7 ms·

> enslave "10.0.0.2" I know it is functionally immaterial, but boy howdy do I ever wish we'd chosen a better convention for how to refer to the relationship be

> enslave "10.0.0.2" I know it is functionally immaterial, but boy howdy do I ever wish we'd chosen a better convention for how to refer to the relationship between these system components.

scott_karana 12y ago
> simon says 10.0.0.2
twerquie 12y ago
Let's just agree to use better words starting now. Primary/Replica?
lmm 12y ago
I find it's a useful heuristic for knowing whether someone can think clearly and abstractly. Kind of like the "all green birds have two heads" test.
- afarrell 12y ago
  Could you expand on that? I get the reference, but what is your heuristic?
  - lmm 12y ago
    Someone who has a problem with master/slave terminology probably can't think abstractly (in the same sense as someone who fails the all green birds have two heads test).
moe 12y ago
I know it is functionally immaterial There's nothing wrong with Master/slave. We also read man pages, shove male plugs into female ports, fork and kill children, and use dozens of other odd words to describe perfectly harmless things.
- waterhouse 12y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_%28computer_science%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_%28computer_scien...
- kenko 12y ago
  "man" is at least short for "manual". There's nothing essential about master/slave so why not just switch to primary/replica?
  - robd003 12y ago
    Because the master forces the slave to do it's bidding.
    - diroussel 12y ago
      Not if the replica is pulling changes from the primary.
    - kenko 12y ago
      But ... so what? For one thing, the metaphor doesn't have to go that way. For another, "leader/follower" captures that too.
  - moe 12y ago
    Because there is no reason to screw with common terminology to begin with. Neither Master nor Slave is a derogatory word. And using the concept of slavery to describe a relationship between inanimate objects in a technical context is not an endorsement of such practices between humans.
sanderjd 12y ago
Heroku uses "follower", which is much less jarring.
neilk 12y ago
My proposal: muse and scribe. It's evocative and if you know the old terminology the initials are the same.
olefoo 12y ago
I try to use 'primary' and 'replica'; but depending on who I'm talking to I find myself slipping back to the Master/Slave terminology. And to the OP, replication is a complex process fraught with security risks. Take about 10 minutes thinking about just roles and authentication in the context of your proposed syntax and what you would need to set up ahead of time to make it work. The current method of starting with a pg_basebackup on the replica is nearly as simple. Even if it does require that you do some minor configuration on the master. It's not nearly open heart surgery.
- moe 12y ago
  what you would need to set up ahead of time to make it work Nothing except a shared secret or keypair. Other databases (rethinkdb, redis, riak etc.) show how it's done.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]

> enslave "10.0.0.2" I know it is functionally immaterial, but boy howdy do I ever wish we'd chosen a better convention for how to refer to the relationship between these system components.

scott_karana 12y ago

> simon says 10.0.0.2

twerquie 12y ago

Let's just agree to use better words starting now. Primary/Replica?

lmm 12y ago

I find it's a useful heuristic for knowing whether someone can think clearly and abstractly. Kind of like the "all green birds have two heads" test.

afarrell 12y ago
Could you expand on that? I get the reference, but what is your heuristic?
- lmm 12y ago
  Someone who has a problem with master/slave terminology probably can't think abstractly (in the same sense as someone who fails the all green birds have two heads test).

moe 12y ago

I know it is functionally immaterial There's nothing wrong with Master/slave. We also read man pages, shove male plugs into female ports, fork and kill children, and use dozens of other odd words to describe perfectly harmless things.

waterhouse 12y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_%28computer_science%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deforestation_%28computer_scien...
kenko 12y ago
"man" is at least short for "manual". There's nothing essential about master/slave so why not just switch to primary/replica?
- robd003 12y ago
  Because the master forces the slave to do it's bidding.
  - diroussel 12y ago
    Not if the replica is pulling changes from the primary.
  - kenko 12y ago
    But ... so what? For one thing, the metaphor doesn't have to go that way. For another, "leader/follower" captures that too.
- moe 12y ago
  Because there is no reason to screw with common terminology to begin with. Neither Master nor Slave is a derogatory word. And using the concept of slavery to describe a relationship between inanimate objects in a technical context is not an endorsement of such practices between humans.

sanderjd 12y ago

Heroku uses "follower", which is much less jarring.

neilk 12y ago

My proposal: muse and scribe. It's evocative and if you know the old terminology the initials are the same.

olefoo 12y ago

I try to use 'primary' and 'replica'; but depending on who I'm talking to I find myself slipping back to the Master/Slave terminology. And to the OP, replication is a complex process fraught with security risks. Take about 10 minutes thinking about just roles and authentication in the context of your proposed syntax and what you would need to set up ahead of time to make it work. The current method of starting with a pg_basebackup on the replica is nearly as simple. Even if it does require that you do some minor configuration on the master. It's not nearly open heart surgery.

moe 12y ago
what you would need to set up ahead of time to make it work Nothing except a shared secret or keypair. Other databases (rethinkdb, redis, riak etc.) show how it's done.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]