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Update to Git changes the default of init.defaultBranch to main

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Re: Update to Git changes the default of init.defaultBranch to main

#211

Post by hedora »

eloisius wrote: post #8
tachyonbeam wrote: post #3

If I say "you are the master of your own destiny", is that offensive, because the word "master" is always offensive? I think that "main branch" sounds fine, it makes as much sense as "master branch", but I'm irked that people are always caving to word policing. Like, we're just going to scratch a whole bunch of words from the dictionary because someone somewhere is offended? The other day, people at my workplace were…

What you’re saying is really tone de— I mean insensitive

A lot of people here have nerve damage from RSI. Pick another term.

Re: Update to Git changes the default of init.defaultBranch to main

#212

Post by ddvvff »

aaomidi wrote: post #127
denysvitali wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pure algorithms, for one. I don't think that Merge Sort for example has had or will ever have any political / social ramification. On the contrary, I see that now the SJW trend is to attack IT in general and make a huge deal out of terms that (given the context) are perfectly fine. I wonder how much it will take before we'll have to assign pronouns to the connetors or to the USB cables

We already assign pronouns and gender to connectors. Seems like you've not actually worked in IT if you don't know that? Pure algorithms have the capacity to change the world. Sometimes for the worse. An example of a pure algorithm with massive political and ethical considerations is crypto currency algorithms. I think a lot of people here would've benefited taking a basic "ethics in CS" class.

Imagine speaking a non gender neutral language like spanish, how do they live with themselves

Re: Update to Git changes the default of init.defaultBranch to main

#213

Post by junon »

jamienicol wrote: post #128
GhostVII wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's their choice, but I still don't like the precedent it sets. I don't really care what they call it, I just don't want this kind of thing to become an expectation, resulting in me either having to do a bunch of renaming work or risk being seen as some kind of ist.

I'd try worrying less about possibly having to do some menial work or being perceived as an ist, and instead try to understand why some might be offended by such terms or what impact their prevalence might have on our profession and wider society.

This is a motte/bailey bait and switch argument. Please refrain from doing so in further discourse.

Re: Update to Git changes the default of init.defaultBranch to main

#214

Post by junon »

pyentropy wrote: post #26

Will there be a warning if you try to use 'master' as a refname if it doesn't exist but 'main' does? I assume beginners using educational resources that aren't up to date with this change will be really confused.

This was my concern as well.

Millions of pieces of literature are going to be immediately obsoleted. Books, articles, whole interactive tutorials, everything.

What about tools that create the `master` branch locally then try to sync it from the remote? Sure it's not a great assumption anyway but those tools originally acting in good-faith will now break and the user will be left up to figure out why.

All because a few people who find offense in everything were super duper loud. Awesome precedent.

Re: Update to Git changes the default of init.defaultBranch to main

#215

Post by thaneross »

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #62
tachyonbeam wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to me like the people actually forcing these superficial changes through shaming and bullying are actually, for the most part, privileged upper middle class white people. That was definitely the case with the NIPS => NeurIPS conference renaming. That whole thing got started by some white dude on twitter.

So, let's apply the process. Suppose Person A says something, and Person B thinks another colleague, Person C, might find offensive. That alone may be enough to offend Person B. They feel Person A may be creating an uncomfortable environment, intentional or not. Person C may not even be actually offended, but other people of Person C's {race,sex,etc} have been offended by similar statements. How people apply judgment…

> we can try our best as individuals to promote welcoming environments

I think what's often missed is that this creates an unwelcoming environment for minorities who don't share your ideology.

Re: Update to Git changes the default of init.defaultBranch to main

#216

Post by junon »

nicbou wrote: post #195
renewiltord wrote: post #63

Non-issue. I've run the following because I'm used to it: git config --global init.defaultBranch master This default doesn't matter to me.

This is my favourite comment in this thread. Everyone is losing their minds and you just changed your config and carried on with you day.

Don't exaggerate. People are (rightly) concerned over the precedent this sets and the issue to tooling and other parts of the development workflow.

Of course this doesn't affect everyone the same way. Don't demonize people for raising concerns.

Re: Update to Git changes the default of init.defaultBranch to main

#217

Post by KMag »

nicbou wrote: post #195
renewiltord wrote: post #63

Non-issue. I've run the following because I'm used to it: git config --global init.defaultBranch master This default doesn't matter to me.

This is my favourite comment in this thread. Everyone is losing their minds and you just changed your config and carried on with you day.

All of this arguing is political, not technical. This technical solution does nothing for the political disagreement.

Re: Update to Git changes the default of init.defaultBranch to main

#218

Post by KMag »

pseudalopex wrote: post #119
IshKebab wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I now have to go to extra effort to get my default branch to be called `master`. Plus I can no longer assume that the default branch is `master`. I have to check for every project whether they are using `main` or `master`. Maybe not a lot more effort, but it definitely is more effort, and for basically no gain. Let's not kid ourselves that black people being targeted by the police care about Git branch names. Hell ap…

You couldn't assume that before. Some black people don't care about this kind of thing. Some do. Git is a generic insult and doesn't have historical baggage. Nobody identifies as a git or the descendant of gits.

> Nobody identifies as a git or the descendant of gits.

I see you've never been to Finland.[0] (Perhaps Linus comes from a long proud line of gits ;) )

[0] I briefly considered saying Switzerland, after a Stan Freberg skit where he speaks in an outrageous accent and claims to be from Switzerland "that way, nobody gets offended". Crockford's page with various types of JavaScript inheritance (including Swiss inheritance) unfortunately now has a broken link to the Fredberg skit.

Re: Update to Git changes the default of init.defaultBranch to main

#219

Post by fargle »

eloisius wrote: post #8
tachyonbeam wrote: post #3

If I say "you are the master of your own destiny", is that offensive, because the word "master" is always offensive? I think that "main branch" sounds fine, it makes as much sense as "master branch", but I'm irked that people are always caving to word policing. Like, we're just going to scratch a whole bunch of words from the dictionary because someone somewhere is offended? The other day, people at my workplace were…

What you’re saying is really tone de— I mean insensitive

says the pot
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