I know this is going to be a PC war, but, I'm curious how they technically intend to do this. Is "main" just going to be a visual alias on the site? If so that will be really confusing if the branch is still technically called "master" and needs to be referred to that way in the command line. If they intend to actually rename the branches I don't know how they can do that without breaking all sorts of scripts and build tools.
GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references
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Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references
#12> but also terms like "blacklist" and "whitelist" for "allow list" and "deny/exclude list." Seriously?
Without the racist background, how does one know which list does which? The new names actually describe what they do.
The reason it may seem ridiculous is that racism is very, very deep in American culture. The country's culture goes back hundreds of years and is still slowly working on being less so.
Here's an example: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/05/11/310708342...
Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references
#13Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references
#14I guess now the whole master/slave tech should be renamed https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master/slave_(technology)
I remember as a kid running into that terminology for the first time, as it related to HDDs connected to a motherboard. Didn't like it at first, still strikes me the wrong way, but does seem like the best terminology for the paradigm.
Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references
#15Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references
#16I always understood a VCS “master” branch to be in reference to “master” records / the “mastering” process of audio mixing, which in turn is a use of a sense of the verb “to master” akin to “to master one’s courage”—not conveying dominance, but rather the reaching of an apex in skill.
If you’re in the market for a replacement that keeps the metaphorical power, though, I might suggest having a “mother” branch. “Mother” functions similarly to “master” in language, forming compounds like “mother ship”, or “mother sauce”, with very similar connotations: being something from which other elements in the set descend/derive; and to which other elements in the set return for some kind of maintenance or synchronization.
Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references
#17how are we going to call the master branch in git?
We call it `develop`.
Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references
#18When they ask you what virtue signalling is, show them this.
For those not familiar with that term like me, Wikipedia:
> "Virtue signalling" is a pejorative neologism for the conspicuous expression of moral values, when performed to make oneself look virtuous to others.
Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references
#19trunk, anyone?
Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references
#20Let’s figure out the whole AD and BC year thing while we’re at it.