7 ms·

Yeah, I guess I'm a bigot because I don't want to go into countless places and change my git repos from "master" to "main" for the default branch, for example.

otterley 5y ago
There's room to disagree on whether this change is useful or necessary. But there's a sizable gap between having a difference of opinion and being a jerk about it. I've personally made the change because I see no harm in it, and it makes my colleagues happier. Being kind and considerate has low cost and high rewards.
- homonculus1 5y ago
  You aren't being kind, you're being a bully with a thin veneer of social piety. Your standard of behavior leads directly to tyranny of the most demanding and intolerant minority and you aren't even brave enough to own it as your own. We have no obligation to do or say anything other than "What you're telling me to do is unreasonable, you can get stuffed."
  - deleted 5y ago
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    - clownsh0es 5y ago
- dshpala 5y ago
  The common theme in the discussion here that doing X "makes my colleagues happier". Do you know a real person that became happier once you changed "master" to "main"? Also you said "high rewards". What are rewards in this particular case?
  - otterley 5y ago
    That’s a fair question. No individual has ever personally communicated to me that they care. And to be quite honest, I never considered the term “master” to be problematic in the scientific or mechanical context in which I’ve used it before. However, there are groups of people at my work who say that “main” is a less controversial term and in fact a better term for a “trunk” of code development (“mainline”). Since I see no harm in using it, I figure, why not? The rewards for me are having better relationships with my colleagues and less friction, which in turn leads to a more promising long-term career outlook.
    - SpicyLemonZest 5y ago
      The critically important question is where these rewards are coming from. Do you have better relationships with your colleagues because your new language choices have resolved real problems they were facing? Or do you have better relationships simply because you've joined their subculture, learning to speak how they speak and write how they write? The latter would be a pretty substantial inclusion problem for anyone who's unwilling or unable to join that subculture.
      - otterley 5y ago
        I am not sure the answer matters much. Society evolves beyond our individual power to control it. Being able to adapt to that change is a useful skill that yields benefits not only in the workplace but in society generally. I don't know about you, but I don't want to become one of those grumpy old men who does nothing but complain about "those kids today."
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        SpicyLemonZest 5y ago
        My question would be, have you ever adapted to a social change that you think is bad? It seems almost impossible to live by the standard you're describing, unless you define "society" so narrowly that it only includes causes you're on board with. If I'm the lunch room talking about my tasty chicken curry, and a few PETA members come by to explain that the new term is "bird flesh", should I listen to them?
- ipaddr 5y ago
  Changing your repo to Main from Master is probably the least useful thing you could possible do to fight modern slavery or to fight racism or to do anything but virtue signal to your co-workers. You are not being kind you are belittling and making a real event that hurt many into a silly game. Racism and slavery are real things you and your co-workers can fight against them if you truly care. Get in touch with the oldest org fighting slavery: https://www.antislavery.org https://www.antislavery.org They could use your money, time and network. The one thing they don't care about is changing master to main in your github repos

otterley 5y ago

There's room to disagree on whether this change is useful or necessary. But there's a sizable gap between having a difference of opinion and being a jerk about it. I've personally made the change because I see no harm in it, and it makes my colleagues happier. Being kind and considerate has low cost and high rewards.

homonculus1 5y ago
You aren't being kind, you're being a bully with a thin veneer of social piety. Your standard of behavior leads directly to tyranny of the most demanding and intolerant minority and you aren't even brave enough to own it as your own. We have no obligation to do or say anything other than "What you're telling me to do is unreasonable, you can get stuffed."
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
  - clownsh0es 5y ago
dshpala 5y ago
The common theme in the discussion here that doing X "makes my colleagues happier". Do you know a real person that became happier once you changed "master" to "main"? Also you said "high rewards". What are rewards in this particular case?
- otterley 5y ago
  That’s a fair question. No individual has ever personally communicated to me that they care. And to be quite honest, I never considered the term “master” to be problematic in the scientific or mechanical context in which I’ve used it before. However, there are groups of people at my work who say that “main” is a less controversial term and in fact a better term for a “trunk” of code development (“mainline”). Since I see no harm in using it, I figure, why not? The rewards for me are having better relationships with my colleagues and less friction, which in turn leads to a more promising long-term career outlook.
  - SpicyLemonZest 5y ago
    The critically important question is where these rewards are coming from. Do you have better relationships with your colleagues because your new language choices have resolved real problems they were facing? Or do you have better relationships simply because you've joined their subculture, learning to speak how they speak and write how they write? The latter would be a pretty substantial inclusion problem for anyone who's unwilling or unable to join that subculture.
    - otterley 5y ago
      I am not sure the answer matters much. Society evolves beyond our individual power to control it. Being able to adapt to that change is a useful skill that yields benefits not only in the workplace but in society generally. I don't know about you, but I don't want to become one of those grumpy old men who does nothing but complain about "those kids today."
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - SpicyLemonZest 5y ago
        My question would be, have you ever adapted to a social change that you think is bad? It seems almost impossible to live by the standard you're describing, unless you define "society" so narrowly that it only includes causes you're on board with. If I'm the lunch room talking about my tasty chicken curry, and a few PETA members come by to explain that the new term is "bird flesh", should I listen to them?
ipaddr 5y ago
Changing your repo to Main from Master is probably the least useful thing you could possible do to fight modern slavery or to fight racism or to do anything but virtue signal to your co-workers. You are not being kind you are belittling and making a real event that hurt many into a silly game. Racism and slavery are real things you and your co-workers can fight against them if you truly care. Get in touch with the oldest org fighting slavery: https://www.antislavery.org https://www.antislavery.org They could use your money, time and network. The one thing they don't care about is changing master to main in your github repos