After Google and several other tech companies, Linux kernel has now formulated a new policy that aims to replace racially sensitive terminologies with neutral alternatives.
The following are the recommended replacements for ‘master / slave’:
- primary / secondary
- main / replica or subordinate
- initiator / target
- requester / responder
- controller / device
- host / worker or proxy
- leader / follower
- director / performer
Similarly, the recommended alternatives for ‘blacklist / whitelist’ are ‘denylist / allowlist’ and ‘blocklist / passlist’. As you can see, Torvalds has given developers the choice to adopt any of the suggested ones.
“The discussion has tapered off as well as the incoming ack, review, and sign-off tags. I did not see a reason to wait for the next merge window,” reads the commit on Linux 5.8 repository.
According to the commit, old terms will be allowed only when developers are updating code for an existing (as of 2020) hardware or protocol, or when devs are dealing with specifications that mandate those terms.
The decision comes after Linux maintainer Dan Williams raised a proposal that read, “Recent events have prompted a Linuxposition statement on inclusive terminology. Given that Linux maintains a coding-style and its own idiomatic set of terminology here is a proposal to answer the call to replace non-inclusive terminology.”
As mentioned above, this is not the first time we’re seeing such changes in the tech industry. Ever since the protests against police brutality in the US burst out after the death of George Floyd, several companies including Google, Twitter, GitHub have taken steps to make the development community more inclusive and neutral.
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And I assume that this over sensitive, woke, nonsse will carry on to cryptography, afterall surely we cannot use the word “nonce” (number use once) any more as it is a derogatory sexually based term?
Nior use Alice, Bob and Even in encryption where ‘Eve’ is the baddy and taints a female name?
Oh, ad we had better not have a boot loader caled “das u-boot” as it could offend people who fought in the Second World War…
Where will this crap end?
A perfect example of a word that has a radically different, vulgar, and offensive meaning in different contexts is “slept.”
To say, “I slept soundly throughout the night,” is not offensive anywhere and just means you had a good night of sleep.
To say, “I slept with that woman,” is a vulgar and offensive expression suggesting intercourse and female objectification.
The words “master” and “slave” are no different. The fact that technical knowledge is required to speak sentences where “master”/”slave” is non-offensive does not change the fact that there exist contexts where “master”/”slave” are used non-offensively.
These are mechanical devices. I’ve never seen so much ignorance in this cancel culture in my life. This has nothing to do with racism. It’s more about communism. Do what you’re told or what we want or we will banish you or destroy you. This is the mentality that you promote.
Ignorant dipshits like you are part of the problem. Your minor inconvenience doesn’t count when it comes to a greater good. Take your opinion and shove it up your arse.
@john yes a toxic person like you is promoting “the greater good’ for sure..
I agree with you. Some people don’t understand that different contexts require different meanings. The linux kernel is not using racist terminology just because it offends overly sensitive people that can’t control their emotions.
I don’t think it should be a requirement for software developers to make a cross-cultural and historical analysis of each word to know they are not offending a SJW.