"Master/Slave" term - negative connotation

[kalena]

Hi there,

my question is related to the master/slave feature.

As this term obviously has a negative connotation, wouldn't it be possible to replace it with a more positive and less offending term?

The Drupal and Django communities set a pretty good example by replacing the terms "master/slave" with "primary/replica", for instance: https://www.drupal.org/node/2275877#comment-8858891

What do you think about that?

I'd love to see a change like that happening in an upcoming release and am looking forward to reading your feedback.

Thank you very much!

Kind regards,
kalena

[crythias]

Create a file: Kernel/Language/en_Custom.pm (or yourlanguage_Custom.pm)

Code: Select all

package Kernel::Language::en_Custom;

use strict;
use warnings;

sub Data {
    my $Self = shift;

    # $$START$$

    # own translations
    #$Self->{Translation}->{'Lock'}   = 'Lala';
    #$Self->{Translation}->{'Unlock'} = 'Lulu';

    # or a other syntax would be
        $Self->{Translation} = {
            %{$Self->{Translation}},
    #        # own translations
       'Master Ticket' => 'Primary Ticket',
       'Master Tickets' => 'Primary Tickets',
       'MasterSlave' => 'Primary/Replica',
       'Slave Tickets' => 'Replica Tickets',
        };

    # $$STOP$$
   
}

1;

[jojo]

Master - Slave is a well known technical term also used by other software like mysql. So I do not see here any offense

[kalena]

Thanks @crythias for the suggestion, much appreciated.
But actually, I was thinking to start a discussion around that topic and then perhaps (given enough support and approval) have it integrated on a larger scale some time in the future?

@jojo
Yes - MySQL, that makes one counter example.

My points, however, are these:
- Just because a term has been around for years and is well-known in the technological field doesn’t make it more right.
- Second, imho, it is less about the intention but rather about how it may be interpreted at the other end. Even if something is not meant in a bad way, there might still be people who find it offending. Why necessarily cling to a name that has a negative connotation when it’s possible to replace it with something more positive? From my standpoint, it will do no harm to the technological concept behind the “master/slave”-feature, but it might yield a change of attitude in society?

just my 2 cents.
kr, kalena

[crythias]

Even if you feel this is offensive in your environment, your opinion is noted and you have a workaround that will work for your environment. As jojo has stated, these are industry standard terms, so in order for us to communicate effectively regarding the activities associated with this, it helps to use the terms that are commonly understood between those who would discuss such things.

If the industry decides that the terms are going to be changed (mainboard, motherboard), the adoption will come as needed, but in general, this is not necessarily an optimal venue to discuss such things. I'm not saying, "don't discuss it", I'm saying that you have a workaround that anyone can use and it suffices for assuaging the offensiveness of those who are offended.