
Santa Hat on VScode Insiders - 2fast4you
https://reddit.com/r/programming/comments/ed4xjd/santa_hat_on_vscode_insiders_and_pushing_of/
======
ly
Previous discussion on HN about this:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21833377](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21833377)

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halgir
There's also some amusing issues being reported in response:
[https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3...](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed+label%3A%2Aoff-
topic)

> Color themes are offensive to blind (and colorblind) users

> Snowflake doesn't represent people in the southern hemisphere

> Don't add "santa hat" as it's really a coca-cola's santa and I like pepsi
> more

~~~
2fast4you
Amusing, but I think inappropriate. The VSCode team shouldn’t have to deal
with all of the fake issues raised in their repo

~~~
halgir
I agree that it's unfair for the VSCode team to have to deal with trolling for
trolling's sake. But I imagine many of the fake issues are a form of protest,
and a protest is designed to be inconvenient for the sake of raising awareness
and making your point heard.

It's like a strike. Is a coal miner's strike "fair" to consumers who are dealt
power outages or price hikes? No, but the whole point is to generate
inconvenience.

I sympathize with the VSCode team the same way I sympathize with front-line
customer support at an airline with striking baggage handlers. But that
doesn't make the strike less meritable.

In this way I think the fake reports are like any other market action used to
demonstrate dismay with a certain behavior, like strikes, protests or
boycotts.

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tsukurimashou
Someone on reddit comments pointed out how ridiculous it was since the guy is
named "Christian" and then this comment:

> He said in a deleted post he wasn't Jewish. He's German and was just being
> offended on their behalf.

I don't have words really

~~~
gmueckl
Christian is a normal and very common German first name. That alone doesn't
tell you anything.

~~~
Thorrez
Santa hats are a very normal sight in December in the United States. That
alone doesn't tell you anything.

~~~
Snetry
Are you wearing one right now?

~~~
tatersolid
I am, actually. It’s cheap and itchy.

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mantap
The user is clearly trolling, firstly his name is Christian, he says a Santa
hat is a "religious symbol" (???) and display of such religious symbols is
almost as offensive as a [nazi] swastika, an offensive statement in itself!

~~~
gmueckl
Christian is just a common first name. Having a name that is mistaken to mean
something in a different language alone does not constitute trolling. It's
just random.

As for the rest, the net result is very much trolling even if it wasn't the
original intent.

~~~
Thorrez
It's not "mistaken to mean something in a different language". The name
literally originated as religious reference.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_(given_name)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_\(given_name\))

~~~
matzab
You're just mistaking the word's origin for its meaning. That's just not how
any of this works.

~~~
Thorrez
In both languages (English and German) the name has the same origin I believe,
and the same current meaning of a name that doesn't imply the person is of the
Christian religion. I think it's wrong to say that there's a language
confusion of being too religious, since the name has the same religiosity in
both languages.

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Accacin
I'm not offended by a Santa hat, I'm just fed up of everything trying to
shoehorn Christmas into everything for what purpose exactly?

I'm from a tradionally Christian country, and I'm not in the slightest bit
religious and for the last four years I've gone China in December so that I
can avoid most of the festive period in peace.

I don't need every single product and service telling me that Christmas is
coming, I'm aware of the fact. Stop using it to sell your products!

~~~
OneFamousGrouse
> for the last four years I've gone China in December so that I can avoid most
> of the festive period in peace.

This sounds like the premise of a christmas TV movie.

------
_iyig
The title of this submission seems heavily editorialized.

~~~
2fast4you
A little bit, but my intention was brevity. I didn’t realize how small the
character limit was

------
abjKT26nO8
I find it amusing that someone would recognize the Santa hat as a religious
symbol. All that I associate it with is the season of intrusive marketing.
Never would I associate it with Christianity itself regardless of my thoughts
about the religion.

Of course, thanks to the association with the ads for products I find the
image kitsch and repulsive, so wouldn't mind if it disappeared from software
as well.

Regarding the Jewish issue, I have no opinion.

------
buboard
I kind of agree with Christian that the Christmas thing has gone too far, not
just the christmas thing really, but the feasting on whatever manages to pass
itself for "religion" nowadays, including earth days, and some ideologies, and
all. We can agree to disagree in what each of us celebrates and keep it there,
it's ugly when they push these commercial festivals through software and
design (halloween, christmas, new year's, gay prides, whatever). Religions are
insular and thus fundamentally incompatible with the internet's lowest-common-
denominator culture. The smaller that culture is , the better it is for
everyone. Coming from a christian background, i agree that we need less
blinking lights and more actual understanding between people.

------
2fast4you
I agree, the Santa doesn’t belong in VSCode, or any other tool, but not for
the reasons outlined in this issue. I don’t want my editor changing its UI
every year for the holidays

~~~
thinkingemote
I find VLC having a hat raises a smile in me and makes my life a tiny weeny
little bit better as if the tool was written by other humans. I can live
without it but it's nice

------
sleepychu
The user was trolling... [https://github.com/Christian-
Schiffer/servicelayer.chat/wiki](https://github.com/Christian-
Schiffer/servicelayer.chat/wiki)

~~~
2fast4you
That page wasn’t written by Christian, I was written by one of the users
that’s been harassing them. [https://github.com/Christian-
Schiffer/servicelayer.chat/wiki...](https://github.com/Christian-
Schiffer/servicelayer.chat/wiki/Home/_history)

------
Grue3
Should've just called it a Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) hat. It's a Russian
version of Santa Claus who is completely secular.

~~~
iLemming
Ded Moroz wears blue hat though.

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tu7001
I dont get it, how Santa Hat can be offensive to anyone at all.

~~~
hrktb
I think the most interesting part of this is we're a few billions on the net
now, there's a lot of things we can't and won't get until it blows in our
face.

