
GitHub plans to replace racially insensitive terms like ‘master’ and ‘whitelist’ - fbnlsr
https://thenextweb.com/dd/2020/06/15/github-plans-to-replace-racially-insensitive-terms-like-master-and-whitelist/
======
rdgthree
This strikes me as a bit silly, because "master"/"slave" are simply words that
describe a relationship. One that unfortunately still exists in many parts of
the world. We're certainly not going to stop using them to describe the
original thing. These aren't derogatory terms, they're just terms. Terms that
describe bad things, but terms. Surely people can see the difference between
this and something like the "Washington Redskins" name, which is (arguably,
but imo) an actual derogatory term.

I don't really have any concerns about whitelist/blacklist (I'm aware of the
history) because alternatives are more explicit. Allowlist/Denylist seem
strange to hear at first, but they're intuitive, so I'm fine with it.

With master/slave, in Djangos case[0], they replaced it with "leader" and
"follower", which obviously have different meanings. Master and slave have a
very explicit connotation, which is that one _controls_ the other, and the
other _has_ to do everything the other says. Leader/follower does not fit the
bill to describe that relationship. We're explicitly and objectively losing
precision because we've decided that non-derogatory non-outdated accurate
terms in the English language make some people uncomfortable.

And again, to really drive this point home, these are _just words_. They are
_not_ derogatory terms. They're used in accordance with their dictionary
definition. This is like saying we should stop using "kill" to describe the
termination of a program because people have been killed and that makes some
people sad when they think about it.

[0][https://github.com/django/django/pull/2692](https://github.com/django/django/pull/2692)

~~~
sebazzz
I always learned that in language context matters. In the current context
master has nothing to do with slavery. Perhaps once when bitkeeper had
master/slave you could see it different.

Apparently these people focus only on the word without any consideration.

That said, I do understand it in the master/slave context.

~~~
drorh
Do you also understand it in the owner/slave context? Want to get rid of
'owner'? What other words are you willing do expunge? Will you be able to say
anything at the end?

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greatgib
This movement is so stupid. It's like the novlang in 1984. Master meaning is
very large:

[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/master](https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/master)

Yes, some times it was used in the master/salve context but it is far from its
most common meanings. It's not even its meaning in the case of a git branch.

With all of that, I think that the world is on the straight line of the future
described in the Idiocracy movie!

------
superasn
CS is filled with such terms like zombies, orphans, reaping dead children, etc
but nobody finds them offensive as we know it has nothing to do with their
literal meaning.

~~~
tehwebguy
Seems easy enough to imagine who would be offended by the use of terms
“orphans” and “dead children,” and why they would prefer not to bring it up
constantly.

~~~
luckylion
The issue is that you can have that with nearly every term that has some
meaning. Leader/follower? But I've once met a terrible Leader and they had
many followers that made my life hell.

If the argument is "but that's only true for very few people": what percentage
of the population (or the subset of the population that is programming) does
need to be affected before it needs to be changed? Orphans aren't that common
either, neither is losing a child.

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pydry
This appears to be a deliberate distraction from Nat Friedman's decision to
continue the contract with ICE.

[https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/9/20906213/github-ice-
micro...](https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/9/20906213/github-ice-microsoft-
software-email-contract-immigration-nonprofit-donation)

Unlike that, this change doesn't cost anything.

------
langitbiru
Git does not have the "slave" term, only "master" term. But the "master" term
is being removed because it is derived from master-slave connotation from
Bitkeeper allegedly.

[https://discourse.gnome.org/t/renaming-master-branch-to-
main...](https://discourse.gnome.org/t/renaming-master-branch-to-
mainline/841/15)

Master-slaves have been replaced in many projects, such as Drupal
(primary/replicas), Django (leader/followers), OpenSSH (parent/children).

I wonder what would happen to robot term? Robot comes from Czech language,
which is robota. It means forced labour.

[https://wordhistories.net/2017/06/14/origin-of-
slave/](https://wordhistories.net/2017/06/14/origin-of-slave/)

~~~
kingkongjaffa
This is the one I don't understand.

Changing blacklist/whitelist is fine, we can make this better.

Changing master in instances where no pairing exists with the word slave
doesn't make any sense to me.

~~~
xellisx
The word doesn't make any sense in the context of something that is constantly
changing. And Gitnis graph based and the is no real concept of a trunk, like
in SVN. So we start calling the dog a dog, instead of a rock.

------
merricksb
Discussed many times in the past week:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23518123](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23518123)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23531032](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23531032)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23527093](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23527093)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23526311](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23526311)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23517843](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23517843)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23583005](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23583005)

------
sidazhou
master->slave can be replaced with: employer->employee... omg what have I done
with my life (O_o)

------
sam_lowry_
I like how @antirez put a case against such renames in writing
[http://antirez.com/news/122](http://antirez.com/news/122)

OTOH, what i am worried about is a change for the sake of the change. It gives
opportunities to dishonest people with hidden agendas.

------
thinkingemote
It allows developers working for multi national corporations who exploit
people around the globe to feel better and safer and purify their workplace of
certain negative things, toxic people and retrograde attitudes. If it means
that a developer has to change their language to something better to be able
to continue to extract wealth from the poor, so be it.

These kind of actions in a non profit or activist space would go unnoticed

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

------
forgingahead
Mass hysteria - everyone needs to take a 7 day holiday from the news media and
the internet.

------
Toine
"If I don't see it it doesn't exist"

------
kissgyorgy
I can understand removing master/slave, but by the logic of
blacklist/whitelist, the color names "black" and "white" should also be
removed.

------
Bostonian
The dictionary says that a definition of master when used as an adjective is
"main; principal." 'the apartment's master bathroom has a free-standing oval
bathtub'"

This has nothing to do with slavery.

~~~
sabertoothed
A dictionary first and foremost tells you the use/meaning today. You need to
look into the etymology to understand if it has something to do with slavery.

~~~
edjrage
What's the point, though? I doubt you have a deep knowledge of the etymology
of every single word you use, even for the ones you use all the time. I bet
you would feel forced to use a very different and extremely narrow set of
words if you did. You might even have chosen another username if you were
"sensitive" to how "saber" alludes to an instrument of historical oppression
and suffering.

And yet not many people do or seem to care. Why? You might say it's because
our culture is still not enlightened, but it really is just because it doesn't
matter what the usage used to be as long as it's used with a different, more-
or-less harmless meaning today. Not only that, but what about words that have
had countless interpretations since forever (black/white)? Why pick the one
that happens to be racist?

And I may be making a wild conjecture here, but it's not like talking about a
"master branch" will make you more likely to become pro-slavery. I mean, what
would "master branch" even mean out of the context of version control?

Words are just labels to meaning. It makes no sense to care about the label.
People have declared love with N-words and advocated for genocide with flowery
language. Banishing words is a prime example of bikeshedding.

~~~
stOneskull
> I mean, what would "master branch" even mean out of the context of version
> control?

stop being mean. you shouldn't impose your control. whip me for telling you
not to. and scold them for whipping me. decentralize the git commit hierarchy!
no order!

