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Discussion on: Replacing master in git

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aminmansuri profile image
hidden_dude

I applaud your positive intent behind this.

Oftentimes in tech we consider our industry as "advanced" and yet we haven't done enough to be inclusive. And yet our history has been far from perfect in this regard.

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damcosset profile image
Damien Cosset

Thank you! It's a very small step and the absolute minimum I can do. Hopefully, these little steps start a conversation and we will all learn and get better ❤️

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dandv profile image
Dan Dascalescu

Tech has done more than any other industry to be inclusive. Kids in Africa or India have $100 laptops where they can learn anything that we've put up online. Countless open-source software has enabled anyone, anywhere in the world, with absolutely no regard for race or ethnicity or anything like that, to do word processing and browse the Internet without paying anything to Microsoft. Crypto can liberate us from banks and government oppression (to talk about true oppression). Etc.

By being distributed over a medium where no names or faces are necessary, software is as inclusive as possible.

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devimposter1 profile image
devimposter • Edited

Yet changing a branch name is so hard?

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dandv profile image
Dan Dascalescu

The change is simple, but the implications are non-trivial and will cause far more pain than we think it may prevent.

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devimposter1 profile image
devimposter

Then maybe just do it on new repos going forward? I doubt I will go back and rename every repo I have going back ten years but I'm thinking for new projects why not? No one should be forced to do this but it's not a bad idea.

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devimposter1 profile image
devimposter

And BTW, I am 56 and was recording music back in the day on analog "master" tapes so I get what you mean by master tape or master pressing for vinyl but I have no problem using main or trunk as a branch either...

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gautamkrishnar profile image
Gautam Krishna R
 I'm thinking for new projects why not? 
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Let's say a person is new to open source, he/she searches google for tutorials about how he/she can contribute to open-source projects. All the tutorials will have the master mentioned. This will be really confusing for them. If they are new to open-source and computer science In particular, This will surely be a pushback for them.

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devimposter1 profile image
devimposter

Actually I would say if this is confusing for them they may want to look for another career... This is about as trivial as things will get for a developer. I'm sure in their Google search they will see a few results that discuss the renaming of branches for this reason. :)

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shaunagordon profile image
Shauna Gordon

Let's say a person is new to open source, he/she searches google for tutorials about how he/she can contribute to open-source projects. All the tutorials will have the master mentioned. This will be really confusing for them.

Because nothing ever changes and we don't have any references to old and obsolete and failed-to-launch tech anywhere, amirite?

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