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I find it concerning that someone might think it's appropriate to add political messages to software projects. Imagine if some software developer added a "fuck

by fxbl0i 7y ago

I find it concerning that someone might think it's appropriate to add political messages to software projects. Imagine if some software developer added a "fuck Bernie Sanders!!!" remark to the README of a popular repo. Just my two cents.

mmastrac 7y ago
Well if Bernie Sanders becomes a totalitarian dictator that starts suppressing democracy, I'll be more than happy to add "fuck Bernie Sanders" to all my repos.
- wesammikhail 7y ago
  who defines what a totalitarian dictatorship is? you? Here is an example: If you ask most christians (or minorities) in Syria what they think of Bashar´s leadership, they´d hail him as their christ and savior. Meanwhile, for us here in the west he´s a dictator and a murderer. I am not justifying any actions or atrocities committed by such an actor. I am merely point to the fact that if you want to politicize an aspect of our lives, you need to at least have rigid and firm definitions. Otherwise, all you end up doing is giving ammunition to your opposition to do the same. Ex. I can add the same about Trump now into my repos and call him a fascist, or do the same thing when Obama was in office. Or heck, imagine having "LOCK HER UP" at the top of each ReadMe. That cannot possibly be a healthy way of going about things.
  - mmastrac 7y ago
    I'm more that comfortable with my stance. You're invoking the slippery slope.
    - BoorishBears 7y ago
      That's not "the slippery slope", it's a valid point. Yeesh not everything has to be a fallacy, and honestly if even if it had been he still had a point, a fallacy doesn't magically invalidate the argument being made.
wesammikhail 7y ago
concerning is an understatement. Politicizing every aspect of our lives can in no possible way end up in anything other than a disaster, especially considering the current apatite for politicians and activists to regulate every aspect of the internet.
- fxbl0i 7y ago
  It's not only about that. We all have our political ideas and I don't want anybody to shove theirs up my butt while I am in github; if I want to read that kind of stuff I'll look at twitter or facebook, thanks.
Teever 7y ago
I think its more like '9/11 Never Forget' than 'Fuck Bernie Sanders' And who cares anyways. Its their repo. If you don't like it fork it.
awakeasleep 7y ago
Are you saying you think there should be restrictions on the ideological content of what people should be allowed to create?
- fxbl0i 7y ago
  No, I said I believe it to be inappropriate to use your position in a public software project to push your politics. I didn't ask for "restrictions on ideological content". Believing something to be inappropriate doesn't mean I think it should be forbidden or restricted.
  - X6S1x6Okd1st 7y ago
    Why do you think that's inappropriate?
    - fxbl0i 7y ago
      Because a) politics is an extremely divisive topic which leads easily to flame wars and b) politics is completely unrelated to software development, so there's absolutely no reason to deal with a) in the context of software development.
      - threatofrain 7y ago
        Is it so controversial to say that technology is related to power and money? If you ignore it you're simply letting someone else take care of the matter for you. How should technology and power relate to the rest of society in a harmonious way? Not obvious, but you can always let someone else take care of the matter for you. Do apps like WhatsApp or Facebook inherently have severe political considerations, even though they're primarily apps for communication and connecting people together?
      - LyndsySimon 7y ago
        > politics is completely unrelated to software development I strongly disagree. I'm an anarcho-capitalist, and my politics/philosophy is one of the things that makes F/OSS so very attractive to me.
LyndsySimon 7y ago
There's a long tradition of political messaging in open source. Vi has "Help poor children in Uganda! type :help iccf<Enter> for information", for instance.

by fxbl0i 7y ago

mmastrac 7y ago

Well if Bernie Sanders becomes a totalitarian dictator that starts suppressing democracy, I'll be more than happy to add "fuck Bernie Sanders" to all my repos.

wesammikhail 7y ago
who defines what a totalitarian dictatorship is? you? Here is an example: If you ask most christians (or minorities) in Syria what they think of Bashar´s leadership, they´d hail him as their christ and savior. Meanwhile, for us here in the west he´s a dictator and a murderer. I am not justifying any actions or atrocities committed by such an actor. I am merely point to the fact that if you want to politicize an aspect of our lives, you need to at least have rigid and firm definitions. Otherwise, all you end up doing is giving ammunition to your opposition to do the same. Ex. I can add the same about Trump now into my repos and call him a fascist, or do the same thing when Obama was in office. Or heck, imagine having "LOCK HER UP" at the top of each ReadMe. That cannot possibly be a healthy way of going about things.
- mmastrac 7y ago
  I'm more that comfortable with my stance. You're invoking the slippery slope.
  - BoorishBears 7y ago
    That's not "the slippery slope", it's a valid point. Yeesh not everything has to be a fallacy, and honestly if even if it had been he still had a point, a fallacy doesn't magically invalidate the argument being made.

wesammikhail 7y ago

concerning is an understatement. Politicizing every aspect of our lives can in no possible way end up in anything other than a disaster, especially considering the current apatite for politicians and activists to regulate every aspect of the internet.

fxbl0i 7y ago
It's not only about that. We all have our political ideas and I don't want anybody to shove theirs up my butt while I am in github; if I want to read that kind of stuff I'll look at twitter or facebook, thanks.

Teever 7y ago

I think its more like '9/11 Never Forget' than 'Fuck Bernie Sanders' And who cares anyways. Its their repo. If you don't like it fork it.

awakeasleep 7y ago

Are you saying you think there should be restrictions on the ideological content of what people should be allowed to create?

fxbl0i 7y ago
No, I said I believe it to be inappropriate to use your position in a public software project to push your politics. I didn't ask for "restrictions on ideological content". Believing something to be inappropriate doesn't mean I think it should be forbidden or restricted.
- X6S1x6Okd1st 7y ago
  Why do you think that's inappropriate?
  - fxbl0i 7y ago
    Because a) politics is an extremely divisive topic which leads easily to flame wars and b) politics is completely unrelated to software development, so there's absolutely no reason to deal with a) in the context of software development.
    - threatofrain 7y ago
      Is it so controversial to say that technology is related to power and money? If you ignore it you're simply letting someone else take care of the matter for you. How should technology and power relate to the rest of society in a harmonious way? Not obvious, but you can always let someone else take care of the matter for you. Do apps like WhatsApp or Facebook inherently have severe political considerations, even though they're primarily apps for communication and connecting people together?
    - LyndsySimon 7y ago
      > politics is completely unrelated to software development I strongly disagree. I'm an anarcho-capitalist, and my politics/philosophy is one of the things that makes F/OSS so very attractive to me.

LyndsySimon 7y ago

There's a long tradition of political messaging in open source. Vi has "Help poor children in Uganda! type :help iccf<Enter> for information", for instance.