9 years ago
2
Google Changes ‘.bro’ Filename To Avoid Accusations Of Misogyny
Google has renamed the file suffix of its new Brotli software from ‘.bro’ to ‘.br’ to avoid the potentially misogynistic overtones associated with the term. The tech giant’s new Brotli file compression software is designed to make websites load faster. After information about the new software was shared online, one poster - a Mozilla engineer - suggested that: “'bro’ has a gender problem” and “comes of[f] misogynistic and unprofessional due to the world it lives in”.
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Lame
That actually seems like an overreaction to me. I get their perspective, but to take that to the extent of believing people would make social connections to a file extension (even a file that's not widely used) just seems silly.
The most ".bro" would have done was be talked about until someone using the format/software realized they were saying "bro", crack a joke about it, and move on. It's not like they were proposing a .png or .jpg replacement that was .bitch or something.