Github changes branching terminology.

[IAmAndre]

2 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

Complex terms exists in many fields, hemorrhage is just bleeding isn't it? But those in the medical field still have to remember it. Why dont we all get rid of all of them when we already have simplier terms for it? That's because old texts use these terms, those who learned from others' previous work (as learning has always been) stick to them after they got used to it. Same for concepts like current travelling in the opposite direction of electrons' net motion, how confusing is that?

 

I'm not saying it's impossible to do (could make programs adapt to different terms) or it doesnt have benefits (easy to learn), but changing names of stuff just creates confusion for those facing them daily while those who campaigned the change dont even use it at all is just a waste of effort.

It works both ways. Complex terms are changed all the time. And it all honesty, how does a change from "master" to "main" affect the learning process or the comprehension?

[Jurrunio]

3 minutes ago, DildorTheDecent said:

>not changing it to dom/sub

 

It's like these people don't think.

I'm sad for those who don't understand, but worried for those who do

[Haro]

6 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

for those facing them daily while those who campaigned the change dont even use it at all is just a waste of effort.

I mean if someone is in the software industry 

I don't think they would care about what term is being used if anything they would be against the change 

Were there people who most likely have nothing to do with that industry  go out not their way to change terms for these devs 

I don't understand why they care, if software industry as a whole for the most part has nothing to do with controversies or political things 

[Vishera]

Just now, IAmAndre said:

It works both ways. Complex terms are changed all the time. And it all honesty, how does a change from "master" to "main" affect the learning process or the comprehension?

Think about all the programs that will break from this change,some developers have codes that upload/download to and from github and that will break them and the damage will cost time and money to fix.

[Eigenvektor]

1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

Complex terms exists in many fields, hemorrhage is just bleeding isn't it? But those in the medical field still have to remember it. Why dont we all get rid of all of them when we already have simplier terms for it? That's because old texts use these terms, those who learned from others' previous work (as learning has always been) stick to them after they got used to it. Same for concepts like current travelling in the opposite direction of electrons' net motion, how confusing is that?

 

I'm not saying it's impossible to do (could make programs adapt to different terms) or it doesnt have benefits (easy to learn), but changing names of stuff just creates confusion for those facing them daily while those who campaigned the change dont even use it at all is just a waste of effort.

But at the same time isn't "primary drive" easier to understand than "master drive"? Or "secondary drive" more clear than "slave drive" (ok ok... Customer: "But why can there be more than one secondary drive, shouldn't it be called tertiary drive?" … )

 

Just to be clear, I'm not the one calling for these changes. I'm not offended by these terms either. I've never even remotely considered "master branch" could be seen offensive. But at the same time I don't really see an issue changing it to "main" branch. I can imagine more people might understand "main branch" the first time they see it, while "master branch" might be less clear.

[IAmAndre]

2 minutes ago, Vishera said:

Think about all the programs that will break from this change,some developers have codes that upload/download to and from github and that will break them and the damage will cost time and money to fix.

Really? Do you really think that the engineers at GitHub didn't think this through? This is just a term, it has nothing to do with the code or the processes. Do you really think they would risk the stability of millions of IT projects over a name change?

[pcs3rd]

A big factor behind this is about being politically correct @TofuHaroto .

>Reasons 2&4.

[Eigenvektor]

4 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

Really? Do you really think that the engineers are GitHub didn't think this through? This is just a term, it has nothing to do with the code or the processes. Do you really think they would risk the stability of millions of IT projects over a name change?

In terms of git, it does. It is the name of a pointer to a specific commit branch. Changing that label will break e.g. things like "git push origin/master".

 

Of course GitHub could maybe add additional code to their platform to work as an alias, but that's only their platform. If someone does a "git checkout master" out of habit on their machine it won't work and they'll need to remember to do "git checkout main" now.

[IAmAndre]

2 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

In terms of git, it does. It is the name of a pointer to a specific commit. Changing that label will break e.g. things like "git push origin/master".

 

Of course GitHub could maybe add additional code to their platform to work as an alias, but that's only their platform. If someone does a "git checkout master" out of habit on their machine it won't work and they'll need to remember to do "git checkout main" now.

Trust me, they won't do it. It will definitely be an alias as it's pointless to delete keywords. It's very common to have different syntax to do the same thing and again, they won't put those millions of projects at risk because of that.

[Vishera]

Just now, IAmAndre said:

Really? Do you really think that the engineers are GitHub didn't think this through? This is just a term, it has nothing to do with the code or the processes. Do you really think they would risk the stability of millions of IT projects over a name change?

In fact ,It didn't happen and i have seen and heard about engineers that don't think things through so you never gonna know what will happen.

But it does have to do with some projects that rely on it,and some of them are old and abandoned so you will have to hope that someone will fix them.

[Eigenvektor]

1 minute ago, IAmAndre said:

Trust me, they won't do it. It will definitely be an alias as it's pointless to delete keywords. It's very common to have different syntax to do the same thing and again, they won't put those millions of projects at risk because of that.

I could see them do it for new projects as a default. Changing other peoples codebase would probably not go over very well.

[IAmAndre]

Just now, Vishera said:

But it does have to do with some projects that rely on it,and some of them are old and abandoned so you will have to hope that someone will fix them.

GitHub know that better than us.

[Jurrunio]

10 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

But at the same time isn't "primary drive" easier to understand than "master drive"? Or "secondary drive" more clear than "slave drive" (ok ok... Customer: "But why can there be more than one secondary drive, shouldn't it be called tertiary drive?" … )

 

Just to be clear, I'm not the one calling for these changes. I'm not offended by these terms either. I've never even remotely considered "master branch" could be seen offensive. But at the same time I don't really see an issue changing it to "main" branch. I can imagine more people might understand "main branch" the first time they see it, while "master branch" might be less clear.

That's why we put something in layman's terms, but making everyone understand is different from taking it into official context and applying it to work.

[IAmAndre]

Just now, Eigenvektor said:

I could see them do it for new projects as a default. Changing other peoples codebase would probably not go over very well.

Legacy features have always been a thing. You can see these in pretty much every programming language. I don't see them delete stuff in their code just to show support for a community.

[Haro]

Quote

If it prevents even a single black person from feeling more isolated in the tech community, feels like a no brainer to me!

Are there people that are nitpicky about things like this ?

Are they not offending at least some black people for assuming they are this easy to offend ? 

[Vishera]

Why do we need politics to intervene in tech????

[Vishera]

Just now, TofuHaroto said:

Are there people that are nitpicky about things like this ?

Are they not offending at least some black people for assuming they are this easy to offend ? 

Seems like she was the one finding it offensive,it was her idea after all.

[Jurrunio]

1 minute ago, TofuHaroto said:

Are there people that are nitpicky about things like this ?

Are they not offending at least some black people for assuming they are this easy to offend ? 

Definitely yes. Even Cyberpunk 2077 got caught in one

https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2019/06/18/cyberpunk-2020-creator-angered-by-criticism-of-representation-in-cyberpunk-2077/

[Jurrunio]

2 minutes ago, Vishera said:

Why do we need politics to intervene in tech????

tbh the only way to stay out of politics is to live alone, far away from civilization. Heck even deciding where to eat with your partner technically involves politics.

[Eigenvektor]

2 minutes ago, Vishera said:

Seems like she was the one finding it offensive,it was her idea after all.

It's also kind of funny how GitHub was singled out. They're just one among many git hosters (like GitLab, Bitbucket, …). Of course there's still a lot of people who mistakenly think GitHub = git…

[Haro]

1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

Heck even deciding where to eat with your partner technically involves politics

I never really understood that

I always interpreted the word political as something that has to do with let's say whats going on in America etc 

Then again I always stay away from even listening to that word as I really don't want to be involved with arguments that will most likely end up in either a fight or will end up with both people having the same opinion 

[IAmAndre]

As a Black software developer, I'm quite familiar with these terms. Do I feel better or more integrated with this change? Not necessarily. Will I use the new terms? Probably, but I also would if they were changed to "sock" and "sandal". Do I feel offended by this change? Clearly not and I appreciate the move, although I probably would have felt the same with just a public statement as many other companies have done recently.

[Vishera]

Just now, TofuHaroto said:

I never really understood that

I always interpreted the word political as something that has to do with let's say whats going on in America etc 

Then again I always stay away from even listening to that word as I really don't want to be involved with arguments that will most likely end up in either a fight or will end up with both people having the same opinion 

The problem is that politics try to dictate every small thing...

So politics will get to you regardless.

[Jurrunio]

1 minute ago, TofuHaroto said:

I never really understood that

I always interpreted the word political as something that has to do with let's say whats going on in America etc 

Then again I always stay away from even listening to that word as I really don't want to be involved with arguments that will most likely end up in either a fight or will end up with both people having the same opinion 

Politics from the beginning is about making people agree on stuff that can cause conflicts (with "policy"). You can expand this up to between countries, or shrink it down to following your partner's preference in order to be uh, reproductive later. It's really not rocket science.

[Haro]

Just now, Vishera said:

So politics will get to you regardless.

Yea sadly 

I try to avoid it when ever I can 

Tech community is really just one of those communities that I found fit for me 

Not for just passion but for how chill it is ( most of the times ) 

I am really burned out of political things since my family always fights over these things