linux-kernel - Re: [Ksummit-discuss] [PATCH] CodingStyle: Inclusive Terminology

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Message-ID: <D472FD9A-0229-43A6-86DB-59596C067A61@fb.com>
Date:   Mon, 06 Jul 2020 11:55:21 -0400
From:   "Chris Mason" <clm@...com>
To:     Laurent Pinchart <laurent.pinchart@...asonboard.com>
CC:     Willy Tarreau <w@....eu>,
        <ksummit-discuss@...ts.linuxfoundation.org>,
        Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
        <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        <tech-board-discuss@...ts.linuxfoundation.org>,
        Chris Mason <clm@...clm>
Subject: Re: [Ksummit-discuss] [PATCH] CodingStyle: Inclusive Terminology



On 6 Jul 2020, at 10:06, Laurent Pinchart wrote:

> Hi Chris,
>
> On Mon, Jul 06, 2020 at 12:45:34PM +0000, Chris Mason via 
> Ksummit-discuss wrote:
>> On 5 Jul 2020, at 0:55, Willy Tarreau wrote:

>>> Maybe instead of providing an explicit list of a few words it should
>>> simply say that terms that take their roots in the non-technical 
>>> world
>>> and whose meaning can only be understood based on history or local
>>> culture ought to be avoided, because *that* actually is the real
>>> root cause of the problem you're trying to address.
>>
>> I’d definitely agree that it’s a good goal to keep out 
>> non-technical
>> terms.  Even though we already try, every subsystem has its own set 
>> of
>> patterns that reflect the most frequent contributors.
>
> That's an interesting point, because to me, it's the exact opposite. 
> One
> of the intellectual rewards I find in working with the kernel is that
> our community is international and multicultural, allowing me to learn
> about other cultures. Aiming for the lowest common denominator seems 
> to
> me to be closer to erasing cultural differences than including them.

I hadn’t thought of it from this angle, but I do agree with you.  I 
think the cultural side comes through more in discussions and in-person 
conferences than it does from the code itself.

I do try to avoid local idioms or culture references unless I’m 
explaining them as part of a discussion or a personal story, mostly 
because I’ve gotten feedback from coworkers who had a hard time 
following my bad (ok, terrible) jokes or sarcasm.  One internal example 
is commands that take —clowntown as an argument.  It’s pretty 
therapeutic to type when you’re grumpy about tooling, but a lot of 
people probably have to look it up before it makes sense.

-chris