this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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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.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 31 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!

๐Ÿคฎ

[โ€“] [email protected] 23 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.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 30 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 oneโ€™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 oneโ€™s own taste.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago

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

[โ€“] [email protected] 24 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.

[โ€“] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago

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

People are hypersensitive over these words now.

Yeah, I don't understand why people would start malding when repos changed from master to main. They're just words after all.

[โ€“] [email protected] 28 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.

[โ€“] [email protected] 30 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.

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[โ€“] [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."

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[โ€“] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago

I live in an obscure asian country and I rice while I eat rice.

[โ€“] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I honestly don't know what's the problem here and I'm speaking from a person coming from ASEAN which is the one of the most discriminated group of people in the Asian. You have to place the term into the context to determine whether it is racist or not. If you're describing an Asian product a ricer with the point that it is load, this is racist. Otherwise, ricing shouldn't be a problem here. But then again, if you find it offended despite not being an Asian, just use other terms that suit your taste. The "master" shouldn't and must not be used with "slave" in the same text to refer to anything that implies subjugation. But then again, how about the master who is highly skilled in their own field? What do we have to refer such people? And interestingly, not a lot of people have any feeling over the words "monkey". This term is generally used in a pejorative way to describe people from ASEAN, implying that we haven't evolved. Should we stop using the term "monkey"? A lot of these are depended on the context, if you have any little sense and basic on linguistic. In the end, I'll be still using ricing to describe my extensive customisation and you will be using other terms. If your proposed term becomes the dominant term, then for the sake of making people easier to understand what I'm saying, I will use that term too.

[โ€“] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (13 children)

The origin of the word "monkey" is for the animal and "master" for skilled person or hierarchical boss while the origin of the word "ricer/ricing/riced" is explicitly and only a racist insult

If your proposed term becomes the dominant term, then for the sake of making people easier to understand what I'm saying, I will use that term too

You would've went wild in the USA during slavery times

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