Showerthoughts

29793 readers

898 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

Rules

All posts must be showerthoughts
The entire showerthought must be in the title
Avoid politics
- 3.1) NEW RULE as of 5 Nov 2024, trying it out
- 3.2) Political posts often end up being circle jerks (not offering unique perspective) or enflaming (too much work for mods).
- 3.3) Try c/politicaldiscussion, volunteer as a mod here, or start your own community.
Posts must be original/unique
Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

620

If "Master/Slave" terminology in computing sounds bad now, why not change it to "Dom/Sub"? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

459 comments fedilink hide all child comments

It sounds way less offensive to those who decry the original terminology's problematic roots but still keeps its meaning intact.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I think very few people mind changing it, and a few people want it changed, so it's slowly shifting across various use cases. I've only discussed the change from master/slave terminology with one person that affirmatively supported the change, and they didn't know that there's still slavery in the world today.

I don't know what to make of that, other than to say ending human slavery ought to be a higher priority than ending references to it.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I think very few people mind changing it

I doubt that. Do you know how many system configurations depend on these keywords? Do you have any idea how many hours of work and system outages this would cause?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

I've seen a few projects rename during major version upgrades, when everyone has to read the release notes and make changes, anyways.

Plenty of old deployed systems may continue using master/slave terminology, and of course some projects will stick to that language even decades in the future, but it was once more prevalent than it is now, and that declining trend looks like it will continue.