I think it would be a good idea to rename this branch name. This name has unfortunate associations[1], even if it can be argued[2] that the etymology is not as bad as in some uses of the word.
This is relativity straightforward on a technical level and will involve a minimum of inconvenience. Since only osstest ever pushes to xen.git#master, we could easily make a new branch name and also keep #master for compatibility as long as we like. The effects[1] would be: Users who did "git clone https://xenbits.xen.org/git-http/xen.git""; would find themselves on a branch called "trunk" which tracked "origin/trunk", by default. (Some users with old versions of git using old protocols would still end up on "master".) Everyone who currently tracks "master" would be able to switch to tracking "trunk" at their leisure. Presumably at some future point (a year or two from now, say) we would abolish the name "master". Comments ? In particular, comments on: 1. What the new branch name should be called. Suggestions I have seen include "trunk" and "main". I suggest "trunk" because this was used by SVN, CVS, RCS, CSSC (and therefore probably SCCS) for this same purpose. 2. Do we want to set a time now when the old name will be removed ? I think 12 months would be good but I am open to arguments. In any case in my capacity as osstest maintainer I plan to do something like this. The starting point is rather different. There will have to be an announcement about that, but I thought I would see what people thought about xen.git before pressing ahead there. Thanks, Ian. [1] It seems that for a significant number of people the word reminds them of human slavery. This seems undesirable if we can easily avoid it, if we can. [2] The precise etymology of "master" in this context is unclear. It appears to have come from BitKeeper originally. In any case the etymology is less important than the connotations.
