The Wikipedia definition seems to indicate it has origins as a racist term and I’ve never understood why unix users have adopted this terms instead of something benign like “themes” or “theming” which I remember being in use long before I ever heard “rice”. So what gives? Why use “rice” instead of “theme”?
This is the same as people not using Gimp because they never understood what really means and feel it’s derogatory. Sometimes a word is just that, a word, and there’s no profit from overthinking it. But in the same regard you can use the term “theme” if it makes you happier.
There are plenty of articles and comments out there from disabled people recounting how that word has been weaponized against them. When people are telling us this, it seems pretty tasteless to continue using it.
It’s an acronym, just that. We can argue is a misfortune one but that’s it.
Yea, it’s an acronym that spells out a slur. It should be changed.
I have no idea why I get downvoted every time I say this. If there are a large number of people out there saying ‘I was called this name due to my disability, it makes me feel like shit, and the fact that a popular FOSS project continues to use it despite being told this time and time again makes me feel that the FOSS community sees me as less than human’ how is it remotely complicated to have the common courtesy to apologize, pick a better name, and carry on? This is not hard, it costs nothing, and it’s just basic human respect.
Following that logic we should rename lots of things, as any word can be use in a despicable way. I get your point. But again. It’s just the name of an app.
Any word CAN be, but in this case you have a group of people telling you it IS hurtful to them. Those aren’t the same thing.
The word has been considered a serious slur for years. If, by chance, you wind up naming your project with a tier-1 slur, yes, you should absolutely rename it.
Gimp is one of the few FOSS projects with some notoriety outside of tech circles. It, VLC and Linux are possibly the only names I could expect some random person to have heard of. Changing its name would probably torpedo years of work to become seen as a reliable piece of software and send it back to the realm of “software that only people who watch the code repository know about”.
And the whole changing the name to avoid offending someone is a losing battle in the first place. According to this thread, “rice” is potentially racist. I had no idea anyone could find “Gimp” offensive, but apparently they can. By this point, it’s part of american internet culture to be offended and no word is safe from americans turning it into a slur, dog-whistle, etc etc and advocating that everyone else in the world should stop using it.
The fact that g–p is a slur is not a new thing. It’s the equivalent of f----t or r----d for a large number of disabled people, and has been for years. The fact that you did not know this doesn’t make it any less true.
Do you honestly believe a name change would vault the project into obscurity? Seems like a quick press release would do it.
Honestly, I find the name Nathan really offensive.
Are you going to do something about it?
Have you got any real arguments for me?