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

From: Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com>
Date: Nov 20, 2020, 00:34 UTC
Message-ID: <CAMP44s2XXq5+uZLfrWs_yvrcuKYv2ta849PQ_w1ZqHKFsPZ6Ew@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <CA+sFfMdHrapy2o8D53dpqA5b+a88VLOX126daLcC8Sash4rq3A@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Nov 19, 2020 at 3:29 PM Brandon Casey <drafnel@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Nov 19, 2020 at 5:37 AM Konstantin Ryabitsev
> <konstantin@linuxfoundation.org> wrote:

Show 9 quoted lines

> > 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.
>
> Glad to hear that. That doesn't seem to be the perspective that others
> have in this discussion thread though, especially since Theodore Ts'o
> referred to "...the "master" -> "main" migration" in his comment that
> I quoted above.

Let me try to clarify to you.

At this precise moment the name of the branch is "master", and will continue to be until a concrete plan to change it is put forward.

However, the momentum is there to change the default name. So, if the camp in favor of the change keeps pushing forward, finishes all the necessary work, and puts a plan in place--which will probably include a precautionary warning--the name will likely be eventually changed. It's only a matter of when.

Since there's many agendas: a) get the name changed as soon as possible, b) change the name, but do it properly and take as long as is indeed, c) change the name, but not necessarily to "main", and d) do not change the name; what you are seeing is probably a clash of many agendas and no clarity from the project.

Moreover, once the plan is set in motion, and many users are notified of things upcoming change, I suspect there will be a backlash, and the "decision" might be reconsidered.

So, even though things are not set in stone, and the dust has not yet settled, the move towards a change away from the default branch name "master" is currently happening.

Cheers.

-- 
Felipe Contreras