Re: The master branch rename, and avoiding another v1.6.0 git-foo fiasco

[Konstantin Ryabitsev <konstantin@linuxfoundation.org>]

On Wed, Nov 18, 2020 at 05:02:59PM -0800, Brandon Casey wrote:
> > This *really* is not hard; which is why I am starting to suspect
> > people are really kvetching because their objections are really more
> > about the woke/anti-woke aspect of the "master" -> "main" migration
> > --- and they are using *think* the children^H^H^H^H^H^H^H users as a
> > rhetorical device.
> 
> So we're changing the default branch name from "master" to "main"?

To my knowledge, there are no concrete plans to change anything at this 
time. All recent work was to remove any special-case treatment of 
"master" as the default branch name, so people are free to use any 
configuration they like.

> For what purpose?  What problem are we trying to solve?

People want to be able to use arbitrary branch names.

> Is the word "master" now going to become a taboo word that we're all
> afraid to say?

No, everyone is welcome to use it if they like. It has perfectly 
legitimate usage cases -- for example, some of the staunchest opponents 
of this terminology continue to list their "Master of Arts" degree on 
LinkedIn.

> Isn't this all a little silly? What's wrong with the term "master"?

It is misleading in the context of git, because it implies that a branch 
carrying that name is in some way special compared to other branches 
(e.g. like "trunk" in the SVN world). In reality, the "master" branch is 
just a branch like all others (and can be missing entirely or have junk 
in it), so it really shouldn't be called "master".

> It's a well understood and commonly used term that denotes
> "authority", i.e. the master branch is the authoritative branch.
> People sleep in master bedrooms. Universities have headmasters and
> award master's degrees. Skilled people become master craftsmen and
> give master classes (e.g. master plumber, master diver). Recording
> artists master a track. Skilled chess players become chess masters
> etc.

Exactly, thank you for illustrating my point. In all of the above 
situations the word "master" is used to indicate some kind of 
distinction. If all you have is a single bedroom, it would be kinda 
obnoxious to refer to it as "the master bedroom," eh? :)

-K