Bug of feature? [LWN.net]

Bug of feature?

Posted Jun 30, 2026 19:51 UTC (Tue) by kleptog (subscriber, #1183)
In reply to: Bug of feature? by evgeny
Parent article: Xsnow "protestware" in Debian

I think you have to think carefully about the use of the word "discrimination" here. It of course meets the literal definition "change based on attribute" but legally the requirement is actual harm, or some negative impact. Here it's indirect: you see some extra flags which might in some areas be problematic but seeing a flag doesn't hurt anyone. That someone else might hurt you isn't really relevant.

Next people will be complaining that seeing a rainbow flag harms them.

And here we're talking about a package that according to popcon has 305 installs, so really nothing to get worked up about.

Bug of feature?

Posted Jun 30, 2026 20:14 UTC (Tue) by nhippi (subscriber, #34640) [Link] (1 responses)

> And here we're talking about a package that according to popcon has 305 installs, so really nothing to get worked up about.

Classic streissand effect..

Bug of feature?

Posted Jul 1, 2026 20:51 UTC (Wed) by kleptog (subscriber, #1183) [Link]

Indeed, I think this minor act of protest has been wildly more successful than the author could possibly have imagined. Even if the package vanished from the face of the earth tomorrow, this act has been immortalised for all eternity.

Mission accomplished I'd say.

The question is: how long with it take for people to realise this discussion isn't worth all the electrons and there are more important things to worry about...