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Change `master` branch into `primary` (github.com/django)
15 points by chippy on May 27, 2014 | hide | past | favorite | 13 comments


The title should mention that this is done in the Django database.

I've never thought at the history of the words `master` and `slave` when reading DB docs. I think primary/replica is as good as a choice.


If this PR were made by a party which is NOT a confirmed troll, it might be a valid concern. Don't feed the trolls. And besides, you can name your local branch whatever you like.


Also one that got accepted: https://github.com/django/django/pull/2692


Am I the only one who sees this as an extremely stupid move? I begin to think all this "pollitical correct" crap got into the heads of most english speaking people.

I hope all this crap will not become the norm.


This is "satire" by a group that thinks feminism is bad.

For future reference, the term "political correctness" is used exclusively in a derogatory way. The main idea is that some people are somehow controlling political discourse by objecting to certain terms and thereby requiring politicians (or whoever) to speak in a certain way even if they don't actually agree with the reasons to use the term.

This is, however, mostly wrong.

What is actually occurring is that some people (politicians and others) use language which degrades or marginalizes certain groups (think ethnic slurs, the word "faggot" etc). These groups then speak up and say "hey, that sucks, we're people too". People who are actually racist/homophobic/whatever then object because they're "not allowed" to say what they think. This isn't true; they are still (obviously) allowed to say what they think, people are just going to be pointing out that they are assholes. Which is as it should be.

Summary: nobody actually advocates for anything called political correctness. Some people are being assholes, others are telling them not to be assholes.

Why did I put "satire" in quotes? The thing which is being satirized is a tendency in the 1960s (50 years ago!) of feminist groups to remove the letters "man" from certain words as a symbolic gesture against an oppressive and patriarchal society. This is pretty much dead in modern feminism, even as symbolism. That is; it is a non-issue; nobody seriously wants to alter existing words, most people never actually wanted to alter existing words. The only people for whom it is still an issue are anti-feminists (read: misogynists) who want to create a straw-man of feminist ideas in order to further marginalize the concerns of women. Which is to say, this is pretty terrible satire.

So, what does feminism actually want? Equality for all people, even men.

Why is it called "feminism" then? Modern feminism grew out of the suffrage (voting-rights) movements of the late 1800s and early 1900s, when women were not allowed to vote because they were seen as being too uneducated, too emotional, inferior, etc. That's 51% of the human population that wasn't allowed to participate in politics.

A famous suffragist, Rebecca West, famously said: "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." Most people today would take this for granted, but still be suspicious of feminism. This suspicion is often fed by the strawman arguments of anti-feminists.

Why should men be feminists? Maybe you have a mother or a sister or a wife or a daughter; are they people? Should they have an equal chance in society? Should they be able to choose their own path in society or should they be confined by tradition or the whims of their male relatives? Maybe you don't feel like you can fulfill the social roles for men; that is also a feminist issue. Basically: if you want a society where people are allowed to be who they want to be, you should be a feminist.


Surely this... will make female developers understand their male counterparts take their concerns seriously.


I think they missed an opportunity. They should have changed "master" to "mistress"...


It's like the world doesn't have enough problems for people to bring some obsolete meaning to words completely out of context. I think "mistress" is a very sound way to teach a lesson. Just recently somebody reminded me some obsolete meaning of "gal" and that it could be offensive to some. I think there are too many people trying to justify their existence with pseudo rights and freedoms. At the end of the day, all these small "victories" are used to take our attention away from the indisputable crimes that NSA and the likes are doing to us! Let's focus on solving real rights and freedoms problems!


Let's focus on reducing the acceptable words in the English language! Take false moral high ground! Then tell everyone they are oppressive moral reprobates! If everyone feels bad about being male or white (or both!) then surely no one will notice that the true oppressor is centralized power structures! IngSoc Double Plus Good! Choco-Rations are Up Today AND I'm FEELING FINE.


Yeah. Simpler English will help with dumbification of the populace. People can't spell already anyway. Idiocracy in the making!

Anyway, it's really pathetic that people get offended by words. Spoken language is one of the most effective tools of manipulation. If you feel bad, just because you heard the "N" word or "master" or whatever, you know what, you're weak and well-suited for one of the most ancient tools for exploitation. Men who go in jail or kill somebody, just because somebody used the right word to trigger their irrational and destructive behavior - those are weak, not manly.

Anyway, ignore the words, focus on the meaning, but, I guess, it's too hard for some! And those don't even get when you're truly offending them with phrases their simple minds cannot process - sarcasm is not for everyone!


I don't know, that's not really the type of humor they're going for. They generally prefer keeping everything as neutral and PC as possible, and "primary" fits that role pretty well.


How about 'git push --consensual'?


That is basically the default of git push




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