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Occurences of swearing in the Linux kernel source code over time

vidarholen.net

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Re: Occurences of swearing in the Linux kernel source code over time

#171

Post by mrguyorama »

perching_aix wrote: post #84
jansan wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany we have "Retard-Tabletten" (Tabletten = pills), which are not intended to stop (or accelerate) cognitive decline, but release the active ingredients with a delay.

We have those too. I wonder how many people actually know that's what that means, cause it's not an everyday word by far here in this meaning.

If you work with engines or planes you should be familiar with it's non-slur meaning. You retard ignition timing (you also "pull back" ignition timing) and you retard the throttles. Airbus planes tell you specifically to "retard".

Re: Occurences of swearing in the Linux kernel source code over time

#172

Post by miki123211 »

gspencley wrote: post #64
javcasas wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never worked on a big corporation. But I find interesting about corporations forbidding swearwords in code. I mean, the people responsible for forbidding swearwords rarely read code. And if they read code with any frequency and are somewhat proficient at it, most likely they have their own list of swearwords. Also we should look to add more keywords to programming languages that trigger naïve filters. I'm all…

I don't personally care about language choices in code, but I'll play devil's advocate and speculate as to why a business might be concerned. 1. Reputational harm in the event that code needs to be shared. Say, the code gets read in court, or an outside consultant is brought in who is given access to the code. The company likely wants to maintain the same standard of professionalism that they expect when their employ…

3) in case the code is open sourced or leaks, the company might get cancelled, especially if it's the n or r word.

Re: Occurences of swearing in the Linux kernel source code over time

#173

Post by justinrubek »

Larrikin wrote: post #142
koverstreet wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's degrees of hackyness. Tone and emphasis are important parst of clear and effective communication. Something that's a mere "hack" might be something I don't mind, but worth being aware of and revisiting if and when the code becomes more complicated and has to do more things. A "stupid fucking hack" indicates something that could have only come about by a whole chain of stupidity and mistakes, inflicting brain…

Then write that, none of that information is conveyed otherwise

And yet

Re: Occurences of swearing in the Linux kernel source code over time

#174

Post by Denvercoder9 »

Centigonal wrote: post #156

Interesting jump in "crap" right after the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps being cooped up inside the house hacking on the kernel is less fun when that's your only choice.

It's actually because someone with "crap" as a substring of their e-mail address made a bunch of contributions with their e-mail address in it (e.g. in maintainer records and copyright notices) around that time. Nothing to do with COVID-19.

See the graph with the entire domain for comparison: https://www.vidarholen.net/contents/wordcount/#crapouillou

Re: Occurences of swearing in the Linux kernel source code over time

#175

Post by alistairSH »

mrguyorama wrote: post #169
wat10000 wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

False dichotomy. "Writing professionally" is also known as "communicating effectively" and it is part of doing/leading. Linus made an enormous impact, certainly. He'd have had an even bigger impact if he was less of a caustic dick. And before you say that there's a tradeoff involved and that genius technical people are just that way, look up Berkson's paradox.

Linus is a great example actually, because people pointed out he was being too much of an asshole, and he eventually agreed, and he reduced the toxicity of his rhetoric, but you can bet if the situation called for it, he would still use vulgarity to get his point across. If you totally ban profanity or vulgarity, all you do is force other words to take up the slack of what people use those words for, and therefore in…

I'm going to write "This is fucking magic" in the code, and my coworkers will know to give that code the respect it deserves.

This is so weird to me. You won't find blueprints (at least not the copies that will be handed around across teams and companies) marked up with "this is fucking magic" when an architect or structural engineer design something amazing. In a DM/email/SMS? Sure, that's the correct place to put that message.

Re: Occurences of swearing in the Linux kernel source code over time

#176

Post by Denvercoder9 »

dijksterhuis wrote: post #20
robinhouston wrote: post #13

What's the story behind the Great Unfuckening that took place between v4.18-rc8 and v5.6?

i like to think it’s solely down to linus. 4.18 was the second half of 2018, around the time linus took some time away and went off doing therapy to work on his “communication issues”.

It's not.

I can't reproduce the exact datapoints from the site using `git grep`, but most of it seems to be down to a single commit that removed repeated usage of fuck from one file: https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/a44d924c81d43ddffc9...

Re: Occurences of swearing in the Linux kernel source code over time

#177

Post by squigz »

jeremyjh wrote: post #138
squigz wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, it's mostly associated with being bullied as an autistic child, which might be the actual reason it's come to be seen as a "slur" Meh. Probably more likely is those damn automod settings on reddit (which aren't, you know, configured by moderators according to what their community wants or anything)

Every "scientific" name for mental disability eventually becomes a slur or name. Idiot and moron were considered proper terms at one point in time. "Retard" was never proper but is easily derived from "mental retardation", which was. In the 80s/90s there was a push to use "special" as a euphemism and it was immediately picked up as a slur, I think both usages have been long-since abandoned as a result. Autistic is al…

> In general euphemisms cannot keep up with bigotry, I rather consider it a lost cause.

I don't. It doesn't seem to be that difficult to be aware of these things, and if I can save others from feeling the twinge of pain from being reminded of their childhood, or other abusive memories, simply by not using a few words... why wouldn't I?

Re: Occurences of swearing in the Linux kernel source code over time

#180

Post by WalterBright »

holowoodman wrote: post #2

Theory: the shift towards lesser swearwords is a sign of corporatization, making the linux source a soulless bland hellscape of confirmity.

The constant use of the same two swear words shows a boring lack of imagination.
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