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I'd prefer it if things didn't change, including master/slave terminology (the 'master' branch doesn't even have a 'slave' in git...) Have the words themselves

by ekns 6y ago

I'd prefer it if things didn't change, including master/slave terminology (the 'master' branch doesn't even have a 'slave' in git...) Have the words themselves become bad to use? It seems that this is a USA centric view anyway with its history (and even then it seems ridiculous--why can't these things be compartmentalised as technical terms?) Slavery certainly still exists in the world, and has existed in most places at some point. Should we rename 'slavery' to something else too while we're at it? Or forget it exists and existed? Certainly certain terms become antiquated over time, like the vocabulary used in Emacs (yank/buffer/etc vs cut/window/tab/...), but master/slave doesn't seem to be there yet. I wonder if there's some way to counteract this newspeak stuff? I think it's harmful that these things happen for such frivolous reasons. Does one just have to be as loud as the minority that drives these things, to counteract it?

D13Fd 6y ago
I think companies are just looking for ways to help, and this is what Github came up with. I agree it's an odd reason for the change. The word "master" without "slave" has many meanings, usually but not always when one person or thing controls another. It's used for dog owners ("a dog and his master"). A person can be the "master of their own fate" or a "master of disguise." Seinfeld joked about people being "masters of their own domain." All of that said, I don't really mind the result, whatever the reason. I remember that the name struck me as odd when I first started with Git. I assumed it came from "master copy," which in media is the copy from which other copies are made. But that doesn't really fit, in my view, because the whole point of a master copy is that it doesn't change. In Git the master is always changing. The other meanings don't fit either. The "master" branch doesn't really control anything, it is controlled by the user. So calling it "master" never really made sense to me. It seems like "primary," "main," "central" or a similar word fits better.
- me_me_me 6y ago
  > I think companies are just looking for ways to help, and this is what Github came up with. Help how exactly? This to me seems like a PR preemptive measure not to be caught in some zealous virtue signalling. > So calling it "master" never really made sense to me. It seems like "primary," "main," "central" or a similar word fits better. That was always me feeling too.

by ekns 6y ago

D13Fd 6y ago

I think companies are just looking for ways to help, and this is what Github came up with. I agree it's an odd reason for the change. The word "master" without "slave" has many meanings, usually but not always when one person or thing controls another. It's used for dog owners ("a dog and his master"). A person can be the "master of their own fate" or a "master of disguise." Seinfeld joked about people being "masters of their own domain." All of that said, I don't really mind the result, whatever the reason. I remember that the name struck me as odd when I first started with Git. I assumed it came from "master copy," which in media is the copy from which other copies are made. But that doesn't really fit, in my view, because the whole point of a master copy is that it doesn't change. In Git the master is always changing. The other meanings don't fit either. The "master" branch doesn't really control anything, it is controlled by the user. So calling it "master" never really made sense to me. It seems like "primary," "main," "central" or a similar word fits better.

me_me_me 6y ago
> I think companies are just looking for ways to help, and this is what Github came up with. Help how exactly? This to me seems like a PR preemptive measure not to be caught in some zealous virtue signalling. > So calling it "master" never really made sense to me. It seems like "primary," "main," "central" or a similar word fits better. That was always me feeling too.