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Comment by midev | Hacker News Reader

No it's not. It's not even remotely victim blaming. At no point did anyone even remotely hint it was their fault.

People have taken this to a ridiculous level. Giving practical advice about how to avoid problems is not blaming the victim. Telling my child to look both ways before crossing the street is not blaming him if he gets hit. It's not wanting to see him get hurt when the person actually at fault fucks up. Telling someone to avoid non-ASCII characters because a program can't handle it is not blaming them....

Your comment was unhelpful. Great! Not their fault! What now? It's also part of a larger trend that will lead to people being hurt.

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The computer is supposed to make our lives better, we should not be required to make the computer’s (or programmers’) life better. Your attitude reminds me of the people in the 60s who included punch cards in the utility bills, marking them “DO NOT FOLD, SPLINDLE, OR MUTILATE” (it became a meme). Or the people in Spain who changed their alphabet to make it easier for computers to sort.

My name appears differently in my passport, on plane tickets (not always using the same modification), and my green card. And for the latter two I left out the part of my name that can’t properly be represented at all in ASCII. And you are saying that somehow I am at fault?

> The computer is supposed to make our lives better, we should not be required to make the computer’s (or programmers’) life better

Yes... The computer is at fault for not supporting proper names... That's literally what everyone has said. Nobody blamed the user....

> Your attitude reminds me of the people in the 60s who included punch cards in the utility bills, marking them “DO NOT FOLD, SPLINDLE, OR MUTILATE” (it became a meme).

The problem should be fixed, but it's not victim blaming to tell someone how to still submit their bill.

> And you are saying that somehow I am at fault?

No... I'm literally saying the opposite.... I think you need to reread your comment, then my comment.

Telling you to omit those characters so you can still travel internationally is not blaming you in any way shape or form... Your criticism of practical advice being victim blaming is harmful and unhelpful.

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