5 ms·
“Stillborn” is a pretty awful term to use for software.
by rtorr 6y ago
“Stillborn” is a pretty awful term to use for software.
- throw6606 6y agoMea culpa. Reworded.
- StavrosK 6y agoWhy is that? It conveys the DOA meaning pretty well.
- MiroF 6y agoGenerally, your metaphors should not rely on comparison to a pretty traumatic event that has happened to quite a few people, many of whom might be around you without you knowing.
- lehi 6y agoI know anorexics for whom any mention of food can be a trigger. Should metaphors involving consumption be verboten in public discourse because they might be read by someone with an eating disorder?
- layoutIfNeeded 6y agoSure. I guess then you shouldn’t even use the word “dead”, as plenty of people have lost close relatives which is a pretty traumatic event.
- MiroF 6y agoJust letting you know the reality that a lot of people view "stillborn" events as particularly traumatic. I'm not going to spend a lot of time arguing about this because it's a pretty simple point. It's up to you to choose what kind of person you want to be, I don't have control over what you say.
- deadmutex 6y agoI think the difference is that the term "Dead" is used in a lot of different contexts. E.g. Battery is dead. Stillborn is not, and it mainly associated used in one very traumatic context.
- layoutIfNeeded 6y agoHow about “miscarriage of justice”? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miscarriage_of_justice https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miscarriage_of_justice
- unishark 6y agoDOA is a metaphor too, literally referring to people arriving at the ER too late.
- kgwgk 6y agoNow that I think of it, does anyone know if "abort" is among the computing terms to be avoided (like master, black list or sanity check)?
- p1esk 6y agoNone of these should be avoided, as long as they are accurate terms.
- devmunchies 6y agoAnyone who is avoiding "master, black list or sanity check" probably thinks abortion is super awesome and that the term "abort" should never be stigmatized. Best not to worry about such silly things and keep writing code.
- falseprofit 6y agoI don't know of anyone who "thinks abortion is super awesome"... In any case, the primary meaning of 'abort' is more general, so it shouldn't be compared to the metaphorical use of 'stillborn'.
- kgwgk 6y agoThe original meaning of abort is miscarriage/miscarry, other uses are “metaphorical”.