[908B64B197]

A lot of what Turing did was kept classified or not publicized too much by the British government. They seem to have done a complete 180 on this relatively recently (now that tech and SV are all over the news) and seem to want to brand anything computing related with his name.

Am-I the only one that finds is odd how the British government brags about Alan Turing after what they did to him? Having a government research center named after him seems particularly strange after what they had him endure. The state forced him to undergo chemical castration because of his homosexuality. Same state kept his achievements and contribution to the war effort a secret up until after his death, so they could persecute a war hero without the public knowing about it.

Crazy to think he was convicted in 1952. Same year Elizabeth became Queen and head of the British government. She could have simply overturned his conviction, as British law allowed her to do so. But she and the crown chose not to.

The man saved women, men, children, of all races and orientations from an horrible end. Had he not cracked the enigma's cryptography, there would most likely remain nothing today of the crown that persecuted him. Blown to dust by the Luftwaffe.

If only the British government had extended the same humanity to Turing himself.

[_Wintermute]

"The British Government" isn't some singular immortal person. I imagine the people in charge of naming this academic institute had nothing to do with his conviction or homosexuality laws in the 1950s, they most likely weren't even alive then.

[legostormtroopr]

> Same state kept his achievements and contribution to the war effort a secret up until after his death, so they could persecute a war hero without the public knowing about it.

Thats not exactly a fair representation of what happened. They kept everything about the cracking of the Enigma a secret because it was a huge shift in information warfare. Also, while Turing was a big part of it Bletchley Park had hundreds of staff, and all of them were equally impacted by post-ware secrecy provisions.

Implying that he, and he alone, was responsible for the cracking of the Enigma and that he alone was suppressed in history is a wild mischaracterisation of the realities of the time.

* necessary disclaimer: Turing was unquestionably a war hero and what happened to him post-WWI was barbaric and a dark mark on history.

[z3c0]

"We have always been at war with Oceania."

In all seriousness, governments consist of the people of a given time, and as such, attitudes change. While an apologetic stance probably should be held, the people responsible for the shift in stance aren't likely to carry any of their predecessors' due guilt.