I'd like to offer a constructive solution to the blacklist/whitelist
argument to the Apache foundation and Kevin in particular.
There is opposition to this change on at least two fronts:
* Philosophical: the change does nothing to address the underlying
political problems. Black people are asking not to be murdered;
changing "blacklist" to "blocklist" as the sole response is
insulting and transparently virtue signaling.
* Practical: the gesture costs the Apache foundation nothing, because
the "gift" is paid for by the labor of the users who have to
reconfigure their systems.
Whether or not you agree with those bullet points, here's what I propose
to address them...
The Apache foundation has some cash laying around. Make whatever wording
changes you like, but **at the same time**, donate a meaningful amount
of money to a cause like the ACLU or the defense/medical funds for the
protestors. This addresses the bullet points above:
* The donation is of real value to the people who receive it, and
addresses the underlying problem in that it helps the people who are
themselves helping in more direct ways.
* The donation is also of value to the donor, so cannot be considered
a token gesture.
This will not be free for users: we will all still have to reconfigure
our systems. But if that "wasted" time actually helps the stated cause,
then it's no longer wasted. Knowing that an hour in my text editor may
have helped someone get out of jail or replace an eyeball shot out by a
federal goon makes it much more palatable. In other words, people might
still think it's stupid, but could be willing to suck it up if the
Apache foundation puts its money where its mouth is.
This surely won't please everyone, but it may be satisfactory to a
majority of people on both sides. Also, it will stop the email threads.
argument to the Apache foundation and Kevin in particular.
There is opposition to this change on at least two fronts:
* Philosophical: the change does nothing to address the underlying
political problems. Black people are asking not to be murdered;
changing "blacklist" to "blocklist" as the sole response is
insulting and transparently virtue signaling.
* Practical: the gesture costs the Apache foundation nothing, because
the "gift" is paid for by the labor of the users who have to
reconfigure their systems.
Whether or not you agree with those bullet points, here's what I propose
to address them...
The Apache foundation has some cash laying around. Make whatever wording
changes you like, but **at the same time**, donate a meaningful amount
of money to a cause like the ACLU or the defense/medical funds for the
protestors. This addresses the bullet points above:
* The donation is of real value to the people who receive it, and
addresses the underlying problem in that it helps the people who are
themselves helping in more direct ways.
* The donation is also of value to the donor, so cannot be considered
a token gesture.
This will not be free for users: we will all still have to reconfigure
our systems. But if that "wasted" time actually helps the stated cause,
then it's no longer wasted. Knowing that an hour in my text editor may
have helped someone get out of jail or replace an eyeball shot out by a
federal goon makes it much more palatable. In other words, people might
still think it's stupid, but could be willing to suck it up if the
Apache foundation puts its money where its mouth is.
This surely won't please everyone, but it may be satisfactory to a
majority of people on both sides. Also, it will stop the email threads.