Comment by andy_ppp | Hacker News Reader

Comment by andy_ppp | Hacker News Reader

I don't think there is ANY slave connotation assosciated with git. Sure words do matter and your words are being used to see things that aren't there - the meaning of the word master has been added to by its use in git repositories and it was NEVER used in the way that is suggested here; the email thread claiming that it is used this way is dubious at best. Master, in addition to meaning "controller" means:

- main; principal. "the apartment's master bathroom has a free-standing oval bathtub"

Because it's a master bedroom everyone understands and feels FINE that this is okay. EVEN in a master/slave hard drive setup (this adds a new meaning too) it isn't about subjugating disk drives, it's about slavishly copying another master (main, principal) disk. I'm very sorry if you're offended by words being used for very specific technology purposes but it isn't right that everyone has to conform to your way of seeing the world.

EDIT: damn, glad to see that article has been flagged and at this point I'm so happy that hacker news does not allow politics.

[I'm Eric's cofounder] >>it isn't right that everyone has to conform to your way of seeing the world. We're not forcing anyone to conform to our worldview. We're just sharing our perspective and providing instructions for developers who do want to change their production branch to "Main"

Sure, I think there are good technical reasons to consider doing that, I just saw a load of strange commentary that race had something to do with the name of the principle branch in a git repository. And I stand by the fact that if you believe that you are seeing things that don't exist.

Don't be so fast though: the term "master bedroom" is similarly criticized (and probably with a stronger case for its removal). https://yochicago.com/is-master-bedroom-a-racist-gender-bias...

Sorry, it doesn't mean that in any dictionary or in anyone's mind either when they use the term, so you can argue it is being used to oppress people but I say the term master bedroom is perfectly okay.

I bring it up because if you meant to point to an iron-clad use of "master" without slave connotations, then you in fact actually brought up an equally (or more?) controversial example and therefore I don't think it helps the case. No one who is skeptical of "master branch" will be swayed by "master bedroom".

Probably against the rules to use iron-clad as well. The first warship to be iron clad was used in the US civil war by the confederacy.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironclad_warship

This Game of Words will only stop when either the offended side gets tired of accusing others or the purportedly offending side gets tired of being accused of being 'insensitive'. It the former happens it is not hard to foresee a move to a new frontier of oppression. If the latter happens the game is over, people will no longer fall for these accusations. In other words, those who claim to be offended have to win the argument every time while those who are on the receiving end of these claims only have to win the argument once for the battle to be won.

In short, this strategy is doomed from the beginning since it can not be won and only serves to create discontent and division.

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