Arch Linux Mirror Loli.forsale Removed After Name Complaint

[jchw]

Personally I could care less. It's a gag that I'm sure some people do find amusing.

But their response is what gets me. Boo hoo, free speech is dead because you don't want ostencibly-pedophilic jokes associated with your software.

I say if you're committed to an off-color joke or gag, this is a terrible attempt to save face. Just apologize with authenticity and go more subtle. Don't turn it into another *gate or whatever the hell.

Of course, I'm only indifferent because nobody got hurt. A similar but genuinely terrible situation would be the Python Pantyshot debacle...

[msimpson]

> I say if you're committed to an off-color joke or gag, this is a terrible attempt to save face. Just apologize with authenticity and go more subtle. Don't turn it into another *gate or whatever the hell.

Exactly, and this is so obviously a troll.

Look at the original feature request to even add the mirror:

https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/51870

You can see Pritz's hesitation at using "cuntflaps.me" as a mirror and his request to use a different name.

To which Alucard suggests "loli.forsale", instead.

So excuse the Arch maintainers for not allowing you to politicize their distribution, thereby polarizing their user base...

[jhanschoo]

Well, I guess such a response is somewhat expected from someone who chooses to name a mirror that in the first place.

[Famicoman]

Via detectives at reddit,

Here is the original complaint, https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=227998

And here is the admin's original request to use a mirror with the name mirror.cuntflaps.me where the loli.forsale mirror was ultimately accepted, https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/51870

[RaleyField]

The email of the author comes from a domain where one can find this gem on one of subpages:

"Unless its some illegal faggot shit, I will always store your loli pics, anon."[1]

I don't appreciate people putting their personalities (whether I generally appreciate their personality or not) into software. The project you are creating is, or should be, an intellectual endeavor and it serves no technical purpose to push your personality onto users. What's more, it lessens your credibility - if you don't understand not to put your personality into your project then I question what bigger mistakes you are making as well. It's the same reason I wouldn't trust savings to a banker wearing a clown costume, it's not about me hating clowns, they can be a clown in private all they want, just don't make a clown out of your own software.

[1]https://safe.moe/faq

[loa_in_]

It serves a purpose if it's to cater to a user who appreciates that.

You could argue that software displaying "Good Morning, <name>!" every first run of the day serves no technical purpose, and judging by the tone of your comment, it makes that software inferior and the developer who decided to include this feature - to be of ill mind and immature.

I like to say that seriousness, like fear, will make us do and say stupid things if we let it take over us.

[snvzz]

>The project you are creating is, or should be, an intellectual endeavor and it serves no technical purpose to push your personality onto users.

Plenty will find that attitude offensive. Like, who do you think you are telling people what their project should be.

[JadeNB]

Is this anything but a fit of pique on the part of the maintainer of the mirror? It seems that the maintainer is mainly saying "because I have done many good things, no-one is allowed to complain about anything I do." It seemed that the notification was polite and professional, and made very clear that it involved no personal judgement, only a response to user demand. (The free-speech issue seems to be a red herring; no-one is, as far as I can tell, denying his right to name his mirror as he pleases. As the saying goes, "free speech is the right to say whatever you please, but not the right to have anyone listen.")

[zimpenfish]

To be honest, if I was the Arch people, I'd boot him from the project just for the ridiculous self-preening nature of that email. And also for calling himself "Alucard".

(This is why I'm not in charge of things, mind.)

[viraptor]

I'm tempted to say it could've been a provocation planned for some time. The original name for the mirror was cuntflaps: https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/51870 and only changed after a request.

[konart]

> involved no personal judgement, only a response to user demand

So it is okay to remove stuff just because somebody was offended? Why nobody is banning Rammstein concerts then? I'm pretty sure many people will find band's name offencive.

[microcolonel]

I think the point here is that a) he did everything right b) he did nothing wrong and c) it doesn't really matter what characters go into the name.

I think the complaint is quite petty, and it doesn't really solve any problems. Approximately nobody is going to have a worse opinion of Arch Linux because of the content of a url in /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist, and it's basically a waste of time to address this as an issue.

[scandox]

> like working for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Am I right in saying that this guy works for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (presumably in Portugal)? Because for some reason it seems particularly weird to me that someone in that organisation would find that domain name amusing. Maybe it is some kind of professional gallows humour?

[mmjaa]

Maybe he sets up and operates honeypots. Alas, what is in the domain but words, and what is in a word but that which we pour in?

[jakobegger]

some people who contribute to open source projects are really nice and considerate people, and some are dicks. When someone makes significant contributions, people tolerate a bit of dickish behavior and shrug it of as the behavior of a slightly eccentric genius. But for everyone else, people won’t put up with your shit. If you want people to accept your contributions, be nice, and don’t be a dick.

[DanBC]

> When someone makes significant contributions, people tolerate a bit of dickish behavior

Sometimes known as "vested contributor". This is a problem people need to be aware of. It's probably a bad idea to tolerate poor behaviour.

http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/VestedContributor

[ddavis]

What is offensive about the domain name? Just curious.

[konart]

Loli is a term used to describe young girls (short form of lolita - "a slang term for a sexually attractive, seductive or precocious young girl" (c) wiki)

Somebody didn't like the joke about selling one.

[viraptor]

It's basically "young girls for sale". Not an idea many people and projects want to have a connection to.

[kw71]

"loli" is a 4chanism for a sexual target who is underage

[ourcat]

Short for "Lolita"?

[sigi45]

Good decision.

[wvh]

I can't make up my mind how much this is freedom of speech (and offend, which is never a reason for censorship in my book) and how much this is just being annoying.

[JadeNB]

> how much this is freedom of speech

I argued in another thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14846562), but hope you won't mind my repeating here, the (tried but true) trope that free speech guarantees only the right to say what you want, not to have anyone listen. Not disseminating someone else's speech is not the same thing as suppressing it.

[konart]

Another CoralineAda?