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In particular, I alluded to the Mike Acton presentation titled 'typical C++ bullshit'.

This is the actual title of the presentation. It is known among game industry professionals by this title. If you Google things like "C++ bullshit" it is near the top of the results.

Is it possible to disable the auto-deleter, so we can talk like adults using terms adults use to describe, well, bullshit?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Perhaps a quick summary is in order, what exactly does this auto-deletion do? \$\endgroup\$
    – aaaaaaaaaaaa
    Aug 14, 2011 at 7:55
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    \$\begingroup\$ @eBusiness: If a comment uses certain "profane" words - "bullshit" among them, I don't know what others - flagging it as offensive deletes it with no moderator intervention. \$\endgroup\$
    – user744
    Aug 14, 2011 at 9:00

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Well, sometimes ideas and implementations are beyond bad. I personally find the term bullshit perfect in such cases and I think its even ridiculous to discuss it. Political correctness is much worse and harmful imo.

Another great examples are C++ compilers and linkers these days. 95% of the compiling- and linking time at my job is useless, because actually I didn't change all that stuff, but it is being recompiled and linked anyway. Mike has another great presentation about that called Linkers suck. You could call it just nonsense or legacy or what not, but it really is bullshit.

I don't know whether he is mature or not, and I don't care. I think he does a great job naming bad things in the industry. I understand Mike's words as a completely understandable anger and the desire to change such stuff and to wake up people. And of course referencing his work in comments is absolutely no need to auto-delete them, thats just ridiculous.

Needless to say, and I don't think that was Joe's point, that nobody should insult anybody here.

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I don't see the use of that term to be "talking like adults." Indeed, its use in the title of a presentation is indicative of childishness, as far as I'm concerned. The kind of "Ohh, I can insult my opposition with dirty words now!" kind of thinking. The kind that closes people's minds (I've never seen the presentation until now, and thanks to the title, I never will) rather than invites them to learn something.

Basically, the title says, "I'm smarter than you, I know what's right, and if you don't agree, then your position is @#%$." If that's the only way you have to make your arguments, then I don't see a problem with that argument not being made.

Do us game developers really feel the need to be immature about their immaturity? I know that's a sadly common thing among our games, that most M-rated games are actually quite childish and not mature at all. But we don't have to be that way.

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    \$\begingroup\$ The post seems more to suggest: "I'm smarter than an anti-cuss bot", which is probably correct. \$\endgroup\$
    – aaaaaaaaaaaa
    Aug 14, 2011 at 8:15
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    \$\begingroup\$ I'm not sure what opposition you think Mike is insulting, and I'm not sure why you see "bullshit" as a dirty word rather than a valid categorization of some class of claims or behavior (in this case, particular design claims and compiler behavior); Harry Frankfurt's writing in this area is illuminating. \$\endgroup\$
    – user744
    Aug 14, 2011 at 9:03
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    \$\begingroup\$ While I can see both sides of this argument, the "adult" in me says that, as an adult, I should be respectful of those around me; which in this case means not using profanity on a public forum accessible to people of all ages, cultures, and tolerances around the world. I also do not find the use of profanity, no matter the intentions, to be professional or mature in any way; in fact, my opinion of a person who resorts to that level of communication in a public forum is quite the opposite. \$\endgroup\$
    – Cypher
    Aug 22, 2011 at 20:57

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