Final statement from Steering Council on politically-charged commit messages

[gia]

 That's why I picked Math, it is also universally accepted, it's very
strict, and it leaves the reader to decide its color based on themselves
(it's not white btw :)

On Tue, Aug 18, 2020 at 11:36 AM Tim Daneliuk <info at tundraware.com> wrote:

> On 8/17/20 1:26 PM, Chris Angelico wrote:
> > For context, see this commit:
> >
> >
> https://github.com/python/peps/commit/0c6427dcec1e98ca0bd46a876a7219ee4a9347f4
> >
> > The commit message is highly politically charged and is now a
> > permanent part of the Python commit history. The Python Steering
> > Council has this to say:
> >
> >
> https://github.com/python/steering-council/issues/34#issuecomment-675028005
> >
> > "The SC discussed this and ... we do not deplore the message."
> >
> > So now we know: go ahead and put all the political messages you like
> > into the commit messages, just don't put anything inappropriate into
> > the content. White supremacy has been mentioned; who wants to pick the
> > next hot topic?
> >
> > ChrisA
> >
> Just a few thoughts here ...
>
> - While languages evolve over time, _in any given moment_ there are better
>   and worse ways to express ideas in a given language. "The Elements Of
> Style"
>   remains relevant today because it provides guidance on improving
>   written clarity.  It is not some blind defence of the
>   perfect English.
>
> - Precision of language and precision of thought go hand in hand.  Much
>   of the grousing about languages standards (in this case, hiding in
>   drag as social consciousness) is little more than intellectual laziness.
>   In actual fact, our discipline has burned a lot of intellectual
>   fuel in trying to find ways to be _more precise_ for things like
>   specifications, formal semantics, and the like.
>
> - It is my consistent experience when working with non-native English
>   speakers, that they wish to _improve_ their use and precision of the
>   language, not simplify it.
>
> - Why is English the only target of these social pieties?  You never
>   hear these demands to relax these linguistic standards for, say, French,
>   German, or Spanish.  Similarly, where is the outcry to make
>   Mandarin, Bantu, Swahili, or Arabic more approachable for
>   Westerners?
>
> Methinks there is an ideological skunk in the parlor ...
>
>
> --
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>