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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

#181

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

incredible!

I guess the lesson here is to never take a chart at face value. :)

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

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully in a few decades the last of the people who think that using respectful discourse means no fun can be had will be gone and we can stop rehashing these threads. You're contributing to something that runs on billions of devices across the world and is maintained by people around the world of all types. If you can't describe your code, your reasons, and your notes politely, do better.

>people who think that using respectful discourse means no fun can be had will be gone It's not zero fun, but everyone understands it's a sign the vibes will be up-right, right? edit: that's not to say you don't want that, but that's what it is

*up-tight (too late to edit)

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

#183

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

Or a proxy for how many Americans work on the code. Maybe search the mailing list for occurrences of “inappropriate”.

Not that this not-Yankee has much of a need to swear in public to feel Free.

> , but I definitely don't drop swear words into documents that unknown people might see. That's just basic professionalism.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44291560

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

#184
I'd note that "retarded" can be a technical term which is not an insult or swear word which means "delayed" (e.g. "tardy") In an internal combustion engine you could have "advanced" or "retarded" spark timing for instance.

It's an amusing area where denotations are the same in French and English but the denotations are different. [1] All over Quebec you see convenience stores called "Couche-Tard" (Sleep Late) which can provoke a double-take like seeing a sign for a restaurant called PFK with a picture of Colonel Sanders.

[1] An ad for a breakfast sandwich, coffee and hash browns can be advertised as "L'Ensemble Quotodienne" a phrase made of everyday words in French which are $20 words in English.

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

#186
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The idea that arbitrary sequences of phones or characters will cause anyone within ear or eye-shot to become offended is rather absurd. No more absurd than the notion that a mere sequence of sounds could convey any other meaning or elicit any other response.

If a comedian elicits a laugh from a person - who is at fault if the person laughs, the comedian or the person? I would argue that the person is at fault. Unless you are suggesting one does not have a choice whether to laugh or not. If that were true, then all comedians would either be funny, or not funny, for all people. That is simply not the case.

Nonsense. You are making the assumption that laughing is always voluntary, and only to communicate that you find something amusing. Both parts of that are false - for example many people will laugh instinctively as part of a fight flight response when the perceive danger from others to communicate "hey im with you and not scared, don't hurt me more". People who hate veing tickled because they feel defenseless will still laugh when tickled, for one concrete specific.

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

#187

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…

> But I find interesting about corporations forbidding swearwords in code. How common is this? I work in a big corporation and we have no such policy. When we contribute to open source, there's a good chance they'll make us remove any. Internal code, though? Up to each team to decide.

We're not even allowed to say master branch or blacklist in corporations anymore lol

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

#188

I'd note that "retarded" can be a technical term which is not an insult or swear word which means "delayed" (e.g. "tardy") In an internal combustion engine you could have "advanced" or "retarded" spark timing for instance. It's an amusing area where denotations are the same in French and English but the denotations are different. [1] All over Quebec you see convenience stores called "Couche-Tard" (Sleep Late) which c…

Not in source code, but the word is also officially used in aviation as an automated audio warning to the pilots to, IIRC, slow down or pull back. The system screams "Retard! Retard! Retard!". I think they often hear it during normal landing procedures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbLHah4XUwk&t=815s

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

#190

I'd note that "retarded" can be a technical term which is not an insult or swear word which means "delayed" (e.g. "tardy") In an internal combustion engine you could have "advanced" or "retarded" spark timing for instance. It's an amusing area where denotations are the same in French and English but the denotations are different. [1] All over Quebec you see convenience stores called "Couche-Tard" (Sleep Late) which c…

Once upon a time planes dropped only gravity bombs that just fell with the forward speed of the launching aircraft. These exploded directly under the aircraft (see all ww2 footage). Then were developed "retarded-fall" or delayed bombs with fins or parachutes so that the bomb's forward movment slowed and it exploded behind the aircraft (see vietnam footage of bombs with pop-out fins). Then came laser-guided "smart" bombs. So we now have "smart" bombs which are guided, "dumb" bombs which arent, and "retarded" bombs which are dumb bombs that slow down. We have accidentally fallen into pc trap where it can be difficult to use these terms.

Retarded fall "snakeye" bombs: https://youtu.be/3_RM19hOMo4

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