The term comes from car modifications, when people would modify Japanese cars. Folks called them "rice burners" and it evolves from there.

I have never heard this in the Linux community, though, so it might just be a you thing

I'm not a part of the demographic who would experience racism around this. So, I can't comment there.

I am a white hipster though. So, I usually call my window manager customizations "artisanally hand crafted".

dude, you need a break from the internet

@const_void nobody cares. If you enter the Linux customization community, see the word "ricer" or "rice", and get offended, you probably need a break from the internet.

First time I'm hearing of this, how would this possibly be racist?

You should stop focusing on vocabulary and get your mind on intent, this is getting stupid.

My understanding of the term (from an asian american perspective I guess) is that it at most has a connection to race through the origins of ricing, and since the origins and current usage has never seemed derogatory and is simply about the Asian origins of automotive ricing I don't think it's racist at all. I see it as no different to any other term that reflects the origins of something that is connected to a specific ethnicity, especially when the term isn't derogatory and isn't used to otherize (which is how I consider model-minority stereotypes to be racist despite not being "negative").

Yes, it is a derogatory term from car modification. Taking away the context doesn't make it any less racist.

This is the same as people not using Gimp because they never understood what really means and feel it's derogatory. Sometimes a word is just that, a word, and there's no profit from overthinking it. But in the same regard you can use the term "theme" if it makes you happier.

Race Inspired Cosmetic Enhancements

bro take your pills

No.

Being a non-american, I never really liked the term "rice" because it's not an intuitive term to convey modifying or customizing a system. But I have used it because that's what the subreddit used to call it. I never thought it might be racist as I never saw anyone use the term in a racist manner - I can't even understand how it could be racist - outside of this community, rice is just a word for something I eat for most of my meals. But again, I'm not american, so I might be lacking some cultural context - the whole culture war thing kind of escapes me and I'm not up to date on the list of forbidden words.

I'm surprised to see it suddenly in wide use here, honestly. I've been 'in the linux community' for 25 years or so and only started seeing people use it in this context in the last month. Jarring isn't the right word but it seems sudden to me knowing the connotations from the mid-to-late 90s car culture.

I don't know but it seems like it's a 'nix thing.

I was in the Windows customization scene for years and never heard the term "ricing" until I discovered customization on Linux.

So, is this like a joke post making fun of what was posted in the pcmr community? I'm legitimately asking, I can't tell if this is a troll or not.

Never heard either, but ricer would clearly be racist as there’s no general contemporary reason for the word.

I don't think it is racist. I feel like we have gone a few steps too far trying to associate everything with race. By the way, "hey here's my theme I just did for my fresh Arch installation" just doesn't have the same ring to it. About that origins as a racist term thing, like it or not, it's now the term for the seeds of Oryza sativa, and there isn't some alternative way of referring to rice. That means it is now widely accepted as a non-racist term.

i've never seen it used in a pejorative way, and the usage and meaning of the word in collectif consciousness is "theming". So even if it was used in a bad way, it's not relevent anymore, since the meaning have changed.

I only know the term form car tuning. And specifically used for tricked out Japanese cars. The term picked up steam after Need for Speed - Tokyo drift.

Besides that it’s also used for Race Inspired Cosmetic Enhancements. Only cosmetics and no performance, the opposite of a sleeper car. In this case it’s a bad thing. And if a word is used in a bad way and has a possible race connection in can be considered racist. If someone feels offended because an it’s race related, just assume it’s racist.

I first heard the term coming from Asian dudes talking shit to white dudes about their cars, so I never saw it as racist.

I do not.

I thought it had to do with the fact that most themes on Linux consist of a large collection of dotfiles, dots, rice. But that might just be me

It's uses in the theming space is already ironical since it's supposed to be a pejorative term for cars, it's use is way beyond it's origins now, and it's root in racism is flimsy at best, if one day goth groups start hanging out in gyms to bother people doing sports, calling them gym crows won't be a racist statement despite what the wiki will say about it.

I would if every Korean in my town didn't use the term for any Japanese car or motorcycle.

Wait, that's not racist, but it is nationalist. I think. I've never actually asked them if they use the term for other Asian brands.

I don't think it's racist. I just don't like it. Themes or theming works for me. It just makes me think of the kids who install kali and describe themselves as haxors.