[CSSer]

The only thing I beg of you is please don’t ship this in client-side libraries. Most of you will know better, but some of the things I see in third-party libraries really blow my mind. The last one was Pudgy the Panda as console ASCII art for some donation embed (their mascot). Sure, it’s cute, but that’s also multiple kilobytes of JS you’re forcing on your clients for whimsy in an already crowded environment. Apologies if I sound old and cranky.

[oefrha]

That's a lot better than some frontend library adding an "Easter egg" so that every website using it, including some very serious ones, had Santa beards on their buttons on Christmas a few years back (can't find the story now). Of course you may argue it was users' fault who should have vetted every single line of their dependency, but let's be real.

Unfortunately there are a lot of unprofessional people in open source, and while I hate to stereotype, they are especially prevalent in the JavaScript community where it's typical to have hundreds to thousands of unknown dependencies in every project. What can be done? I don't know. (Before I'm labeled as entitled -- I spend a lot of time on open source, without the unprofessional behavior.)

[Semaphor]

"js library easter egg christmas" brought me to this HN post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18758697

[atoav]

Sorry to be that guy, but if you are using an open source library and it adds hats that you're unhappy with that means you did not check the library you are including.

Maybe not looking at code one includes in a product has become much too common practise, but if some library for a button (funny I never felt the need to use one) includes special stylings on special days and you included it, that is on you. Sure it would have been nice of them to point this out if they didn't, but after all you are taking someone elses code for a button so you should know what it does.

[sheepdestroyer]

Unfortunately? It's a chance that there are a lot of "unprofessional people in open source".

And what whith the whole being "professional" as a value system, which I fear has often to be taken in the very narrow USofA centric PoV ?

I can't relate to the sentiment that everything has to be aseptized in order to conform to a very strict and dehumanized, bland and sfw (aka professional), just to cater to the work environment culture of a few.

If in your freetime you don't like something coming from an open source project that doesn't owe you anything, don't use/associate. If you don't like it in your work place, there's a reason you're paid I guess? Or change job, or do an internal fork.

[oefrha]

If you’re the kind of person putting Easter eggs in libraries knowing full well that it will be used in what you would call “dehumanized” settings*, please put in an advance notice that professional (or dehumanized, or whatever) people shouldn’t use your stuff. People will never use your stuff again after the sabotage anyway, why not make it clear up front unless you derive pleasure from chaos?

It’s also very weird that professionalism is somehow “USofA centric” to you.

* Thanks Semaphor for jogging my memory with the link. It was a corporate open source project ffs, with clear marketing and expectations that it should be safe for “dehumanized” settings.

[pwdisswordfishc]

I feel like expecting every human being to tolerate gratuitous whimsy regardless of circumstances is the real "narrow USofA centric PoV".

Not everyone lives in the same culture of superficial and dishonest niceness as you, in which people ask "how are you" but don't actually give a shit.

[klabb3]

You’re not old and cranky. Just (minimally base line) responsible.

Many frontend projects have 100s of deps, and while that’s a separate problem, imagine if a large fraction of them spammed bandwidth and console output with this.

[coldtea]

A project with "100s of deps" is already irresponsible and bloated for that alone.

Some logo or ASCII art in some/most of those deps would hardly be the real issue.

[beezlewax]

The dependencies usually have dependencies and then... well it's dependencies all the way down in the JS world. 100s is sadly normal for large proects in my limited experience.

[coldtea]

>Apologies if I sound old and cranky.

Worse, you sound new and square. In the olden times such "easter eggs" or cool logos were welcome, and in the DOS days (but also in the Unix console) often included ASCII art.

[CSSer]

Local binaries are exempt from any such judgment in my mind.

[fragmede]

> Pudgy the Panda as console ASCII art for some donation embed (their mascot).

Which library is this? Couldn't find it via a quick Google.

[SuperNinKenDo]

Would prefer that to all the tracking and telemtry shoved at us through JavaScript. What kind of world is it where whimsy is infuriating, and this mass surveilance framework is just how things are.

[pests]

one is invisible

[CJefferson]

Would I put this in software I'm charging people for? Not at all.

If it's free and open source? Well if you don't like it you are welcome to apply for a refund.

[CSSer]

If clarification helps, my example is a premium product.