Funny how the parent repository username "WebMBro" basically tells you all you need to know... bro.
GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'
281–290 of 845 posts
Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't need to use Twitter. Every time something interesting happens through twitter, people flock to forums and blogs to talk about it. Because Twitter is not a platform for mature, reasonable discussions. It's for self-promotion and advertising. >Yes, that does prevent anyone from getting it or using it. That's like saying banning a book doesn't prevent anyone from getting it or reading it. GitHub didn't ban anyth…
Or someone asking you to take your shoes off in their private home. It's so ridiculous. You should have a right to be rude in people's private spaces. Good job avoiding the argument altogether for this particularly uninteresting non-sequitur. You don't trust your livelihood to being able to take your shoes off at a friend's house.
I don't trust my livelihood to the need to say offensive things, either.
Regardless, I'm going to excuse myself from this conversation. What I've done is present an analogy to you (no more of an "uninteresting non-sequitur" than your talk about cucumber eating) and apparently it fell on unwilling ears. And typically, when one's brain stops understanding analogies, that's a pretty good sign it isn't working at all. So get some rest and think about it when you're in better condition.
Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'
#283Meanwhile the guy with Hitler profile picture is still enjoying GitHub despite multiple reports!
Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
>It's just such a superficial thing, almost arbitrarily deciding which words are 'sensitive' and which ones aren't This cannot be further from the truth. Words that are deemed offensive are deemed so because of the attitude and the meaning behind using these words The reason white people get yelled at for using n (don't know if I can post it on HN) is because it represents hundreds of years of oppression by white peo…
Have a nice look at this list and let me know if you'd like to ban all of these too. After all, they have context and actual loaded meanings, and in many cases represent hundreds of years of oppression. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs_by_ethnic...
Yes, I would like to ban the use of the word "ape" to refer to a black man (at least on Github), keeping in mind the Use-mention distinction and "common sense" to realize that the person was actually using it as a slur.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use%E2%80%93mention_distinctio...)
Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Free Speech" isn't a blank check to say and do whatever you want. Even SCOTUS says that direct threats of violence aren't protected by the first amendment. I'm tired of reading people nebulously defining "free speech philosophies" online to act as a shield to justify nefarious behavior on private property. Free speech exists as a protection from government censorship, and it doesn't protect you for acting like a dic…
I'm tired of reading people nebulously defining "free speech philosophies" online to act as a shield to justify nefarious behavior on private property. This thread has been very instructive for me. I've come to the conclusion that you either get free speech as a social virtue or you don't. It's clear to me that most people don't and even can't understand it from that point of view. What that XKCD comic doesn't even c…
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Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
>It's just such a superficial thing, almost arbitrarily deciding which words are 'sensitive' and which ones aren't This cannot be further from the truth. Words that are deemed offensive are deemed so because of the attitude and the meaning behind using these words The reason white people get yelled at for using n (don't know if I can post it on HN) is because it represents hundreds of years of oppression by white peo…
Good Lord, I have heard so many different takes on 'what makes something offensive.' My favorite was a teenager telling me only one person has to find something offensive before we have to all consider it as such and stop saying it. The fact that words "have context and actual loaded meanings" is besides the point. I am saying that these things come into fashion and then pass away. I'm sure you know it was only in th…
The meaning of the word retard has drifted. It used to be a totally acceptable word, a polite alternative to Mongoloid, used by doctors and societies.
Now outside the US it's pretty much only ever used as hate speech. The US is a bit different because the word still has some small pockets of acceptable use (although I can't see those lasting much longer).
Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Free Speech" isn't a blank check to say and do whatever you want. Even SCOTUS says that direct threats of violence aren't protected by the first amendment. I'm tired of reading people nebulously defining "free speech philosophies" online to act as a shield to justify nefarious behavior on private property. Free speech exists as a protection from government censorship, and it doesn't protect you for acting like a dic…
I'm tired of reading people nebulously defining "free speech philosophies" online to act as a shield to justify nefarious behavior on private property. This thread has been very instructive for me. I've come to the conclusion that you either get free speech as a social virtue or you don't. It's clear to me that most people don't and even can't understand it from that point of view. What that XKCD comic doesn't even c…
>you either get free speech as a social virtue or you don't.
False dichotomy. Many people get that free speech is a social virtue, because many people see protection from government censorship as a social virtue. What it sounds like is that you wish was a social virtue is the ability to behave or act in any manor on privately-owned websites without having to face the consequences of your actions.
We can consider hypothetical slippery-slopes about private websites implementing tyrannical policies, but that doesn't suddenly make it a "free speech" issue. Asking "Would you go quietly if banned from a privately held website" doesn't suddenly mean it's a "free speech" issue. Does making a certain amount of noise make something a free speech issue?
There are distributed networks (like bitcoin or other P2P) that are owned and controlled by the communities that support them. Maybe you should consider supporting those instead of trying to redefine "free speech" to fit your beliefs.
Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'
#288For 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…
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 security of mobile devices lot more otherwise imagine a Ask Toolbar app playing an ad each time your call someone.
Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's as if we as humans have some kind of context-sensitive language recognition capability, and can tell when a word is being used as a slur or if it has entirely unrelated meanings. We're slightly smarter than regular expressions. And yes, I'd fully expect Github to ban those too.
I'm sorry, but I believe that allowing even one idea to be banned from discourse is the first step towards a system where someone like Edward Snowden has to find asylum in Russia. I don't believe in censorship or hiding away what was really said or done. If anyone has a problem with this developer's language, they can boycott his repo.
Github has a problem with this project's language, and they are boycotting the repo.
Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's as if we as humans have some kind of context-sensitive language recognition capability, and can tell when a word is being used as a slur or if it has entirely unrelated meanings. We're slightly smarter than regular expressions. And yes, I'd fully expect Github to ban those too.
It's easy to go on the internet and virtue signal. What sacrifice have you ever made toward the right of no race, person, or condition to not be offended? What makes you so holier-than-thou, you can think it's ok to sit behind the keyboard like God and quash whatever idea runs contrary to your psyche? There is a whole website called Twitter, where people act very pompous, very pious, but seldom have the fortitude to…
> What sacrifice have you ever made
Personal donations of money and time towards diversity-in-tech efforts. You?
> What makes you so holier-than-thou
Basic human decency. You?