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.
It’s often less about the meaning of the word changing and more people not being aware of its connotations. They can remain offensive to certain populations who just don’t comment on it due to the prevalence.
With that said, my understanding has always been that ricer referred to the product rather than its owner. It seems strange seeing people use it when referring to PCs though.
I imagine the same kinds of people into car modding are also into modding other things. It probably isn’t a huge overlap, but there are a lot of commonalities between the two. Additionally, a lot of Linux nerds also tend to be weebs and might have picked it up from Initial D or some other anime (never watched Initial D, but from the little I know about it, it’d make sense if the term appeared in it). The result is that it probably came from bleedover between the communities.
I drive a modded car (aftermarket turbo on a Scion FRS) and like my PC builds but I just find it a strange term to apply to computers. It’d be like referring to a muscle PC build. Just strange to me.
Yeah, I can see that. Though tbh I’d probably understand what you’re referring to as I’d consider a muscle PC as being something like a workstation PC. Something with a crazy powerful CPU or GPU, but lacking in the other department because it’s built with CPU or GPU heavy tasks in mind. Then, a kart PC would be something like an Arduino or Raspberry pi, and a drag PC would be something like an ASIC.
It’s often less about the meaning of the word changing and more people not being aware of its connotations. They can remain offensive to certain populations who just don’t comment on it due to the prevalence.
With that said, my understanding has always been that ricer referred to the product rather than its owner. It seems strange seeing people use it when referring to PCs though.
I imagine the same kinds of people into car modding are also into modding other things. It probably isn’t a huge overlap, but there are a lot of commonalities between the two. Additionally, a lot of Linux nerds also tend to be weebs and might have picked it up from Initial D or some other anime (never watched Initial D, but from the little I know about it, it’d make sense if the term appeared in it). The result is that it probably came from bleedover between the communities.
I drive a modded car (aftermarket turbo on a Scion FRS) and like my PC builds but I just find it a strange term to apply to computers. It’d be like referring to a muscle PC build. Just strange to me.
Yeah, I can see that. Though tbh I’d probably understand what you’re referring to as I’d consider a muscle PC as being something like a workstation PC. Something with a crazy powerful CPU or GPU, but lacking in the other department because it’s built with CPU or GPU heavy tasks in mind. Then, a kart PC would be something like an Arduino or Raspberry pi, and a drag PC would be something like an ASIC.