[erlang-questions] Coon - new tool for building Erlang packages, dependency management and deploying Erlang services

[Eric des Courtis]

For what it's worth I didn't know coon was a racial slur. I really assumed
it meant raccoon and I am from Ontario Canada.

I don't really care personally if the name gets changed. But judging by how
much time has already been wasted discussing this I think it would be wise
for the author to change the name.

It's really sad that we live in a society where people are so sensitive to
this. Where I alive I think it is assumed nobody is racist.

On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 11:52 AM, Chris Duesing <chris.duesing@REDACTED>
wrote:

> I can't believe this "discussion" is happening. Coon is a racial slur,
> there is no other use of the word. The fact that a bunch of white Europeans
> are pointing out that the dozen people involved in this thread aren't
> offended simply shows the lack of diversity in the mailing list. The "oh
> I'm butthurt because other people get offended by things" is fucking
> ridiculous. It is a racial slur, period. If this isn't a library only
> intended to be used by racist fucks then rename it.
>
> On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 10:28 AM, nx <nx@REDACTED> wrote:
>
>> For what it's worth, the first thing I thought of when I saw the title of
>> this thread was "that is a racist slur". I've also never heard anyone call
>> a raccoon a coon.
>>
>> The news that cowboy was named for "cowboys kill apaches" is
>> disappointing.
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 11:22 AM Fred Hebert <mononcqc@REDACTED> wrote:
>>
>>> What I'm saying is that it does not matter how I interpret things. I
>>> asked and the author said publicly it was a raccoon. I'm okay with that
>>> explanation and I'm ready to believe it.
>>>
>>> My point is that other people won't ask the author, won't know who he
>>> is, and will pick an interpretation and stick with it. They won't need the
>>> context, they won't need anything. They'll just do it. The name can be
>>> interpreted in a racist way, and so it's pretty much guaranteed that it
>>> will be eventually interpreted that way. The author is free to go ahead and
>>> keep the name, and the users and onlookers will be free to read whatever
>>> they want in that name.
>>>
>>> That is 100% my point.
>>>
>>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 11:17 AM, Krzysztof Jurewicz <
>>> krzysztof.jurewicz@REDACTED> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Fred Hebert writes:
>>>>
>>>> > Anyone is of course free to name their software whatever they want.
>>>> Picking
>>>> > a racist name is however never going to be consequences-free as this
>>>> e-mail
>>>> > thread first shows on the first day of release, and adoption figures
>>>> may
>>>> > also reflect it.
>>>>
>>>> Merriam-Webster online dictionary (naming itself as “America’s
>>>> most-trusted online dictionary”) says that there two meanings of “coon”:
>>>>
>>>> ⒈ raccoon;
>>>> ⒉ offensive — used as an insulting and contemptuous term for a black
>>>> person.
>>>>
>>>> I presume that context matters. What makes you think that in this
>>>> context this word means ⒉? Wikipedia in the article about raccoon says that
>>>> is also known coloquially as “coon”, so I guess this is not a very uncommon
>>>> usage.
>>>>
>>>> Or are you saying that non-racist usages of words that have also racist
>>>> meanings should be eventually abandoned?
>>>>
>>>> (I’m not a native speaker, so bear with my eventual ignorance).
>>>>
>>>
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