this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
131 points (62.7% liked)

Unixporn

15444 readers
4 users here now

Unixporn

Submit screenshots of all your *NIX desktops, themes, and nifty configurations, or submit anything else that will make themers happy. Maybe a server running on an Amiga, or a Thinkpad signed by Bjarne Stroustrup? Show the world how pretty your computer can be!

Rules

  1. Post On-Topic
  2. No Defaults
  3. Busy Screenshots
  4. Use High-Quality Images
  5. Include a Details Comment
  6. No NSFW
  7. No Racism or use of racist terms

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Meta post I've decided to make. I enjoyed the unixporn subreddit a lot when I used reddit more. I enjoy customizing my linux de as much as the next nerd.

But you definitely shouldn't use racist slang to refer to the process.

To be clear, I didn't know the origin of the term 'ricing' until fairly recently. I was chattimg with my friend and used it to describe my de setup. They informed me that apparently it's from car customization, and is a pejorative against generally asian men who customize their car to look like a racecar.

After learning this I was sad to realize just how engrained it is in linux de customization culture. I personally have stopped using the term, and I would ask everyone here stop as well.

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

I'm not bothered by it, but it is tacky.

When I was growing up, the term wasn't necessarily directed specifically towards Asian people, but Asian manufactured cars themselves. IE a Honda with a body kit and a loud muffler would be referred to as a "Rice Grinder" by some. It doesn't register in this context to me as racist, but definitely culturally insensitive and stupid.

I'm okay with the move to not use it.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How the fresh fuck is this even a thing still? Even back in the 90's I heard dudes making gags about "Uncle Ben Hot Rods". You know. RICE IT UP!

GET IT? They're shitty race cars made by a shitty race who only makes cheap stuff!

🤮

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago

Yeah I'm actually amazed people are still using this term. Figures it's about computers though lol, of course the antisocial nerds are stronger holdouts than car enthusiasts.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

As an east Asian that eats rice every day, I must say that I don't consider this term racist at all. The meanings of words shift over time. For example, nice used to mean "foolish, ignorant, frivolous, senseless," but now it means "kind, thoughtful." Gay used to mean "lighthearted, joyous," then a slang for homosexuals, and ultimately became the term with which many homosexuals choose to describe themselves. Rice may have been a racist term, but now what it means is "to extensively customize one's desktop system to one's liking, especially Linux systems." It no longer is racist.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_change

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (59 children)

I disagree.

Ricers, in the 80s, as a term that referred to Japanese cars (Honda, Toyota) who burned rice instead of gas. This is bad. Full stop.

From there, rice, in the 90s-00s, referred to the Race Inspired Cosmetic Enhancement: typically bolted onto Honda and Toyota, it moved from that to any cosmetic car customization 10s.

Now we are in 20s, and rice refers to customizations that represent one’s personal choices regarding cosmetic enhancements.

Is that a bad thing?

Why should a word be locked in on a definition from 40 yrs ago? Why should it be stuck in the past?

Why not reclaim a word? Customizing a desktop is a labor of love. It takes a decent amount of time, and is deeply personal, representing one’s own taste.

load more comments (59 replies)
[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago

Oh, shit, I never thought of that. Thanks for pointing it out

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (21 children)

TIL the origin of the word.

But I am confused. Anyone offended for using the word?

When repos changed to main from master, I got problems.

People are hypersensitive over these words now.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

When repos changed to main from master, I got problems.

No you just harbor already racist attitudes. There are a non-trivial amount of people who dislike arbitrary, antiquated terminology used in computer science like "master/slave" "male/female" and of course "master branch." Simply getting out your bullhorn and asking "who's actually offended by this?" is demeaning to the issue at hand which goes much farther than just a historical analysis of racism.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I remember thinking all of these terms were strange and creepy back when I first learnt them as a kid for goodness' sake. They've always been bad and I'm very glad they're finally going away.

load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (20 replies)
[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (8 children)

Not saying that this is a bad thing, but it's kind of amazing how opinions of the public can shift so drastically within a month: https://lemmy.ml/post/2080934. Last month another user posted in the very same [email protected] asking whether people consider the term "rice" racist. The majority opinion back then was "if you get offended over a term like this you should take a break from the Internet."

load more comments (8 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›