6 ms·

"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 imagin

"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.

wackro 6y ago
The key word there being 'imagine'.
gruez 6y ago
counterpoint: I'll be pissed off and emotionally triggered, knowing that they bent over backwards just to be "politically correct" or "progressive".
- tom_ 6y ago
  Then I’m a bit surprised you don’t have more sympathy.
- Traster 6y ago
  It's a bit of a paradox isn't it, if you really are emotionally triggered by people making a gesture to black developers, doesn't that suggest that developers are really easily emotionally triggered, and therefore making the gesture is actually important and therefore you shouldn't be triggered because it's not bending over backward to be politically correct it's actually tackling something that's a real issue?
  - throwaway1997 6y ago
    What's the issue in this case? What do I put in my CV in place of "Master's degree" in case it triggers someone?
    - Traster 6y ago
      I wouldn't be listing your git commits on your CV in the first place.
      - throwaway1997 6y ago
        Please just answer the question. I have a degree called "Master's degree". What should I call it now? If it's serious enough to warrant changing everyone's git workflow, surely a small gesture like updating my CV to remove potential trigger words is needed.
        Traster 6y ago
        If we're really having this conversation here's your answer: the github term master comes from bitkeeper which was specifically using a master/slave idiom. Whereas Master in academia is derived from the Latin Magister which doesn't have the same reference to the master slave dynamic - it's literally just a homonym. So don't change your CV.
        bobjohnee 6y ago
        ok go tell that to a triggered person of color who will also find your "master's" degree offensive then
        throwaway1997 6y ago
        I'm sorry but you are mistaken. "Master" in git refers to "record master" which has nothing to do with a master-slave relationship. The master used in git is a homonym, not the same word.
        Traster 6y ago
        Nope, it's mentioned right here: https://github.com/bitkeeper-scm/bitkeeper/blob/master/doc/HOWTO.ask#L223 https://github.com/bitkeeper-scm/bitkeeper/blob/master/doc/H...
  - rgoulter 6y ago
    Almost, but not quite. At least: I think you can say "that people are arguing about it makes it significantly political". I don't think you can say "that people are arguing about it makes it a meaningful thing to do".
  - bobjohnee 6y ago
    Are they really doing anything to the black developers? All i see is white people tripping over one another doing what they think is the right thing. Democrats have been doing that for decades in historically democratic cities, and yet: Highest debts = Democrat states Highest crime rates = Democrat states Highest death tolls from Covid = Democrat states Highest homeless per capita = Democrat states Highest unemployment rating = Democrat states Highest taxes = Democrat states Lowest literacy rates = Democrat states Lowest two parent homes = Democrat states How is that?
- drcongo 6y ago
  You seem to be pretty triggered already.
- _never_k 6y ago
  Serious question: you're not the only person in this thread who feels this, and I genuinely don't understand it. Why is this so upsetting?
  - gruez 6y ago
    ...because this is slacktivism lite. Rather than addressing actual issues facing african-americans today, we're engaging in silly naming changes that will have zero impact on 99.9% (optimistically) them ...because I don't want to be paying the externalities (workflow changes, having to keep up with the new "correct" naming) caused by a game of "who can be the most woke" between a vocal minority of progressives
    - _never_k 6y ago
      Your first bullet is an argument against this change as being suboptimal. That there's a more optimally utilitarian use of the resources, which I get. The thing I don't get about this argument is that nothing Github (or any of us except for some weirdos) does is optimally utilitarian. They have a cartoon mascot! They don't _need_ that. You're not upset that they pay someone to draw Octocat, why be upset about this? Your second bullet is an argument against this change from the position that it's an unasked for burden. In general, I get that. In the specific context of software engineering, it's a little more surprising. Tools, APIs, interfaces, terminology, etc... are in constant flux. Software has to be actively maintained to be kept functional. Software engineers have to always be learning in order to keep current. A vendor changing something like this is par for the course, right? Why such an extreme reaction?
      - gruez 6y ago
        It's a combination of the two factors. If a group of people want to one up each other by refactoring their side projects to be as woke as possible, that's fine by me. But if they're doing it and causing breakages and/or forcing everyone else to adapt, that's where I draw the line. >A vendor changing something like this is par for the course, right? Why such an extreme reaction? I'd be similarly pissed off if an upstream API provider suddenly decided to change all their identifier names for stylistic purposes. eg. the CTO woke up one day and decided that all of their API endpoints should be changed from camel case to snake case.
vivekd 6y ago
I guess the question is, has anyone said that they were personally hurt or offended by it. If anyone was individually affected and not just hurt on behalf of someone else, then by all means make the change. However, if not, it looks like a cynical publicity grab in light of recent headlines.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
throwaway1997 6y ago
Does anyone actually get triggered by this word in this context though? "Master" in git is not related to a master-slave relationship.
bobjohnee 6y ago
Like i said, if the first thing that comes to your mind is slavery when seeing the word master in a computer programming environment, you're the racist.
globular-toast 6y ago
One big problem with "main" is it's very similar to the already well-established branch name "maint".
RhysU 6y ago
"Main" is already taken. It is the entry point to a binary.
tracker1 6y ago
trunk is probably a better name still.. since everything else is a branch.
- bberrry 6y ago
  master is just another branch in git, so trunk is an incorrect description.

wackro 6y ago

The key word there being 'imagine'.

gruez 6y ago

counterpoint: I'll be pissed off and emotionally triggered, knowing that they bent over backwards just to be "politically correct" or "progressive".

tom_ 6y ago
Then I’m a bit surprised you don’t have more sympathy.
Traster 6y ago
It's a bit of a paradox isn't it, if you really are emotionally triggered by people making a gesture to black developers, doesn't that suggest that developers are really easily emotionally triggered, and therefore making the gesture is actually important and therefore you shouldn't be triggered because it's not bending over backward to be politically correct it's actually tackling something that's a real issue?
- throwaway1997 6y ago
  What's the issue in this case? What do I put in my CV in place of "Master's degree" in case it triggers someone?
  - Traster 6y ago
    I wouldn't be listing your git commits on your CV in the first place.
    - throwaway1997 6y ago
      Please just answer the question. I have a degree called "Master's degree". What should I call it now? If it's serious enough to warrant changing everyone's git workflow, surely a small gesture like updating my CV to remove potential trigger words is needed.
      - Traster 6y ago
        If we're really having this conversation here's your answer: the github term master comes from bitkeeper which was specifically using a master/slave idiom. Whereas Master in academia is derived from the Latin Magister which doesn't have the same reference to the master slave dynamic - it's literally just a homonym. So don't change your CV.
        bobjohnee 6y ago
        ok go tell that to a triggered person of color who will also find your "master's" degree offensive then
        throwaway1997 6y ago
        I'm sorry but you are mistaken. "Master" in git refers to "record master" which has nothing to do with a master-slave relationship. The master used in git is a homonym, not the same word.
        Traster 6y ago
        Nope, it's mentioned right here: https://github.com/bitkeeper-scm/bitkeeper/blob/master/doc/HOWTO.ask#L223 https://github.com/bitkeeper-scm/bitkeeper/blob/master/doc/H...
- rgoulter 6y ago
  Almost, but not quite. At least: I think you can say "that people are arguing about it makes it significantly political". I don't think you can say "that people are arguing about it makes it a meaningful thing to do".
- bobjohnee 6y ago
  Are they really doing anything to the black developers? All i see is white people tripping over one another doing what they think is the right thing. Democrats have been doing that for decades in historically democratic cities, and yet: Highest debts = Democrat states Highest crime rates = Democrat states Highest death tolls from Covid = Democrat states Highest homeless per capita = Democrat states Highest unemployment rating = Democrat states Highest taxes = Democrat states Lowest literacy rates = Democrat states Lowest two parent homes = Democrat states How is that?
drcongo 6y ago
You seem to be pretty triggered already.
_never_k 6y ago
Serious question: you're not the only person in this thread who feels this, and I genuinely don't understand it. Why is this so upsetting?
- gruez 6y ago
  ...because this is slacktivism lite. Rather than addressing actual issues facing african-americans today, we're engaging in silly naming changes that will have zero impact on 99.9% (optimistically) them ...because I don't want to be paying the externalities (workflow changes, having to keep up with the new "correct" naming) caused by a game of "who can be the most woke" between a vocal minority of progressives
  - _never_k 6y ago
    Your first bullet is an argument against this change as being suboptimal. That there's a more optimally utilitarian use of the resources, which I get. The thing I don't get about this argument is that nothing Github (or any of us except for some weirdos) does is optimally utilitarian. They have a cartoon mascot! They don't _need_ that. You're not upset that they pay someone to draw Octocat, why be upset about this? Your second bullet is an argument against this change from the position that it's an unasked for burden. In general, I get that. In the specific context of software engineering, it's a little more surprising. Tools, APIs, interfaces, terminology, etc... are in constant flux. Software has to be actively maintained to be kept functional. Software engineers have to always be learning in order to keep current. A vendor changing something like this is par for the course, right? Why such an extreme reaction?
    - gruez 6y ago
      It's a combination of the two factors. If a group of people want to one up each other by refactoring their side projects to be as woke as possible, that's fine by me. But if they're doing it and causing breakages and/or forcing everyone else to adapt, that's where I draw the line. >A vendor changing something like this is par for the course, right? Why such an extreme reaction? I'd be similarly pissed off if an upstream API provider suddenly decided to change all their identifier names for stylistic purposes. eg. the CTO woke up one day and decided that all of their API endpoints should be changed from camel case to snake case.

vivekd 6y ago

I guess the question is, has anyone said that they were personally hurt or offended by it. If anyone was individually affected and not just hurt on behalf of someone else, then by all means make the change. However, if not, it looks like a cynical publicity grab in light of recent headlines.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

throwaway1997 6y ago

Does anyone actually get triggered by this word in this context though? "Master" in git is not related to a master-slave relationship.

bobjohnee 6y ago

Like i said, if the first thing that comes to your mind is slavery when seeing the word master in a computer programming environment, you're the racist.

globular-toast 6y ago

One big problem with "main" is it's very similar to the already well-established branch name "maint".

RhysU 6y ago

"Main" is already taken. It is the entry point to a binary.

tracker1 6y ago

trunk is probably a better name still.. since everything else is a branch.

bberrry 6y ago
master is just another branch in git, so trunk is an incorrect description.