Comment by yjftsjthsd-h
3 years ago
I don't see how that follows? That blog post basically says "don't be toxic about languages". Unless you're using a much broader definition of "toxic" than I'd expect, that doesn't mean you can't write about languages, including fair critiques and even comparisons. I mean, take... "old school" PHP. By all accounts, PHP used to have a lot of sharp edges (in the sense that it was easy to "cut yourself" on it and accidentally do something bad). This was a legitimate, valid problem. It didn't mean that PHP was irredeemably bad, it didn't mean that a dev was A Bad Programmer for writing PHP, but it was true. You can discuss languages, even comparing them to others and pointing out flaws where they exist, without being "toxic" about it.
A lot of that post is actually me wanting to be sure that my legacy isn't one of perceived toxicity. When you are in as many minority groups as I am, then you end up becoming an unpaid existential ambassador and you need to be hyper careful to not look like an asshole or do things that could possibly make you look like an asshole because people will assume that being an asshole is a representative sample of those groups. It is not, but logic is not this species' strong suit.
Plus, writing about how V is outright lying in its documentation gets boring because it's too easy. There's no real nuance or the like to it. It's someone overpromising and underdelivering, and then you also get the V cult going after you and sending so much hatemail. It's not worth it.
Okay, fair; those are good reasons. I don't think those fall under the "toxic" label, but they stand on their own regardless.
(Not meant as an attack. I suspect that I might be splitting hairs too finely here; I can be a little overenthusiastic about terminology. If so, sorry.)
Hate mail? Really? Care to post an example?
Hate mail is fairly typical in these circumstances. So is people asking for evidence. The possible next stages are also predictable:
1. They don't post it, and get accused of lying.
2. They post one of the tamer examples, and get accused of overreacting to nothing.
3. They post a median example, and get told that people reacting with vigour is normal and it's not about them.
4. They post a very strong example, hurting some readers and get responses claiming that you clearly can't take threats at face value.
5. They get accused of making it up, anyway.
6. They don't include personal details, so you can't do anything, anyway.
7. They include personal details and get accused of doxxing or making it personal.
There's just no good outcome from your request.
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