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There Is No .bro In Brotli: Google/Mozilla Engineers Nix File Type As Offensive

theodp writes: Several weeks ago, Google launched Brotli, a new open source compression algorithm for the web. Since then, controversy broke out over the choice of 'bro' as the content encoding type. "We are hoping to establish a file ending .bro for brotli compressed files, a command line tool 'bro' for compressing and uncompressing brotli files, and a accept/content encoding type 'bro'," explained Google software engineer Jyrki Alakuijala. "Can I talk you out of it?," replied Mozilla SW engineer Patrick McManus. "'bro' has a gender problem, even though the dual meaning is unintentional. It comes of[f] misogynistic and unprofessional due to the world it lives in." Despite some pushback from commenters, a GitHub commit made by Google's Zoltan Szabadka shows that there will be no '.bro' in Brotli. "I have asked a feminist friend from the North American culture-sphere, and she advised against bro," explained Alakuijala. "We have found a compromise that satisfies us, so we don't need to discuss this further. Even if we don't understand why people are upset from our cultural standpoint, they would be (unnecessarily) upset and this is enough reason not to use it."

53 of 781 comments (clear)

  1. Big Sister is watching by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Call it .sis or .vag, that'll work, right?

    Male bad, female good?

    1. Re:Big Sister is watching by war4peace · · Score: 5, Funny

      Those choices are offensive.
      For gender equality, I propose a dual extension. .bro for male users and .ho for female users. That way, everyone's happy.

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    2. Re:Big Sister is watching by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Only the tip of the iceberg...

      Remember, git is a derogatory term in England/Great Britain.

      I'm sure to avoid offending people, both the git project and github will immediately change their names.

    3. Re:Big Sister is watching by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is unacceptable. When sorted by type, .bros would come before .hos

    4. Re:Big Sister is watching by dreamchaser · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You really need to get a sense of humor, or have you not ever heard the crude expression 'bros before hos?' It was a joke. You can laugh now.

    5. Re:Big Sister is watching by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Remember, git is a derogatory term in England/Great Britain.

      And that's exactly why Linus chose that name. "I'm an egotistical bastard, and I name all my projects after myself. First 'Linux', now 'git'".

    6. Re:Big Sister is watching by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I wish the dried up crones working in tech could get bent an loosen up a bit. This type of loser catering is about offending the majority to preserve the feelings of the minority / mentally disabled.

      Yep, it's SJW's to the rescue, the perpetually offended casting about for anything to get their XXXX-Large sized panties in a twist over.

      Seriously, when they start complaining about files extensions, my response is simply, "FUCK OFF!"

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    7. Re:Big Sister is watching by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "I have asked a feminist friend from the North American culture-sphere, and she advised against bro,"

      I asked a friend from a subgroup of the Congolese Luba people and in their dialect of Luba-Kasai "br" means "sodomise my three-year-old with a cucumber". Only three people actually speak this dialect and they're all over ninety, but still, someone somewhere finds it offensive, so your choice of "br" cannot be used as it is both offensive and racist.

      I demand that you change the extension to "cutefluffybunniessoftcottonwoolwarmness", but only after polling every single ethnic group, subculture, and political and religious belief in the world to ensure that none of them can figure out a way in which it offends them.

    8. Re:Big Sister is watching by ultranova · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Seriously, when they start complaining about files extensions, my response is simply, "FUCK OFF!"

      But nobody except the HR cares about your response. After all, this is a corporate-backed project, so what matters is the response of your corporate patron, in this case Google. Which, apparently, cares more about getting things done than defending some arbitrary line in sand.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    9. Re:Big Sister is watching by jcr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your loss, bro. Take it from those of us who actually have a sense of humor, it was funnier than anything any SJW ever said.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    10. Re:Big Sister is watching by jones_supa · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There's no need to artificially truncate filename extensions to 3 letters anymore. Just call it ".brotli" and call it a day. Adobe Premiere professionals deal with ".prproj" every day.

    11. Re:Big Sister is watching by Hognoxious · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Picking a neutral name that doesn't have any negative connotations is just sensible.

      It's not just sensible, it's impossible. If your whole raison d'etre is being offended, you will find something to be offended about.

      Now excuse me, I need to go and turn off the ... ummm ... green cauliflower.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  2. The North American culture-sphere? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Who says that?

    1. Re:The North American culture-sphere? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Twats say that, Billy. Twats do.

    2. Re:The North American culture-sphere? by 0123456 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Who says that?

      Metrosexuals who think being 'feminist' will help them get laid?

    3. Re:The North American culture-sphere? by quantaman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Who says that?

      My hunch is someone who doesn't live in the North American culture-sphere.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    4. Re:The North American culture-sphere? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

      Metrosexual? For fuck's sake, those damn kids and their kinks. Back in my days we didn't fuck in the tube.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    5. Re:The North American culture-sphere? by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 4, Informative

      Hunch correct. I've met Jyrki. He's a great guy. Also - a Finn who lives in Switzerland, not an American.

      Jyrki is very smart, not prone to bullshit or nonsense. He surely knows this issue is ridiculous, which is why they moved on so fast with only a minor comment about "not understanding why people are upset". There are more important things to do in life than argue with people who are wrong on the internet.

      (irony of me posting this to slashdot well understood)

  3. Re:Dear SJW morons by tnk1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Or failing that, perhaps they could not read gender politics into a three letter file extension.

  4. What next? by jbmartin6 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I guess the FAT filesystem has to go too.

    --
    This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
    1. Re:What next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Oh noooo. Don't forget the man pages.

      Better prerapre for person pages now...

    2. Re: What next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      You're too late.

      http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/FreeBSD's_man_page_misogyny

      Note the example there with gendered terms... Is being called fucking HATRED OF WOMEN.

      https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7121268.
      Bro pages (man pages with example) are raked over the coals

      http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Man-Page/
      Man pages now have disclaimers to explain that man is short for manual, so please don't be offended

      This HOWTO explains what you should bear in mind when you are going to write on-line documentation -- a so-called man page -- that you want to make accessible via the man(1) command. Throughout this HOWTO, a manual entry is simply referred to as a man page, regardless of actual length and without sexist intention.

    3. Re: What next? by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I just alias apropos to woman for the best of both worlds :-) Honestly, all this SJW crap is demeaning to women, as are the push for more girls to pick up coding and having it be assume that we have to be protected from a three letter file extension.

      OMG 0xCAFEBABE IS SEXIST. Not!

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    4. Re:What next? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually one of the first "better man page browsers" I ever installed on unix systems (around 1990) was called "woman".

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    5. Re:What next? by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

      FAT has to go. It will be replaced by the CURVY table.

      "man pages" are now "person pages" and include a provision to reword everything to a gender neutral wording.

      "cat" is no longer acceptable due to the outcry of people allergic to feline fur and is now "domestic_animal". Softlinks to "cat" may be permissive if the owner of the system can show that no allergic person could ever be subjected to the computer, which means that laptops, tablets and the like must not use such a symlink.

      It will no longer be able to use the "force" option in commands. Such behaviour is unacceptable and the option is now being ignored by the command and its use logged, with mandatory monthly reviews to correct such behaviour in users who continue to try to use it.

      "sendmail" is no longer acceptable due to the obvious gender bias and is renamed "sendmessage".

      The "touch" command may only be used on files the creation date of which is longer than 18 years in the past and where the user is in the touch_permitted database of the file. By default touch is not allowed until the program explicitly allows it to a certain user.

      "LaTeX" is no longer to be used due to environmental concerns.

      "kill" has always been a command of great concern and is now entirely limited to use for root only, who may only execute it after the process has been deemed required to be killed by at least 12 other processes running.

      "history" has been completely rewritten and will now be "herstory".

      abort() is now choice()

      And finally, XWindow is now NC-17Window.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  5. Just change one letter by kheldan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Call it 'Bratli' and use '.bra' as an extension instead; problem solved! :-)

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
  6. Re:Dear SJW morons by Panoptes · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "bro' has a gender problem"

    No. North America has a gender problem.

  7. Re:SJWs, 'ten-hut! by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 5, Funny

    Brazil is gonna have a hell of a time with the Olympics next year.

    Oh, I think they'll have plenty of support...

    --
    You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  8. Re:Dear SJW morons by Tokolosh · · Score: 5, Funny

    God was niggardly with the sense of humor dispensing.

    --
    Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
  9. The 1980s called... by Dadoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...and they want their 3-letter filename extensions back. Seriously, "br" would be fine, as well as "brot" or even "brotli". It amazes me that, 20 years after MS/DOS basically reached its end-of-life, people are still thinking within those constraints.

    --
    Sit, Ubuntu, sit. Good dog.
  10. Re:Dear SJW morons by kheldan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Get a sense of humor

    Friend, there is something I've been saying for decades now: The surest way to ruin a Good Thing is to get a bunch of people involved in it. That's what's happening here: There are too many people in the world, and more to the point too many people on the Internet, and it's just ruining everything for everyone because whereas it's actually a small percentage of people who might get offended at something so small, that small percentage represents a huge number of people, who are not going to allow themselves to be ignored. Case in point: I work at a large technology corporation. There is a small software tool that developers use, and a 32-bit hexadecimal value that shows up in one dialog box defaults to the hex value "DEADBEEF". Clever, right? Also harmless and not at all intended to be offensive. But someone got offended and they made them change it. Stupid, isn't it? Get enough people together and collectively they don't have a sense of humor anymore.

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
  11. Oh for FUCKS sake by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

    Damn feminists, grow a pair!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  12. Re:Dear SJW morons by NotInHere · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not just america. Parts of Europe have it, too.

  13. Re:Dear SJW morons by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Funny

    .Bro? I prefer .Manzier .

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  14. Re: What the fuck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The end of the patriarchy. And it is awesome. 50000 years of injustice are about to be unravelled.

    Because nothing says "We're strong enough to take over!" like screaming "I need to be protected!" whenever dealing with such horrible things as "offensive file extensions".

  15. Re:Dear SJW morons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    rant:

    No. The world has a "Whiny immature woman without a spine" problem. Lately we can't even bring up the topic of "gender" without having some fucking whore (yes, I'm using it intentionally. It's the internet. If you don't like it close the window. No one is forcing you to read this comment.) whining that "It's SOOOOOO offensive, and my little brain can't deal with the (non-intended) meanings so let's ban it!"

    /rant

    I've got a one step solution to all of this:
    1. Stop giving a fuck until these morons grow up and actually have a real issue to present.

    Seriously, every time I read shit like this, I wonder what kind of fucked in the head woman read / heard / whatever the material. Because a rational person would not read ".bro" and immediately think of "Gender inequality!" A person who would is either seriously fucked up in the head, or out to get something by taking advantage of others. This needs to stop. It's not solving any real issue and it takes away focus from the real issues that need to be addressed. For example: Equal pay regardless of gender, better support for abuse victims, etc.

    As for the sane women out there, 1. I apologize, but it needed, and still needs, to be said. 2. You need to start decrying these abusers and force them off the stage. Because for every single time you bring up a real issue that does need to be addressed, people think of these abusers and that puts them into a mindset of suspicion of intent, or just an outright unwillingness to help you.

  16. Political-correctness gone insane .. by nickweller · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Yet another example of political-correctness gone insane. People are not upset, some SJWarrier decides to be insulted by 'bro' and therefore it must be changed. Anyone who says different is a misogynist. Enough of the PC bullshit already. If some people decide to be insulted by some aspect of contemporary culture then that's their prerogative. It's got nothing to do with me, I am under no compulsion to adjust my behaviour or opinions to suit them.

  17. A timeline... by 0xdeadbeef · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Frat boys call each other bro, such that it becomes part of a stereotype.

    Feminists start using the word as a slur to evoke the stereotype in order to ridicule anyone they perceive as too masculine.

    People start using bro ironically in a totally different context.

    Feminists lose their shit and call *that* "offensive".

    I'm guessing what they're really upset about is their insult losing its negative connotation.

  18. Re:Dear SJW morons by 0123456 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Get a sense of humor.

    Sorry. I hear it's surgically removed when you become an SJW.

  19. Re:Dear SJW morons by 0xdeadbeef · · Score: 5, Funny

    There is a small software tool that developers use, and a 32-bit hexadecimal value that shows up in one dialog box defaults to the hex value "DEADBEEF". Clever, right? Also harmless and not at all intended to be offensive. But someone got offended and they made them change it.

    My name is a trigger word.

  20. .vag is PS1 and PS2 audio by tepples · · Score: 5, Informative

    Except .vag is taken by ADPCM audio on the PlayStation 1 and 2.

  21. Re:Dear SJW morons by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Problem is you can't really ignore it. Every time some professional victim comes around whining about how much their life sucks (which their life only sucks because they think it sucks -- ask any psychologist this question, they'll agree with me) then we start getting stupid laws that make everybody else bend over backwards for the professional victims.

    Take for example all of the lawsuits against businesses for not complying with ADA rules, even when the supposed "victim" didn't even try to go the business they're suing.

  22. Re:What the fuck by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Constant total IQ being spread out over an ever increasing number of people?

  23. Re: What the fuck by GrumpySteen · · Score: 4, Funny

    And nothing says "I'm smart" like falling for an obvious troll.

  24. *.SJW by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's so obvious, it's hard to *not* use.

    Could even have an mascot of such a warrior.

  25. Re:Dear SJW morons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > As amply demonstrated by the SJWs who down-modded my comment.

    If you are arguing that people shouldn't be so sensitive, your whining about being downmodded isn't doing your cause any favors.

  26. Re:The shouldn't have backed down by 0123456 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    GIMP is fantastic software, but it's audience is tiny relative to Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Tinder, etc. If you're aiming at a large audience you've got to mind your PR a little better than calling your product GIMP.

    The limited use of GIMP has very little to do with its name, and very, very, very much to do with its appalling, abysmal, clunky, counterintuitive user interface. For example, developers who do stupid things like removing the ability to save as anything other than GIMP's own .xcf format from the 'save as' dialog, thereby making it even less intuitive and even less compatible with any other GUI app out there.

    I mean, seriously, when I have to search the web to find out how to save a .jpg with a new GIMP release, the UI is fscked.

  27. A better society has more ridiculous complaints. by trout007 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Think about it for a second. Things are so great for women in the western world that this is what generates complaints. When the complaints are I get hit with rocks trying to go to school, or they cut off my clitoris then you know you are living in a hell hole. Those women don't have time to worry about .bro extensions. When it gets down to the only complaints being file extensions it's means thing are pretty damn good.

    --
    I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
  28. Re:Gag? by Mashiki · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I assume the objection is a gag. Nobody is this brainless.

    SJW's are, so are 3rd wave feminists. Which of course is why you now see popular culture starting to mocking them. And why 82% of women no longer call themselves feminists, rather they're following egalitarianism or something along those lines. They already know that modern feminism has a man-hatred problem, and large numbers of people see a serious problem with SJWs and their public attacks on people, and being perpetually outraged.

    --
    Om, nomnomnom...
  29. Fixed article summary by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    replied Mozilla SW engineer Patrick McManus

    Pretty sure that should read "replied Mozilla SJW engineer Patrick McManus"

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Fixed article summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      He will have to change his name to Patrick McPersonus. McManus is offensive.

  30. Re:EFI, the NEW boot standard, requires FAT 8.3 by zdzichu · · Score: 4, Informative

    EFI is 20 years old, it's hardly a "new" standard. And if you look into current version's (UEFI) specification 12.3.1.2:
    http://www.uefi.org/sites/defa...
    you will see that filesystem used on ESP supports long file names.
    So please stop disinformation.

    --
    :wq
  31. Re:Seriously? by rubycodez · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We're offended that open source projects have to waste time considering this kind of PC femi-nazi stupidity, and moreover that they then cave into it.