminists, sexism (mainly patriarchy) is bad. Unless it's feminism. That seems to imply that you don't think sexism is bad. Did you mean to imply that? Feminism, is by definition, anti-sexist. There are sexists who claim to be feminists, but that doesn't change the meaning of the word. While the term 'feminism' does come from the root 'feminine',…

> Feminism, is by definition, anti-sexist.

Really now.

Sexism in all of its forms is bad. That includes feminism AND masculinism.

> While the term 'feminism' does come from the root 'feminine', it refers to an umbrella of ideologies that includes many advocates of equal rights for men as well as for women.

Citation needed for italicized text.

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

#715

Post by pnathan »

im3w1l wrote: post #205

Is there a code hosting solution that a) lets me self host code b) has identity system (common to all self hosted instances) c) has pull requests whose origin can be verified with the identity system?

Kallithea might serve your needs.

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

#716

Post by Nadya »

shkkmo wrote: post #710
kefka wrote: post #665

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feminism, by its very name, is a sexist philosophy. And according to feminists, sexism (mainly patriarchy) is bad. Unless it's feminism. Feminism -> Feminine -> Female Definition of -ism: a distinctive practice, system, or philosophy, typically a political ideology or an artistic movement.

> Feminism, by its very name, is a sexist philosophy. And according to feminists, sexism (mainly patriarchy) is bad. Unless it's feminism. That seems to imply that you don't think sexism is bad. Did you mean to imply that? Feminism, is by definition, anti-sexist. There are sexists who claim to be feminists, but that doesn't change the meaning of the word. While the term 'feminism' does come from the root 'feminine',…

Feminism, by definition, is sexist. MRA, by definition, is also sexist.

Both are centered around their own sex and "leveling the playing field" for their own gender. Feminists do not give a rat's ass about paternal child custody issues or "men's mental health" (particularly the much higher rates of suicide). Because those aren't issues where women are under-privileged. MRA's don't really care about women's issues. That's because both of these ideologies are sexist.

If you want equality that isn't sexist, try "egalitarianism". Equality for both genders (not sexist) and not only a single gender (sexist).

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

#717

Post by [deleted] »

DanBC wrote: post #391
ectoplasm wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're offended? So what. Not my problem, step away from the computer. Fortunately, you don't own GitHub.

The cognitive dissonance of people downvoting comments when they are complaining about censorship is baffling. The hypocrisy is weird.

[deleted]

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

#718

Post by shkkmo »

michaelbuddy wrote: post #693
shkkmo wrote: post #662

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feminism is not to blame. Feminism is wonderful and empowering ideology. There is a distinct difference between the ideology of feminism and the behavior of a specific group of feminists. Lumping the two together like that is like blaming Islam for terrorists.

Nope. And yes you can blame a doctrine that people follow that succinctly makes recommendations to violence for being a cause of violence. Perfectly acceptable and so far quite accurate.

First of all, I said "terrorism", not "extremist islamic terroism". This isn't splitting hairs in because the parent is taking about forms of PC that do not directly relate to gender and blaming feminism for them.

> And yes you can blame a doctrine that people follow that succinctly makes recommendations to violence for being a cause of violence.

The ability to blame something for something does not mean that one is actually an effect of the other.

You can also blame western dependence on oil, cultural imperialism, the fall of the ottoman empire, human nature and many other things for islamic terrorism.

While all of these things do exist in the chain of effects that lead to islamic terrorism, that does not mean that blaming them is helpful nor particularly accurate.

Generally when assigning blame you should look for a reasonably proximal and changeable item in the change of effects. The level of violence expressed in a religious text is neither proximal to the level of violence perpetuated in its name nor is it changeable. Thus blaming it is not particularly useful.

Of course, you are free to blame whatever you want. I hope it works out well for you.

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

#719

Post by jazzyk »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #544
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You did not get his point: what is offensive to one person may or may not be offensive to other people. Where do we draw the line?

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

#720

Post by 13thLetter »

m_mueller wrote: post #608
cmiles74 wrote: post #551

I don't understand how censoring something because "it's offensive to someone" came to be acceptable in the first place. Nearly everything is offensive to someone, it's simply too low a bar. I'm certainly not campaigning for more use of the terms "retard" and "retarded". On the other hand, I've experienced first hand the very common, reflexive and thoughtless use of these words. Whenever it's used in my presence I ma…

Acceptable by whom? It's a privately owned service, not a democratic platform.

Are we not allowed to criticize the actions of a privately owned service?
Post reply on HN