Hey everyone, long time no write, at least not the technical stuff. And today is no different. It could have been some technical writing but some incredibly woke shit came in the middle of that. I’m not upset nor angry, more like disappointed. It seems like Git is following the footsteps of companies deciding to go full woke by removing the master branch as the default. If you feel like using the term “master branch” is problematic and racist then you are the problem. Let’s start with the beginning.
A few days ago, I joined the Minds platform which is a very transparent social media to the point where their source code and even deployment scripts are open-source. This means that if you want, you can go and check their codebase and if there are things you don’t like you can avoid using the platform or help improving it. While I previously browsed the Minds codebase by curiosity, I had not checked in the code yet. This is why I decided to change that today.
As I went through the very well documented steps to locally setup their stack, I ran into an error. An error arose when I ran the cloning command below:
git clone --recurse-submodules --remote-submodules [email protected]:minds/minds.gitI never saw that “–remote-submodules” parameter before and it was the cause of the error. Basically, it did not exist which is fine. I google it and find a commit from git’s GitHub repository referencing that flag.
This made me realise that I did not update Git since I bought this machine which was still rocking the 2.22 version of the git client. At that point I go to the git website and download the latest version 2.30 which matches the tag on the commit page. I found pretty great following instructions setting up a stack fail on my machine not because they’re out of date but because I am. This is a fairly rare occurrence and I have to appreciate when it is the case. So I install the new version of git and surprise surprise, I get that screen:
You’re not dreaming, after decades of using master as the default branch name, git now suggests you to change it into something more inclusive like main, trunk or development. Some teams use both a master and a development branch which have completely different uses.
As you know, I do have a problem with this new rewrite of history by getting rid of words regardless of the context. I’ve said it before, and I will repeat it, you will not kill racism by replacing words. Who feels attacked or traumatised by reading the word master? Can you not get a Mastercard or use a master bedroom? I have a Master of Science in Software Architecture, does that trigger people? Should it become a Default of Science? Are we going to stop saying “mastery”? This needs to stop. I am flabbergasted by how insanely ridiculous the world feels right now.
I shall make a point of using master as my default branch as long as I breathe. Even if I become the last developer on Earth doing so. You may wonder if I actually interrupted my local setup of the Minds stack to drop some words about wokeism? You’re damn right I did!
At least a place like Minds feels out of reach from such madness so far and it’s part of why I am willing to give some of my time to help improve it. Join the platform, see it with your own eyes, don’t trust what voices tell you, trust your own senses. Maybe it will inspire you to jump in and help to build it up, whether it is as a content creator or as a developer.
Cover by Rodolfo Clix from Pexels
I could not agree more with you!
Thanks for being a lone voice of reason amongst all this madness