[gmx-developers] Renaming git "master" to "main"

[Eric Irrgang]

Hi All.

In case anyone missed it, this topic is now tracked at https://gitlab.com/gromacs/gromacs/-/issues/4459 

> On Mar 21, 2022, at 6:00 PM, gilles at rist.or.jp wrote:
> 
> Folks,
> 
>  
> Some projects such as Spack have the option to build from git, so they will either break or lag behind if the master branch is removed or no more updated.
> 
> So you might want to consider keeping both branches for "some time" (e.g. a grace period).
> 
> For example, gcc has two branches ("master" and "trunk") pointing to the same commit.
> 
> I guess one is read-only (e.g. developers have no more write access to it) and a bot simply fast-forward it when a commit is pushed to the other branch.
> 
>  
> As a side note, and since the goal is to move away from the "master" term, what about using a more self descriptive name such as "devel" or "dev"? they could be a better fit compared to the proposed "main" branch name.
> 
>  
> Cheers,
> 
>  
> Gilles
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> 
> Hello @ all,
> 
> as I wasn't consulted about this, I just want to also mention that we shouldn't make changes like this without proper preparation (and to please not jump it on me on a Friday :).
> 
> I agree that we can change this to be more in line with other large projects, but the preparation needs to be done properly.
> 
> I think the bi-weekly meeting this week as the best place to announce/discuss this.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Paul
>  
> On 18/03/2022 09:43, Erik Lindahl wrote:
>> Hi devs,
>>  
>> We have considered this in the past, but since we were then in a very active phase of development we postponed it - but this might be a good period to do it when we're not dashing against any particular hard deadline with tons of development.
>>  
>> Several large open source projects have switched from using master/slave terminology due to the historical origin of the names, and to move towards a more inclusive culture. One can of course argue it's merely words, but I prefer to see it the other way - precisely because it's just words and a very minor inconvenience for us, I would like us to avoid relying on words that strongly remind others of oppression and racism.
>>  
>> Most of these things can be handled through MRs as we go, but renaming our master branch will require one manual step for developers tracking the branch. I've pasted the required commands below. 
>>  
>> My *suggestion* would be that we do this e.g. this Sunday noon Swedish time (mostly because it should only be 30 seconds of resync), but we can of course also postpone it if people prefer to - just let us know in that case.
>>  
>> Cheers,
>>  
>> Erik
>>  
>>  
>> Local actions required when master changes to main:
>>  
>> # Switch to the "master" branch:
>> $ git checkout master
>> 
>> # Rename it to "main":
>> $ git branch -m master main
>> 
>> # Get the latest commits (and branches!) from the remote:
>> $ git fetch
>> 
>> # Remove the existing tracking connection with "origin/master":
>> $ git branch --unset-upstream
>> 
>> # Create a new tracking connection with the new "origin/main" branch:
>> $ git branch -u origin/main
>>  
>>  
>> --
>> Erik Lindahl <erik.lindahl at dbb.su.se>
>> Professor of Biophysics, Dept. Biochemistry & Biophysics, Stockholm University
>> Science for Life Laboratory, Box 1031, 17121 Solna, Sweden
>>  
>> Note: I frequently do email outside office hours because it is a convenient time for me to write, but please do not interpret that as an expectation for you to respond outside your work hours.
>  
> -- 
> Paul Bauer, PhD
> GROMACS Development Manager
> KTH Stockholm, SciLifeLab
> 0046737308594
> 
> 
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