[llvm-dev] Inclusive language in LLVM: can we rename `master` branch?

[Aaron Ballman via llvm-dev]

On Fri, Jun 19, 2020 at 5:49 AM Mehdi AMINI via llvm-dev
<llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> When we moved to GitHub a few months ago, we used without more consideration the "master" convention to name our development branch. On SVN it used to be just "trunk".
> This naming is unfortunate as it can hurt some contributors, and there is really no technical advantage that I know of to favor this convention over another.
>
> I am perfectly aware that `master` has other significations than the master/slave meaning, and I personally never made this association in the past. However I'm also able to recognize that I'm privileged here, and that not everyone is in the same position.
>
> As we intend to be an inclusive community, I propose that we change the name of our development branch and that we adopt instead a more neutral terminology for the LLVM monorepo. Possible names are "dev", "trunk", "main", "default", ...

+1, I would be happy with any of these, but "trunk" is terminology I'm
already used to using from SVN and feels most natural to me.

> We need to plan a transition as all the bots will need to be updated to track this new branch instead, but these are minor technical details, nothing compared to the SVN->Git migration we went through.
>
> Since I'm on this topic, we should also likely look into the pervasive use of whitelist/blacklist in the project.

Also +1. FWIW, a while back I set up a herald rule to subscribe me to
any code review using those terms and I've been quietly suggesting
improved wording (because there's always a clear construct to use
instead) and authors have been great at making changes when I point
them out. Having more eyeballs on this would be a good thing!

~Aaron


>
> Thoughts?
>
> --
> Mehdi
>
>
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