Comments on: Times are changing.

By: blueties

blueties — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 21:50:47 +0000

In the UK, the word guys has long been used by women and men to refer to all-male, all-female and mixed-gender groups. The phrase is, in more recent times, being used for the same purpose. While I generally all in favour of any effort to rid the free software community of sexism, I think this one is probably not useful.

By: beerfan

beerfan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 01:36:26 +0000

If the reader was offended, it is because they chose to be so.

In the case of the word “dude” I have heard a great many females use the term when speaking to other females both on television and in person. I think it has commonly been used more and more like the British/Australian term “mate”.

What is offensive to you may be perfectly common and acceptable to others. Try not to exert your ideologies on the global community.

By: bapoumba

bapoumba — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:10:40 +0000

@ Greg K Nicholson: it would have been exclusive too (or even offensive to men), and i would have been happy it gets changed :)

Many times, I thought about starting a talk with “Hello ladies” in mostly male audiences, but never dared. For two reasons: I see no point ignoring part of the audience (and of course the majority of the audience), and no point starting useless arguments. But I really thought about it many times.

By: Greg K Nicholson

Greg K Nicholson — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 10:59:12 +0000

It’s not offensive—it’s exclusive: imagine it said “Sorry, ladies” (or some such) instead.

By: John Campbell Rees

John Campbell Rees — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:22:55 +0000

But “Dude” is harmless. Anybody who finds it offensive really needs to get a life.

By: bapoumba

bapoumba — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:22:09 +0000

@ wolfger: I know, but it is also not so easy to always and only be referred to as either non-exiting or for-your-eyes-only. When small steps like these bring up turmoil, that means we are not there yet. Integration takes time and efforts, from both sides :)

And thanks Toni for pointing this improvement out :)

By: Toni Ruottu

Toni Ruottu — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:13:07 +0000

I suppose the authors of nmap had originally used word “god” meaning the Christian God. Thus capitalizing the references was probably the right thing to do.

When it comes to use of word “dude” the original use of it was probably just inconsiderate. I don’t think the authors had any problem with changing it. So why not take a step towards making the computer atmosphere more inviting towards women.

By: wolfger

wolfger — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:20:59 +0000

“Politcal correctness” sickens me. Not all references to god should be capitalized. That is a monotheism-centric idea. So in the effort to be “politically correct”, we’ve been in fact politically (and otherwise) incorrect…. Likewise being offended by “Sorry, dude.” is just kind of silly. It’s one thing if the change is made in the interest of being more professional (and I could argue that being more professional isn’t necessarily a good thing), but to drop it because one person (or even multiple people) has an incredibly thin skin just cheeses me off.