I agree with David that use of the term "retarded" is offensive and inappropriate in this or pretty much any context. "Mental retardation" was until quite recently (and in some places still is) an official sanctioned medical definition and using it to mean "clearly wrong", "unpleasant" or "not worth dealing with" is to tell people who had been diagnosed with that condition that they are clearly wrong, unpleasant, or not worth dealing with. Regardless of your opinion about autoconf, that's clearly not something that any of us want.

On 19 April 2015 at 20:14, Emmanuel Surleau <emmanuel.surleau@gmail.com> wrote:
On Sun, Apr 19, 2015 at 2:11 PM, Daniel Bünzli
<daniel.buenzli@erratique.ch> wrote:
> Le dimanche, 19 avril 2015 à 12:13, David Allsopp a écrit :
>> > I know this is the way autocrap likes to work; it may seem smart but I
>> > think that's completely retarded.
>>
>> Um, while your arguments often veer a little towards ad hominem attacks, the word "retarded" used in this context is extremely offensive, even if that is not what you intended (making allowance that while your English is extremely good, it is not your first language).
>
> I don't see any ad hominem attack here I'm criticizing tools and approaches — if Adrien think there is one, I'm sorry and tell him he should not take it as such.
>
> Regarding the sentence you mention I'll rephrase it just for you (or any other person I may have offended):
>
> ❀ I know this is the way autoheaven likes to work, however it seems that while I can appreciate that this technique has his merits I do have slight concerns with it. ❀


While I agree with David about the form, I agree with you about the
content. Using version numbers brings its own pains, but all in all it
is considerably more reliable than the other solutions.

Cheers,

Emm

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