When software offends, the pantyshot package controversy
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Re: When software offends, the pantyshot package controversy
#2I wonder how the hell did they focus on Misaka and upskirts... cause anyone who read/watched the material would know, that the running gag is that her clothing makes any try at pantyshot futile... and thus doesn't really care about moving in a way that would normally expose her.
I guess my astonishment comes from the fact that to me, the name reminds me not of a minor gag, but rather of the mentally-broken, war-torn 13~14yo who could take over any computer system, and use coins (and other conducting materials) as hypervelocity projectiles (thus her nickname, "Railgun").
So... once again, media jumping to worst possible interpretation?
Re: When software offends, the pantyshot package controversy
#3Similar situation of insulting source code: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=477454
Re: When software offends, the pantyshot package controversy
#4I look at the choice of "Misaka" after "pantyshot" and think this is unambiguously an example for talking about the recent topic of not tolerating assholes in open source software.
Re: When software offends, the pantyshot package controversy
#5This is interesting on multiple levels. There was the Python Software Foundation's decision to be reactive rather than proactive. Then why give it such a name? Esp. since the author was a woman. Who didnt speak English, and used a name suggested by a friend(?). There we arrive at what I consider to be reprehensible behavior: to expose someone to ridicule in the guise of giving help.
Re: When software offends, the pantyshot package controversy
#6Well, I'd better go rename my Burger package before it offends vegetarians.
Re: When software offends, the pantyshot package controversy
#7Well, I'd better go rename my Burger package before it offends vegetarians.
It's not the same thing. As the article discusses, it's not just that the name is sexual but that it refers to an act that victimizes its subject because they are unaware it is happening.
Re: When software offends, the pantyshot package controversy
#8Sexism and Racism: two cards people play all the time for ever-annoying reasons. They're the kind of arguments you "can't be against" because, how can you be against stopping racism/sexism? They're also the kind of arguments that keep sexism/racism happening. We should focus on the important parts:
Are you offended by it? - Deal with it or don't use it or politely make your opinion known to the author. Be an adult and don't "Quit Open Source" or "Ban the package" or "Rant about how Open Source developers are discriminating white males" because that just makes you look silly and chlidish.
Did you name it that way? - if you want widespread usage of your package, know that a polarizing name and one that will be hidden under the throves of porn in a search engine can impact the adoption of your piece of software. Also, it will make you look Silly and childish.
We are all educated and grown people, we should be able to make these decisions easily in our lives.
If I make a CoffeeScript to Assembly translator called "Beaner" I should at least know that Some people won't appreciate it and call me racist and probably some mexican will quit open source software forever. And I'm taking that risk by naming my package that way.
We shouldn't be afraid of being offended. I'm offended all the time and it doesn't stop me from living my life properly.
Re: When software offends, the pantyshot package controversy
#9Sexism and Racism: two cards people play all the time for ever-annoying reasons. They're the kind of arguments you "can't be against" because, how can you be against stopping racism/sexism? They're also the kind of arguments that keep sexism/racism happening. We should focus on the important parts: Are you offended by it? - Deal with it or don't use it or politely make your opinion known to the author. Be an adult an…
You're asking people not to have a knee-jerk reaction to offensive language, but you're having a knee-jerk reaction to people being offended. Some people might choke on their morning coffee when reviewing a pull request for "pantyshot", but the majority of us just want a bit of civility (not unlike the rules of HN).
Re: When software offends, the pantyshot package controversy
#10This is interesting on multiple levels. There was the Python Software Foundation's decision to be reactive rather than proactive. Then why give it such a name? Esp. since the author was a woman. Who didnt speak English, and used a name suggested by a friend(?). There we arrive at what I consider to be reprehensible behavior: to expose someone to ridicule in the guise of giving help.
I'm not sure I would say she doesn't speak English. Check out her blog post about this: http://fossil.instinctive.eu/libupskirt/wiki?name=about-the-...
Especially:
I did know the sexual and voyeurism connotations of the word “upskirt” and I was very hesitant to actually use it. For the record, my limited grasp of slang English means that I genuinely had no idea where it lied on the offensiveness scale, and whether it could be covered up as something more harmless (and have it be more of an innuendo than of a basic offensive word).
I'm not sure what to make of that, but I do think that naming software with any sort of sexual innuendo regardless of how offensive it is is a very poor choice. More than anything else, I feel embarrassed to be in tech when this sort of thing happens.