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

From: Brandon Casey <drafnel@gmail.com>
Date: Nov 19, 2020, 01:02 UTC
Message-ID: <CA+sFfMfWrSMKAogg-5dsaO_beXUV-JCBLBPeLZ5g_0jGqsom8Q@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <20201115034649.GC3985404@mit.edu>

On Sat, Nov 14, 2020 at 8:23 PM Theodore Y. Ts'o <tytso@mit.edu> wrote:

Show 5 quoted lines

> 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"?

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

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

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

-Brandon