Re: The master branch rename, and avoiding another v1.6.0 git-foo fiasco

From: Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com>
To: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Cc: Konstantin Ryabitsev <konstantin@linuxfoundation.org>,
	Brandon Casey <drafnel@gmail.com>,
	"Theodore Y. Ts'o" <tytso@mit.edu>,
	Lukasz Niemier <Lukasz.Niemier@kobil.com>,
	"brian m. carlson" <sandals@crustytoothpaste.net>,
	Git <git@vger.kernel.org>,
	Johannes Schindelin <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de>,
	Don Goodman-Wilson <don@goodman-wilson.com>
Subject: Re: The master branch rename, and avoiding another v1.6.0 git-foo fiasco
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2020 17:29:06 -0600	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <CAMP44s1515GOwTOYv-wz4qMC9Qb6d8cSVSb_CNVwun0+Yj3VxQ@mail.gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <xmqq4kllxcmw.fsf@gitster.c.googlers.com>

On Thu, Nov 19, 2020 at 3:25 PM Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:

> Some understand well that the primary reason to switch to 'main' is
> to help people who will need to interact with projects and hosting
> providers that have done the same switch already [*1*].  Some do not
> buy that reason well and ask "why?".  You need to give an answer to
> the latter.

How exactly does this help people interacting with GitHub?

The main instructions in GitHub while creating a new repository are:

  echo "# test" >> README.md
  git init
  git add README.md
  git commit -m "first commit"
  git branch -M main
  git remote add origin $url
  git push -u origin main

Changing the default to "main" would modify the instructions to:

  echo "# test" >> README.md
  git init
  git add README.md
  git commit -m "first commit"
  git remote add origin $url
  git push -u origin main

One line. That's it.

Moreover, they can already get rid of that line, all they have to do
is "git init -b main" instead of "git init".

Why haven't they updated the instructions?

Ahh, that's right... it's because the instructions are meant to work
on older versions of git as well.

Therefore, even if the default was changed in Git 2.30, they will not
change the instructions.

It's very likely that even if Git changes the default in 2020, GitHub
will not change the instructions by 2022, possibly 2024 (if the world
still stands).

So how exactly will this change help GitHub and other hosting providers?

The anti-master camp came here *demanding* a name change, and in the
process of discussing many claims were simply taken for granted, even
though no prima facie was offered.

But no, the claim that this change will "help people who will need to
interact with projects and hosting providers that have done the same
switch already" has not met its burden of proof.

In fact, no attempt has even been made to explain *how* it would help.

Cheers.

-- 
Felipe Contreras