Meh, just PLEASE don't call it "main". That's too generic. I like "trunk".
GitHub is working on renaming default branch from “master”
241–250 of 280 posts
Re: GitHub is working on renaming default branch from “master”
#242As a black person, speaking just for myself, I really do not get the issue around semantics like this. The word "Master" is not synonymous with any race and so does not make me (or anyone I know) uncomfortable. The concept of masters (and slaves) exist and are useful metaphors for naming similar phenomenon. I would much rather focus on issues that make people truly less comfortable in technology, like hiring or spons…
Gonna be a little bold here and say that even if there are people offended by this nomenclature, probably it still shouldn't change. No problem that can be fixed by changing the default name of the branch created by git init will, in so doing, meaningfully soothe any sincere moral wound.
I find it ironic considering the name 'git' could be offensive by itself... I know the term and origin are not meant that way, but I've heard it as a slur on more than one occasion for dim/stupid/retarted etc.
I'm not suggesting they rename the tool or the github site, but I find it funny how sensitive github mgt can be when their entire name is somewhat offensive.
Re: GitHub is working on renaming default branch from “master”
#243What bugs me about crap like this is that it ignores world history, makes these people feel good about doing nothing of consequence, and takes attention away from things that will actually help. If you are going to help, actually do something that improves the lives of people. Maybe, you should really put some effort into beefing up the Computer Science programs in black high schools and colleges? You are Microsoft,…
I tend to bring this up in terms of hiring initiatives as well... if there are X% of people are of $identity Z in terms of the field in practice (let's say 20% female in software engineering). And a large company tries to hit 50% in hiring, they're actually reducing diversity across the industry.
What they should be doing is scholarship and mentoring programs to increase the base if that is their real goal. But that takes actual effort and costs real money.
Re: GitHub is working on renaming default branch from “master”
#244Earlier quoted context omitted.
I understand that you are trying to be constructive, but I'm quite surprised by your use of "black high school" and "black colleges". Is it still a thing in the US? Yes it is "still a thing". They are mentioned in legislation as Black Colleges. It was an extremely big deal this year when Black Colleges were successful in lobbying for Title III funding. In fact, they are listed officially as Historically Black College…
Wow, I did not expect so much aggressivity. Sorry if I hit some sensible point, but my question certainly did not aim to imply any kind of judgement. I am not american and never heard about a "black college" before. Are those words (along with the TCUs you mentioned) used for historical reasons, or is there still segregation (wether legally or de-facto)? The meaning of my second question was actually that I disagree…
They aren't systematically segregated, mostly by circumstance and clustering by identity group. People tend to cluster in like-cultured communities either by country of origin and/or racial identity. It's not an absolute, but there are communities that are overwhelmingly black, chinese, japanese, etc.
Of course most of the real divides come down to income class, which is part of what should take an emphasis in terms of possible distribution of education funding.
Re: GitHub is working on renaming default branch from “master”
#245Honest question: are there people out there who are legitimately uncomfortable/upset about the usage of the terms "master" and "slave" in the context of technology? Or is this more so people trying to be too socially "woke" and assuming something to be offensive when it is not? Master/slave are pretty commonly used terms whenever we talk about things like distributed systems and communication buses. Essentially every…
In the case of source code, I find trunk to be one of the better terms for the primary/main/master branch.
Re: GitHub is working on renaming default branch from “master”
#246"main" does seem like an objectively better word to use. The definition fits better in almost every use case. May seem like a silly gesture to some, but imagine feeling an emotional trigger every time you had to use a basic tool for your job. That'd piss me off.
trunk is probably a better name still.. since everything else is a branch.
Re: GitHub is working on renaming default branch from “master”
#247Everybody knowing that is a replacement for the word "Master". After 50 years, `Main` === `Master`. Will it? `root` is better if you really want to make a change. Or rand() is your friend. Maybe I'm not a native English speaker. After knowing the history of Master/Slave. I still not linking them to the bad side. If they can, rename `Git` also. Acutally I have some complaints from my clients before.
I was thinking `trunk` but `root` might be even better.
Re: GitHub is working on renaming default branch from “master”
#248What bugs me about crap like this is that it ignores world history, makes these people feel good about doing nothing of consequence, and takes attention away from things that will actually help. If you are going to help, actually do something that improves the lives of people. Maybe, you should really put some effort into beefing up the Computer Science programs in black high schools and colleges? You are Microsoft,…
I understand that you are trying to be constructive, but I'm quite surprised by your use of "black high school" and "black colleges". Is it still a thing in the US? Wouldn't focusing on fixing this situation be more beneficial than reinforcing it?
Wikipedia's got a good overview on why "Historically Black Colleges and Universities" exist:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_black_colleges_an...
TL;DR, the reason why these exist is because of historical discrimination against black people in college admissions.
While there is much less discrimination in admissions today then there was in, say, the early 1900's, these colleges still have a strong presence in the US today.
And to your point, yes I think we all (or at least most of us) want to live in a world where we don't need race-based communities or institutions, but because our country still suffers from extreme race-based segregation and inequality, IMO it still makes sense to have these active support structures in place.
Re: GitHub is working on renaming default branch from “master”
#249Meh, just PLEASE don't call it "main". That's too generic. I like "trunk".
Agreed
Re: GitHub is working on renaming default branch from “master”
#250"main" does seem like an objectively better word to use. The definition fits better in almost every use case. May seem like a silly gesture to some, but imagine feeling an emotional trigger every time you had to use a basic tool for your job. That'd piss me off.
trunk is probably a better name still.. since everything else is a branch.
master is just another branch in git, so trunk is an incorrect description.