Everything2
Near Matches
Ignore Exact
Full Text
Everything2

Politically Correct Unix

created by mcSey

(idea) by mcSey (5.9 mon) (print)   ?   (I like it!) 1 C! Tue Jun 20 2000 at 20:32:36

Note! mcSey did not write this. He is not nearly that clever. It's yet another email fwd'ed to him. (Sorry if you voted it up because it looked like I wrote it.)

Unix for the Politically Correct

In order for Unix (tm) to survive into the next century, it must get rid of its intimidating commands and outmoded jargon, and become compatible with the existing standards of our day. To this end, our technicians have come up with a new version of Unix, System VI, for use by the Politically Correct.

Politically Correct Unix
System VI Release notes

 

UTILITIES

man pages are now called "person" pages.

Similarly, "hangman" is now the "person_executed_by_an_oppressive_regime."

To avoid casting aspersions on our feline friends, the "cat" command is now merely "domestic_quadruped."

To date, there has only been a Unix command for "yes" - reflecting the male belief that women always mean yes, even when they say no. To address this imbalance, System VI adds a "no" command, along with a "-force" option which will crash the entire system if the "no" is ignored.

The bias of the "mail" command is obvious, and it has been replaced by the more neutral "gender" command.

The "touch" command has been removed from the standard distribution due to its inappropriate use by high-level managers.

"compress" has been replaced by the lightweight "feather" command. Thus, old information (such as that from Dead White European Males) should be archived via "tar" and "feather."

The "more" command reflects the materialistic philosophy of the Reagan era. System VI uses the environmentally preferable "less" command.

The biodegradable "KleeNeX" displaces the environmentally unfriendly "LaTeX."

 

SHELL COMMANDS:

To avoid unpleasant, medieval connotations, the "kill" command has been renamed "euthanise."

The "nice" command was historically used by privileged users to give themselves priority over unprivileged ones, by telling them to be "nice." In System VI, the "sue" command is used by unprivileged users to get for themselves the rights enjoyed by privileged ones.

"history" has been completely rewritten, and is now called "herstory."

"quota" can now specify minimum as well as maximum usage, and will be strictly enforced.

The "abort()" function is now called "choice()."

TERMINOLOGY

From now on, "rich text" will be more accurately referred to as "exploitive capitalist text."

The term "daemons" is a Judeo-Christian pejorative. Such processes will now be known as "spiritual guides."

There will no longer be a invidious distinction between "dumb" and "smart" terminals. All terminals are equally valuable.

Traditionally, "normal video" (as opposed to "reverse video") was white on black. This implicitly condoned European colonialism, particularly with respect to people of African descent. UNIX System VI now uses "regressive video" to refer to white on black, while "progressive video" can be any color at all over a white background.

For far too long, power has been concentrated in the hands of "root" and his "wheel" oligarchy. We have instituted a dictatorship of the users. All system administration functions will be handled by the People's Committee for Democratically Organizing the System (PC-DOS).

No longer will it be permissible for files and processes to be "owned" by users. All files and processes will own themselves, and decided how (or whether) to respond to requests from users.

The X Window System will henceforth be known as the NC-17 Window System.

And finally, Unix itself will be renamed "PC" - for Procreatively Challenged.


printable version
chaos

cp like a monk The OED's only (stupid) marketing gimmick Jesux NC-17
Are you going to prom? PC-DOS Decrying political correctness without an understanding of its causes and intended consequences is little more than racism muttered under one's breath Catholic girl theory
politically correct Good programmers wheel You can't have everything
less MSDOS If you really care about someone, do not tell her to fuck off Jesus doesn't care if you say the word "fuck"
nice edev: A solution to the problem of misspelled nodes Yes vertically challenged
pejorative latex Unix History
Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.
  Epicenter
Login
Password

password reminder
register

Everything2 Help

Cool Staff Picks
Things you could have written:
Ailurophobia
My wife made me sexy!
How to properly assemble a combat insertion team
The Cremation of Sam McGee
Which way should you move your brush when doing Japanese calligraphy?
B
Cognate
Life cycle of one Dragonheart puppet
Jerusalem artichoke
Chrestus
Symphony
The seizure I had last night
The difference between tritone, augmented fourth, diminished fifth, #11 and b5
New Writeups
aneurin
Earl of Landaff(person)
Heitah
Pseudocide(idea)
XWiz
Google Knol(lede)
Mythi
July 24, 2008(personal)
locke baron
The fall of Earth(fiction)
BookReader
Fear the Cold(dream)
Pavlovna
Kathleen MacInnes(person)
stainedglass
1(fiction)
kalen
Three "T"s(idea)
octillion369
Undead(idea)
archiewood
Ico(fiction)
Heisenberg
Why I love Everything2(log)
octillion369
Death Knight(person)
XWiz
Are you hoping for a miracle?(review)
santo
The Host(review)
E2 is a by-product of the existence of The Everything Development Company