Found this blog post and found it had more insight into the issues around the dev and the toxicity in FOSS

    • warm@kbin.earth
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      3 months ago

      ‘They’ has always existed in the English language as plural or singular, context dependent. Hence it’s natural transition into a pronoun. Non-native English speakers can be excused for using gendered pronouns because the problem isn’t them not knowing and using it in the first place, it’s them refusing to update the language after a reasonable explanation to do so.

      People are brigading, sure, but it’s such a simple change to make, one that only helps the world. So, yeah, fuck the devs honestly. Just accept the PR and move on, there was no need for any of this.

      • Malgas@beehaw.org
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        3 months ago

        Well, not always: Plural ‘they’ is a borrowing from Old Norse ca. 1200 AD, and the earliest attestation of singular ‘they’ is about a century later.

        But, yeah, you’d think 700 years of continuous use would be enough to make it uncontroversial…

    • Barry Zuckerkorn@beehaw.org
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      Singular “they” is older than singular “you.” And note, of course, that the pronoun “you” is conjugated as a plural, and we deal with it just fine.

      • CaptObvious@literature.cafe
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        3 months ago

        “You” was both singular and plural throughout the history of Middle English. Singular “they” emerged in Late Middle English around the 14th century.

    • noodlejetski@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      until recently

      the first known written appearance of singular “they” is so old that it was still spelled with the thorn (þei)

    • macniel@feddit.org
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      3 months ago

      also in that regard, there are languages (swedish, and my native language german are among them) with a grammatical gender to nouns. Coming then from a language like that to a language where everything is the, you really need to think twice which pronoun is to be used.

      • laurelraven
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        3 months ago

        Sure, but does that also cover accusing someone of inserting their politics into things when they suggest a change? Especially one that has nothing to do with politics at all?

        • macniel@feddit.org
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          3 months ago

          As I said in the other thread regarding this topic. The initial MR changed one he to they while ignoring other glaring issues in that very same file. That MR was less than half assed which makes me wonder what the actual motivation behind that MR was.