Re: [PATCH 1/3] Documentation: use allowlist and denylist

From: Derrick Stolee <derrickstolee@github.com>
To: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>,
	Derrick Stolee via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Cc: git@vger.kernel.org, gitster@pobox.com, johannes.schindelin@gmx.de
Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/3] Documentation: use allowlist and denylist
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2022 14:34:33 -0400	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <6b117636-d3e3-5ae9-5419-439689efb763@github.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <Ys7i/GWSNRHqSZNQ@coredump.intra.peff.net>

On 7/13/2022 11:21 AM, Jeff King wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 13, 2022 at 01:20:48PM +0000, Derrick Stolee via GitGitGadget wrote:
> 
>> Using "allowlist" and "denylist" is a more precise definition of the
>> functionality they provide. The previous color-based words assume
>> cultural interpretation to provide the meaning.
>>
>> Focus on replacements in the Documentation/ directory since these are
>> not functional uses.
> 
> Thanks, the direction looks reasonable to me. I knew at least about the
> one for protocol.*, which I think I introduced, and had been meaning to
> grep for others.
> 
> I think you need some grammatical fixups, though. E.g.:
> 
>> diff --git a/Documentation/git-daemon.txt b/Documentation/git-daemon.txt
>> index fdc28c041c7..ff74a90aead 100644
>> --- a/Documentation/git-daemon.txt
>> +++ b/Documentation/git-daemon.txt
>> @@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ It verifies that the directory has the magic file "git-daemon-export-ok", and
>>  it will refuse to export any Git directory that hasn't explicitly been marked
>>  for export this way (unless the `--export-all` parameter is specified). If you
>>  pass some directory paths as 'git daemon' arguments, you can further restrict
>> -the offers to a whitelist comprising of those.
>> +the offers to a allowlist comprising of those.
> 
> You'd want s/a/an/ here.

Thank you for the careful attention to detail. I should have
been more careful when switching from a consonant to a vowel.
>>  'git daemon' as inetd server::
>>  	To set up 'git daemon' as an inetd service that handles any
>> -	repository under the whitelisted set of directories, /pub/foo
>> +	repository under the allowlisted set of directories, /pub/foo
>>  	and /pub/bar, place an entry like the following into
>>  	/etc/inetd all on one line:
> 
> This one is more gut feeling.  Somehow "allowlisted" as an adjective
> seems more awkward than "whitelisted". Probably because I've just seen
> "whitelisted" so many more times. Or maybe it just crosses my personal
> line of too many syllables. ;)
> 
> I don't know if there's an easy way around it. I don't have a suggestion
> that's better than "allowlist" for the general term, and we want to use
> the terms consistently. You could probably write it as:
> 
>   ...any repository under the set of directories in the allowlist...
> 
> but I'm sure somebody probably likes that less. :) So I register it only
> as a suggestion, not a request for a change.

I think that is the natural way to reword here, but I'll take some
time to think of alternatives before sending v2.

Thanks,
-Stolee