Meta post I’ve decided to make. I enjoyed the unixporn subreddit a lot when I used reddit more. I enjoy customizing my linux de as much as the next nerd.

But you definitely shouldn’t use racist slang to refer to the process.

To be clear, I didn’t know the origin of the term ‘ricing’ until fairly recently. I was chattimg with my friend and used it to describe my de setup. They informed me that apparently it’s from car customization, and is a pejorative against generally asian men who customize their car to look like a racecar.

After learning this I was sad to realize just how engrained it is in linux de customization culture. I personally have stopped using the term, and I would ask everyone here stop as well.

  • megane-kun
    9•1 year ago

    I’ve always thought it’s something to do with how you can customize fried rice to your heart’s content, and the overall versatility of rice in general.

    But given that it is offensive, what is the closest alternative that gives a similar, if not the same nuance without the offense? What do we mean when we say ‘rice’/‘ricing’ in desktop environment customization anyway?

      • megane-kun
        7•1 year ago

        The example you’ve given is really appealing, though my concern is more about finding something that’s already in fairly wide circulation (wide relative to the niche we’re taking about here).

        Don’t get me wrong, coming up with a new sense of an existing word like in your example is certainly doable, but I suppose that it’s a lot harder than adopting a synonymous term

        If there’s none close enough in meaning and nuance already in use, then yeah, personally, I’m okay with cook/dish.

          • megane-kunEnglish
            7•1 year ago

            In this particular case, it can be supposed that there isn’t that big of a hurdle anyways. The community (the Linux DE customization community) in general isn’t that large to begin with, and I suppose, perhaps with a huge amount of bias, that a substantial percentage of the community already is here in Lemmy anyways. That makes things a lot easier getting the necessary amount of people to use the alternative.

    • Dr. WeskerEnglish
      6•1 year ago

      I’ve always thought it’s something to do with how you can customize fried rice to your heart’s content, and the overall versatility of rice in general.

      Wholesome, and grain-accurate.