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Gitlab default branch name changes to main

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Re: Gitlab default branch name changes to main

#131

Post by mswtk »

oap_bram wrote: post #94
mswtk wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I for one think it's great that people are willing to make things a little more accessible for more people. If people want to be part of our community of developers I think it's great that these organizations listen to people who might have a problem with certain terminology. Even though I don't have a problem with those terms, I think it's still worth evaluating if they're worth keeping if it makes it harder for s…

I don't know, I can't speak for the people who's access is limited. However, I am Dutch and can say that these cultural sensibilities are far outside of just the "American" one. There are plenty of people that struggle with this terminology in a realistic way. Even if you can't find anecdotal evidence of someone being offended by this, you can rationally come to the conclusion that it might be worth changing it. And…

I mean, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for at least a couple actual examples of this change helping people feel better about participating in technology. In the absence of such, it all feels very performative and, dare I say, a cheap way to score good PR for participating organizations. I don't think it really hurts anyone to an extent that it should be opposed, but neither does it really help, until proven otherwise.

> However, I am Dutch and can say that these cultural sensibilities are far outside of just the "American" one.

Are they? Does the master/slave terminology also have very negative connotations in your culture? I thought it was almost exclusively an American thing due to their historical circumstances.

Re: Gitlab default branch name changes to main

#132

Post by amiga-workbench »

gear54rus wrote: post #2

Another victim of this hysteria. Will surely make a point to switch it back every time I create a repo.

Is it really necessary to change it every time? Github did the same thing last year, I just went into my organisations settings and switched the default back to master.

Re: Gitlab default branch name changes to main

#134

Post by gandalfgreybeer »

EdwinLarkin wrote: post #120

This is american cultural imperialism. Plaina and simple. I am planning to migrate to Russian or Chinese hosted git alternatives.

I am not American so maybe the impact of why it needs to be changed is lost on me. But given the context it’s either a zero or a positive net effect.

I, however, can’t imagine switching away from a service that I use to something else based solely on this issue.

If it’s not for you but it (tries) to helps others and doesn’t really take anything away from you then it’s a net positive change.

Re: Gitlab default branch name changes to main

#135

Post by gher-shyu3i »

av8avenger wrote: post #81

Are there actually any devs out there that are really offended and feel excluded or worse than others because the default git branch is called master? I work in a fairly small company, but if i think of all the things we'd have to change in our infrastructure to exclude all of those offending words (like Black- and White-Lists), we'd probably be busy for a couple of weeks.

How is blacklist and whitelist offensive now? It seems that some people have nothing better to do than make trouble for the sake of it.

Re: Gitlab default branch name changes to main

#136

Post by gher-shyu3i »

tialaramex wrote: post #22
gear54rus wrote: post #2

Another victim of this hysteria. Will surely make a point to switch it back every time I create a repo.

See, that would be making yourself a victim of "hysteria". If you just raised an eyebrow and moved on then your claim that it's "hysteria" might have more weight but you'd have less opportunity to grandstand about it. This is also an amusing choice of terminology because of the origin of the word hysteria but I'm going to guess you didn't do that on purpose.

That's how society keeps going downhill. Just raise an eyebrow and keep moving whenever X is introduced, soon enough we'll be paying the price.

Re: Gitlab default branch name changes to main

#137

Post by afavour »

IshKebab wrote: post #130
afavour wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you strip away all the political outrage what’s actually happening on a technical level is that git is adding a new feature: customisable default branches. I imagine they will provide an option to use it (“git checkout —-default” or whatever) and yes, you’ll have to update your tests to accommodate it. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to tweak code because of an external API change that doesn’t bene…

Right but people are arguing about it because it is unnecessary! I bet if an API you use broke backwards compatibility just so it could `color` to `colour` you'd be arguing against it too!

OK so we’re finally at the actual core of the matter: the technical arguments aren’t actually valid, it’s that you don’t think it’s worth the minimal effort because you don’t personally know of anyone that is offended by the master/slave connotation of “master” branches. That’s always the actual core of the complaint yet everyone dances around it.

Re: Gitlab default branch name changes to main

#138

Post by loeg »

oap_bram wrote: post #16

I for one think it's great that people are willing to make things a little more accessible for more people. If people want to be part of our community of developers I think it's great that these organizations listen to people who might have a problem with certain terminology. Even though I don't have a problem with those terms, I think it's still worth evaluating if they're worth keeping if it makes it harder for som…

> Say what you want, be we all know we've done silly refactors over smaller things.

As a very very junior dev, I had "nuke" in a function name, and logging that included the function's name. Turns out Japanese customers are not super big fans of nukes. Lesson learned, small change made, life goes on.

Re: Gitlab default branch name changes to main

#139

Post by devchix »

salmo wrote: post #100
temporama1 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The number of people that _genuinely_ have a problem with the word "master" (excluding all the weird (white) twitter people) is close to zero.

In most places this is true. But working in Plantation heavy part of the South, it’s awkward. Read it in a Southern white male accent to someone whose grandparents were sharecroppers in the Delta. We lose a lot of black talent to other industries, non technical roles in IT, and other locations despite good pay/cost of living. My black friend from high school on my team who is not overly sensitive and I have open conv…

> My black friend from high school on my team who is not overly sensitive and I have open conversations on race with has says it occasionally makes him cringe

I'm sorry to hear your friend won't be obtaining a degree just beyond a Bachelor's, or audition for the role of Bruce Wayne's butler, or pass beyond journeyman status in any trade. Does he not value recognized excellence? I presume he's not an heir presumptive of a Scottish peerage, nor does he aspire for a senior post in the Queen's household. Does he have any interest in the recording industry, I hear they do great things with old LPs these days to make them sound better. Perhaps he is musically inclined, there is a leader of the band job if he is. He could enlist in the navy, if he's not looking to get beyond an E-9. Regardless, I applaud gitlab for affording your friend the last venue of employment when the world and its derisive callousness collectively turns him away from his avocation. From development he may switch over to network and/or security, but better wait a few years. Those scoundrels still maintain a list of things that are denied, and things that are allowed, and your friend is probably not ready to know about them yet. To your friend!

By the way, does he have any possession? Any at all? He may be in for a surprise to discover how he himself is addressed. Break it to him gently, won't you?

Re: Gitlab default branch name changes to main

#140

Post by swat535 »

JosephRedfern wrote: post #58
kyrieeschaton wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone who believes that "master" is some kind of slur and takes the opportunity to take offense over it is not someone you want causing problems in your organization.

Where is this imaginary line between “ok to be offended” and “not ok to be offended”? Who decides where that line is? If you can trivially avoid even the risk of offending someone — especially in a professional context — then why wouldn’t you?

How is making a change that impacts people globally (which includes non English speakers) to mildly please a tiny portion of loud people trivial?
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