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GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references

zdnet.com

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Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references

#31

Post by tawaymastergit »

You know there is all of this talk that if you can make just one more person not have to feel discomfort then all of this is all worth it.

This stuff makes me extremely uncomfortable. I can't keep up with the way that these rules change, and it makes me fearful that I'm going to accidentally say the wrong thing and have my life ruined, despite what my intent might have been.

It's gotten to the point where during this latest culture war flare up, I am avoiding going to work, my anxiety has increased to the point where I have to use xanax to manage it again, and my productivity has dropped off completely. I am terrified of saying the wrong thing, or meaning to say the right thing but saying it in the wrong way. I have done my normal "hacker" thing and tried to research as much into the grievances that people have so that I can understand them and help work towards change, but that has led me to finding out that some things are considered "hate facts" and you can be labeled a racist for even knowing that they are true.

These things are effecting my relationships. I'm avoiding some of my friends because of this. I'm afraid to read anything about this for fear of not knowing which things are "hate facts" and which aren't. This is terrifying.

The state of the world as it is right now is legitimately terrifying to me. I've worked my whole life against racism, against ever biasing myself in any way against people because of things that they can't change, and right now there are so many things, every day, telling me that I'm a monster because of who I am. I almost can't describe to you all how depressing this all is.

I'm not a monster. I care about people a lot and I go out of my way as much as possible to help them when I can.

Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references

#32

Post by derefr »

ColanR wrote: post #14
thefounder wrote: post #2

I 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.

It’s a slightly wrong-headed connotation for drives, in that the metaphor just doesn’t fit well: something called a “slave” should probably be something unwilling, but forced by the master to obey; rather than something that follows the master willingly, or something that takes its cue as to its role from an external third party (i.e. you, the system integrator setting the DIP switches on the drives.)

If you’re already willing to use metaphorical terms with unsettling connotations for things just because they’re fitting, then a more precise pair of terms for the setup on a drive cable would be “dominant” and “submissive”! (It’s not like we don’t already use “dominant” metaphorically in tons of dry ways, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominance_(genetics) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominator_(graph_theory). We tend to avoid “submissive”, though, and that’s a shame; “voluntarily relinquishing control” is a very useful concept to get across in a single word.)

Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references

#33

Post by evan_ »

anjc wrote: post #23
zinclozenge wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Allow/deny listing makes a lot more sense to me than white/black listing

Why does it make more sense? Blacklist is used also as a verb, and I don't think "denylist" could be used as such. You could say "add to the denylist" but I don't think this is sensible.

Watch me: “hey can you denylist the ip range I just sent you?”

Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references

#35

Post by lucb1e »

Welcome to the discussion the Netherlands has been having about Black Pete the last few years. It won't be pretty and there's little you can say against someone who goes "[now that you mention it,] yeah, this is offensive and you know, back in middle school someone did call me black pete once!" so this might go down a similar way.

I would think "but nobody was ever called 'master' or 'blacklist', that just doesn't work" but look at some of the comments here already. This is looking super polarized. And I'm not talking about the etymologist that brings to light the racial background of a word like blacklist, that's still stating facts even if it legitimizes the claim.

Not sure I should be posting this comment anyhow but if you value your time you might want to just stay away from the discussion. There are no winners that I have found.

Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references

#39

Post by WaltPurvis »

anjc wrote: post #23
zinclozenge wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Allow/deny listing makes a lot more sense to me than white/black listing

Why does it make more sense? Blacklist is used also as a verb, and I don't think "denylist" could be used as such. You could say "add to the denylist" but I don't think this is sensible.

It only sounds unfamiliar to you because it's unfamiliar to you.

You can use any noun as a verb. Google it.

Re: GitHub to replace “master” with alternative term to avoid slavery references

#40

Post by danharaj »

ColanR wrote: post #14
thefounder wrote: post #2

I 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.

Leader/Follower

Coordinator/Worker

Central/Auxiliary

Conductor/Player

We're making a metaphor here. There are many metaphors one could pick to describe a situation where one unit calls the shots and the others cooperate.

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