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

[Renato Golin via llvm-dev]

On Fri, 19 Jun 2020 at 10:49, Mehdi AMINI via llvm-dev
<llvm-dev at lists.llvm.org> wrote:
> 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.

Hi Mehdi,

I never associated any of those words with their negative
connotations, either, but this is because of my upbringing and some of
the privileges I enjoy from our broken society.

I always associated the word "master" as reverential, like with
martial arts, Jedi kind of thing. And to me, "white" and "black" (on
list, hat) had to do with day and night (when the monsters come out).

But I'm also painfully aware that small amends to our mental model
could improve the lives of many people. Every little bit counts.

I did read around for all of the reasons to change all the names, and
all the reasons not to. Turns out, the reasons to change are that a
lot of people go through repeated pains throughout their lives for
generations and every little bit helps. The reasons not to change were
that "people are used to". I think that's clear enough for me.

> 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", ...

Funny enough, git doesn't care what you call your branches. Better
still, Github has a setting to name your main branch.

I personally dislike "trunk". I'd prefer "main" because that's where
all commits go. "dev" would make people think that's not the official
place to look at.

> Since I'm on this topic, we should also likely look into the pervasive use of whitelist/blacklist in the project.

As long as the new names are clear, it should be fine. Maybe we could
have a "dictionary" to refer to the terms we use to replace old ones.

I'd also strongly advise against worrying about translations. As a
multilingual speaker, I notice funny words in many languages, either
by spelling or by sound, and it's impossible to avoid all similarities
with all languages of the world. Particularly to the times we live in,
the N-word is the "right" word to use in Brazil, while "black" is
extremely offensive. For example, one would translate "blacklist" into
"lista negra" to be culturally correct. Culture is beautiful because
it's different, and we should all embrace differences. Without it, we
wouldn't be human.

We could use non-English words that are more restricted in meanings,
like "libre" is used for a specific meaning of "free". But worrying
about spelling or sound in hundreds of different languages for every
word we use would never end. Worst still would be worrying about
Spanish and French, but not for example, about Vietnamese or Afrikans.

cheers,
--renato