When I did nix, I joked that everyone I met in the community was either a queer furry kayaker or a military-industrial Terminator dev, with no in-between.
The Internet was fully functional and full of competent people when it was a much weirder place. Converting all spaces into the equivalent of dress shirts and blazers doesn't reduce anyone's competence but does make the experience so much more drab. Let people like things.
I don’t mind the internet being a weird place and enjoy the weirdness that exists in places like the NixOS community. I’m fully aware that the software I use has been built by extremely smart people who seem to like anime. It’s just that my line in the sand is that if you are trying to share a serious topic on the Discourse, the anime pfp seems to undercut the message.
There is more to variety than the FAANG bro and the non-binary furry with anime profile picture, yet it’s all you see in tech these days. None of these were the stereotypes, say, 25 years ago.
I will tell on myself here but having an anime pfp evokes something childish for me and I do judge the user based on it. I expect to be judged similarly because I use the album art for a favorite album of mine as a pfp on the same platform and would consider it equally inappropriate if I were to share a heartfelt and serious message like this one.
That sounds like you associate anime with childhood cartoons? But considering how much of that industry output is 16+ or 18+ (usually violence and themes), I'd say that is more of a cultural confabulation.
I would absolutely not expect a business profile image, regardless of the message. Nor do I get why you think it is so essential.
Half the red team industry are furries. Would you criticise them for not using a mugshot? Because a lot of them don't, whilst posting CVEs that affect half the world.
Yes, I do believe not having a pfp at all would be better (for disclosing CVEs or sharing a statement about disbanding the nixpkgs team). By all means use any pfp for normal forum purposes.
I'm afraid at this point, that sounds more like a you problem. You're judging people for something inconsequential. Your reasons are your own but... Probably worth some introspection here.
I'm very well aware it's a me problem, anime just isn't for me and it's super popular. I'm honestly surprised that a single person seemed to agree with me.
