Who controls glibc? [LWN.net]

Who controls glibc?

Posted May 18, 2018 9:35 UTC (Fri) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129)
In reply to: Who controls glibc? by karkhaz
Parent article: Who controls glibc?

> Rather, it's a totally inappropriate comment to have in a technical manual.
I disagree with that notion. I don't see anything wrong with having a joke in a technical manual.

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Who controls glibc?

Posted May 18, 2018 23:10 UTC (Fri) by anselm (subscriber, #2796) [Link] (2 responses)

I don't have a problem with jokes in a technical manual but I prefer it if the jokes are actually funny.

Who controls glibc?

Posted May 19, 2018 9:17 UTC (Sat) by HelloWorld (guest, #56129) [Link] (1 responses)

OK, suppose there was an absolutely hilarious joke about US abortion laws in the glibc manual. Would you support that?

Who controls glibc?

Posted May 19, 2018 10:26 UTC (Sat) by anselm (subscriber, #2796) [Link]

OK, let me rephrase that. I have no problem with jokes in a technical manual as long as the jokes are actually funny and are about the technical subject matter at hand.

This would exclude jokes about US abortion laws, however hilarious, in the glibc manual because the connection – via the word “abort” – is pretty tenuous at best and may not even work in translation (both because the target language may not use the same vocabulary, and because the legal situation around abortion may be different so the “joke” is not funny at all). It would also exclude political propaganda camouflaging as lame jokes in general. The reason for this is that when you're trying to be entertaining in a technical manual, it is best to do that in a way that, as far as possible, all readers of the manual will find enjoyable, not just the ones who happen to agree with your politics.