Rename `master` branch

Hello,

amid the global BLM protests, it seems a number of free/open-source software projects are now reconsidering the naming of their main source-code management branch, historically called master in git. Microsoft seems to be actively working on bringing out-of-the-box support for other naming schemes to GitHub.

Despite its widespread use in the contexts of software development and hardware interfaces, the term “master” may be considered offensive by some. While one could argue that this perception entirely disregards context, I would argue that nothing is lost by dropping the name. I would consider moving to a different name as a token of support for the struggles of ethnic minorities and marginalized people; and it would be a public display of some (granted, cheap, but still visible) efforts to actively embrace an inclusive community. Lastly I would argue that our Code of Conduct actually doesn’t leave us much of a choice anyway, as it clearly states we vow to use “welcoming and inclusive language”. Now if the master term has been identified to be non-inclusive – regardless of whether we feel that this is true or not – it should be dropped.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts on this!

Best wishes,

–Richard

[hoechenberger]

I just renamed master to main on https://github.com/hoechenberger/questplus

After that I had to run locally:

git branch -m master main
git fetch origin
git branch -u origin/main main

All working now.

This is the message that GH displays when visiting the repo:

[cbrnr]

See https://github.com/github/renaming/