OT: Autism in discussion groups (was: Re: Proposal: Disconnect comp.lang.python from python-list)

Abdur-Rahmaan Janhangeer arj.python at gmail.com
Sun May 9 08:20:50 EDT 2021


On Sun, May 9, 2021 at 1:58 PM dn via Python-list <python-list at python.org>
wrote:

> That said, there is nothing to be gained by upsetting people...
>

I misquoted the relevant section from Chris' answer, i wanted to quote:





*I'm not saying that the previous situation was GOOD, but I'm far fromsure
that the current situation is any better - look at the argumentsregarding
branch naming, which completely sidelined all technicalconsiderations in
favour of one single political motivation basedheavily on the decisions of
people from one specific country.*

More about changes like the above.

Nevertheless, when the Linux Foundation announced a discussion looking
> into such (largely) US-concerning terms as Master/Slave in computing
> contexts, the same newsletter blatantly localised events which were
> publicised, and intended to draw, world-wide participation.
> (and has yet to respond to my observation of same)
>
> The ISO 8601 International Standard recommends usage of UTC "Universal
> Time" as a means for communicating times and dates in an international
> or multinational context, ie "interchange". (So the LF's advert of a
> Rust seminar commencing at a time listed in "CEST" is unfriendly and
> somewhat inconsiderate to people outside Europe)
> - example to prove we're not 'US-bashing', even though similar US-based
> examples would be very easy to quote.
>
> ISO 8601 was updated with 'Part 2' in 2019. It deals with "common
> expressions". Many of which are meaningless, or even misleading to
> others. In this case, an invitation to "Spring Internships" seemed six
> months early to me. However, it is 'now' to anyone in the US. Such
> seasonal terms only apply to the temperate zones of this planet -
> neither the tropics nor the poles have such seasons, plus many cultures
> use other terms for specific times of year, eg "Monsoon Season". Thus,
> are not appropriate for use amongst an international audience.
>


The examples you quote are very tangible, clearly defined and easily
associated
Master-slave has obvious meanings, CEST is associated with a particular
area and preferring another timezone would put other people at
disadvantages.
The iso part 2 saute a l'oeil (triggers your sensors, litt. jumps at your
eye), spring
automatically spells confusions as spring goes in the same direction as
timezones

I was pointing out to politically related changes whose obviousness and
correctness
is not gauged from empirical analysis of elements in front of you but
requires the
further step of knowing what the American people deem as right or wrong not
in the sense of morals directly but more of how the country and people
live. Let's
say the word mouse. A mouse is a mouse, the rodent. But now some bad people
take the mouse as their symbol. They put the mouse on their bags, robes,
curtains,
laptops, pens thereby demonising the mouse. Now mouse lovers are also
associated
to these people as well as people who care for mouse wellness in
laboratories. This
happens in Fake Country X.

Now some in a country studied English and learnt that a mouse is a four
tiny-
footed creature with a tail.  Being a mouse lover the person decided to
name a Python
conference PyMouse. Now people start dramatising the situation and label
the person
as someone not to be collaborated with, someone to be banned from all Py
affiliated
enterprises. Well that is very bad to begin with. A mouse remains a mouse
and the bad
folks using the mouse as their symbol exists in majority only in Fake
Country X. Someone
outside Fake Country X never had the chance to study or imbibe himself with
or come
across the association of this with that.

You presented some cases which are very valid and correct, but i was
referring to changes
which are not so blatant and obvious. Cases which are wrong for some people
but right for others
not because of moral correctness directly but more because of associations
present in a particular
country.

Kind Regards,

Abdur-Rahmaan Janhangeer
about <https://compileralchemy.github.io/> | blog
<https://www.pythonkitchen.com>
github <https://github.com/Abdur-RahmaanJ>
Mauritius


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