[Bug 325026] [NEW] Offensive language in tree(1) manpage

[Andrew]

Public bug reported:

Binary package hint: tree

The tree(1) manpage contains the statement:

"The IEC standard names for powers of 2 cooresponding to metric powers
of 10 (KiBi, et al.) are gay." [1]

It is unclear to me what the intended meaning of this statement must be,
as I am not familiar with the standard in question. I believe it to be
highly unlikely, however, that any technical standard has a sexual
orientation, leaving me only to interpret this usage of the word "gay"
as pejorative and homophobic [2].

I realize that others may not share my personal opinion on the matter,
but, irrespective of the larger issues at hand, it is in the best
interest of any an open source computer operating system, Ubuntu perhaps
even more so than others, to always stay well clear of controversial
social debates.

--
[1] http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/jaunty/en/man1/tree.1.html#toptoc7
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay#Pejorative_non-sexualized_usage

** Affects: tree (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

** Description changed:

  Binary package hint: tree
  
  The tree(1) manpage contains the statement:
  
-         "The IEC standard names for powers of 2 cooresponding to metric
- powers of 10 (KiBi, et al.) are gay." [1]
+ "The IEC standard names for powers of 2 cooresponding to metric powers
+ of 10 (KiBi, et al.) are gay." [1]
  
  It is unclear to me what the intended meaning of this statement must be,
  as I am not familiar with the standard in question. I believe it to be
  highly unlikely, however, that any technical standard has a sexual
  orientation, leaving me only to interpret this usage of the word "gay"
  as pejorative and homophobic [2].
  
  I realize that others may not share my personal opinion on the matter,
- but, irrespective of the larger issues at hand, an open source computer
- operating system, Ubuntu perhaps even more so than others, should always
- stay well clear of controversial social debates.
+ but, irrespective of the larger issues at hand, it is in the best
+ interest of any an open source computer operating system, Ubuntu perhaps
+ even more so than others, to always stay well clear of controversial
+ social debates.
  
  --
  [1] http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/jaunty/en/man1/tree.1.html#toptoc7
  [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay#Pejorative_non-sexualized_usage

-- 
Offensive language in tree(1) manpage
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/325026
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