When words mean more than just words

How we communicate words is important, the code, test and documentation needs to be part of the ongoing process to treat better our coworkers, be clear on what we do without the need of established words as "blacklist". Do you mean restricted? rejected? undesirable? think again.

Master, slave, fat, archaic, blacklist are just a sample of actions you may not be aware of hard are for underrepresented groups. We, your coworkers can't take it anymore because all the suffering it create on us, making us unproductive, feeling second class employee or simply sad.

Let's make our code, a better code.

Transcript

1. Esp a rt a co P a lm a - April 2021 When words mean more than just words Don’t BlackList Us
2. When words are more than just words Espartaco Palma Senior Software Engineer - @esparta https://esparta.co Don’t BlackList Us
3. The bad 👺 We have problems with our terminology It may hurt other humans.
4. Does it hurt people?
5. I didn’t even start to create my slides, and Apple© gave me yet another example…
7. It started with changing the git default branch…
8. “🧐To change the default branch from master to main is only OK for small projects and libraries” — Some r a ndom guy on internet
9. You were saying…. ? 🤔🤨🤨
10. “That doesn’t count, Rails is just an outdated framework. Still a small project.” — The s a me r a ndom guy on internet
11. You were saying…. ? 🤔🤨🤔
12. “You don’t get it 🤬, I mean really big, important projects like all the ones I develop.” — The s a me obnoxious r a ndom guy on internet
13. Main actors are willing to change ❤
14. But… the conventions, that’s how it is, that’s how is done…
15. You mean the… RFCs ? 💡
16. ❤ 💗💖🖤
17. Call to Action
18. “Call for a measured, unemotional discussion in the planning and execution of the change, careful not to presume that anyone is a racist for pushing for a more careful rollout.” - Drew deVault, Dec. 2020
19. If you are willing to change because you are afraid of cancel culture… You have the wrong reasons. ProTip🧑🏫
20. Provision the change through Diversity, Equity & Inclusion efforts
21. 18/F - @logindotgov 🇺🇸
22. 😯
23. 18/F - @logindotgov 🇺🇸 - Effort started at Aug, 2020 - Jan 2021, setup pieces - March 2021, it happened - A lot of people involved!
24. 18/F - @logindotgov 🇺🇸 - Setting up a main branch that matched master branch - Changing the default branch in GitHub - Changing the ref deployed from in Infrastructure con g - Redeploying from main - Testing to make sure everything still works and nothing got left behind - Deprecating the master branch
25. Ask politely⁉
26. Propose Alternatives⁉ - https://github.com/ietf/terminology Whitelist Allowlist, approved list, pass list, accept list, permitted Blacklist Blocklist, denylist, unapproved list, reject list, refused, prohibited Master/slave Leader/follower, primary/replica, primary/ secondary, active/standby, main/secondary Master (e.g., branch, key, server) Main, parent, server, central Grandfathered Legacy status, historial Gendered pronouns (e.g., he/him/his) They, them, their
27. Propose Alternatives⁉ - Other projects has their own: - https://lkml.org/lkml/2020/7/4/229 - https://developers.google.com/style/inclusive-documentation - https://puppet.com/blog/removing-harmful-terminology-from-our-products/ - https://github.com/github/renaming/ -
28. • Ask for a change • Usually are open to change if you also offer support to make it happen. • Don’t get mad if this doesn’t happen immediately Contact maintainers⁉
29. It may not that easy to ask⁉ Ellis Island
30. It may not that easy to ask⁉
31. We are kind of agree that words are actually actions, they have an impact. Words may hurt other humans. The good 🎉
33. • Grumpy: “It’s useless” • Sarcastic: “Thanks! You’ve solve racism” • False victims: “I’m free to do whatever I like, forcing me to do otherwise is against my free will. Who would watch my freedom? I’m also su ering.” • Pessimists: “This will break everything. EVERYTHING.” • “I don’t care, as long as I’m not involved” • “I refuse to do extra work to solve problems nobody have” Be prepared
34. What I’m doing? - Call and communicate with private sector - I’ve talked with other projects and start the conversation for a good change: - LostIsland/Faraday project - Dry-Rb - My own projects - Changing the public and private project in the company I work for.
35. We all need to be involved - First hand: BIPOC - Facilitators/Sponsors - Allies - People who are connected and have their own audience - Government. - Orgs - Private sector stakeholder
36. Thanks!
37. Credits & Addendums at esparta.co/dont-blacklist-us