

John Callaham: Don’t be a goat murderer* - _ikke_
http://notch.tumblr.com/post/32726020631/john-callaham-dont-be-a-goat-rapist

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praptak
This is a response to this piece by John Callaham:
[http://www.neowin.net/news/notch-dont-be-a-hypocrite-
about-m...](http://www.neowin.net/news/notch-dont-be-a-hypocrite-about-
minecraft-and-windows-8)

~~~
simias
After reading this I still don't get what Notch's getting at with his "goat
raping" joke. I didn't feel like John Callaham's editorial was that violent.

~~~
masklinn
> After reading this I still don't get what Notch's getting at with his "goat
> raping" joke.

Lies about other people and their stance. Callaham chides notch supposed
hypocrisy regarding closed v open, but notch never said he minds closed
platforms (he uses them and publishes on them), he said he minds _the PC_
getting closed off, as it breaks a path to indiedom (which he knows about,
since he needed it to make Minecraft in the first place, a 2 years alpha/beta
taking money the whole way would never have flown on closed stores, as far as
I can see)

The goat raping thing is a strawman, just as Callaham's "notch hypocrisy" is
one.

~~~
simias
I don't think it's a strawman, Notch doesn't explain why he's ok with some
closed platforms and not others, besides the fact that he "cares a lot about
his PC".

Moreover, Minecraft is not exactly "open" itself, it's not open source and
even used to be pretty hostile towards modders (even though that is changing,
but I don't know how much notch is involved with minecraft these days).

So I think it's fair to call him a bit hypocritical when he suddenly gets on
his high horse "RMS style" about software freedom (but only on the PC and only
for the operating system). And replying to this by using a "goat rape"
argument is beyond childish, I don't think that's a very good way to get his
point across.

~~~
masklinn
> I don't think it's a strawman, Notch doesn't explain why he's ok with some
> closed platforms and not others

Which has nothing to do with the strawman. The strawman is "notch says all
platforms should be open (nb: he never said that) but he publishes on closed
platforms, therefore he's a hypocrite".

As to why "some and not others", it's not "some and not others" it's "the PC
is an open platform, it offers amazing opportunities (nb: Notch got his start
from this open platform after all, and it looks like he's not forgotten it
yet), I have no desire to see the door closed after getting through".

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ben0x539
I appreciate notch's position on the whole thing, but I wish he didn't feel
the need to make his point with rape jokes.

(Edit: It's not made with rape jokes anymore. Previously, it said "goat
rapist", now it says "goat murderer", which is rather preferable to me.)

~~~
guelo
Well, at least goat rape is a bunch of notches below human rape in awfulness.

~~~
ben0x539
Sure. But goat rape jokes still contribute to an atmosphere where rape is
treated as a joke.

~~~
verroq
Are you seriously suggesting that some things can't be joked about?

~~~
anthonyb
Are you seriously suggesting that there are some contexts where rape is funny?

~~~
josephlord
There may be some that are funny even if they are a bad idea and it generally
shouldn't be the only criteria. Think at least twice before making a rape
joke. If in doubt think of another joke.

Generally they are a bad idea and need to be carefully thought about. You
should probably also stick to a few guidelines: the victim of the joke should
not be the victim of the rape, it should not be trivialised (this includes
inappropriate comparisions and probably the original title), it shouldn't be
threatening and it shouldn't blame the victim. If you are not following these
you probably need to think about it ten times and consider different
viewpoints on it. Those more likely to be victims [women, maybe some other
subgroups] (or who have actually been victims) have much more leeway.

Note that I don't think they should be banned unless there is a seriously
threatening, harassing or inciting aspect but that doesn't mean there
shouldn't be criticism.

I don't think any malice was intended by Notch but I think it fell in the
trivialising category and I am glad that he has decided to change it. Being
about an animal helped make it ridiculous but probably made the word rape
unnecessary. The British 'shagger' or Australian 'rooter' would probably have
worked OK although I don't know if there is a US equivalent lighter than the
F-word. 'XXXXer' might have worked.

~~~
jlgreco
The verb "shagged" would have worked well in this case in the US. Not really
American slang, but it would be understood.

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jacquesm
Good thing John Callaham stopped beating his wife.

Classy response by Notch (ahem). But I do wished more developers would take
such a principled stance.

~~~
chris_wot
That doesn't work. There is no answer to the question "when did you stop
beating your wife" except "I never started!"?

Or if you are unmarried, just say "I don't have a wife".

~~~
jlgreco
Yes, it doesn't withstand careful examination. It is almost as though that
phrase were a joke...

~~~
chris_wot
Depends on the context. Some times it is used as a joke, other times it
highlights a loaded question.

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rhplus
When you have a multi-million selling game and a new platform comes along, you
don't tell the world you're definitely going to port it. You wait for the 6
figure check to arrive and _then_ port it. If it's 7 figures, you call it a
platform exclusive.

~~~
eckyptang
Yes we'll see how principled Notch is when they wave a fat cheque in front of
him...

Money is the divider between words and actions.

~~~
kanamekun
Money is not a huge motivator for Notch... back in March of this year, he gave
seven figures ($3 million) of his personal dividends to his fellow Mojang
employees:

[http://www.develop-online.net/news/40013/Notch-
gifts-3-milli...](http://www.develop-online.net/news/40013/Notch-
gifts-3-million-to-Mojang-team)

Given his taken on money — and that Notch has taken a very public stance
against participating in helping to close the PC — it is very unlikely that a
fat cheque would result in a change of his actions. Time will tell, I suppose.

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prodigal_erik
It does seem arbitrary that _only Microsoft_ ought to treat their consumers
like tool-using human beings.

