DEV Community

Discussion on: Replacing master in git

Collapse
 
brian32768 profile image
Brian Wilson

Definition of master (Merriam Webster) 2a: one having authority over another : RULER, GOVERNOR

Definition of principal (Entry 2 of 2) (Merriam Webster again) 1: a person who has controlling authority or is in a leading position

...you've shown us how to replace the word "master" with a word that means "master".

Only "master" has more than one meaning. In this case, it's this one
5a: a master mechanism (see MECHANISM sense 1) or device
b: an original from which copies can be made
especially : a master recording (such as a magnetic tape)

Contextually using "principal" has less specific meaning than "master", since "master" in this context has nothing to do with slavery. I am willing to switch from using "master" because it's unimportant to me and it seems to matter to others, but the new word needs to be relevant and I don't want to change it again in 3 months because the new word is just as bad.

Collapse
 
brian32768 profile image
Brian Wilson

Probably not clear what I just wrote... I wish we could settle on a better word NOW but I prefer letting things find their own collective way. In a year no one will remember using master.

I used to be a build release engineer and part of my jobs was releasing the "golden masters". We used to have these round, flat things to hold data most of you are too young to know about...

Some comments have been hidden by the post's author - find out more