Linux team approves new terminology, bans terms like ’blacklist’ and ’slave’ | ZDNet
▻https://www.zdnet.com/article/linux-team-approves-new-terminology-bans-terms-like-blacklist-and-slave
Going forward, Linux developers have been asked to use new terms for the master/slave and blacklist/whitelist terminologies.
Proposed alternatives for master/slave include:
primary/secondary
main/replica or subordinate
initiator/target
requester/responder
controller/device
host/worker or proxy
leader/follower
director/performer
Proposed alternatives for blacklist/whitelist include:
denylist/allowlist
blocklist/passlist
The Linux team did not recommend any specific terms but asked developers to choose as appropriate.
The new terms are to be used for new source code written for the Linux kernel and its associated documentation.
The older terms, considered inadequate now, will only be allowed for maintaining older code and documentation, or “when updating code for an existing (as of 2020) hardware or protocol specification that mandates those terms.”
The move to phase out the master/slave and blacklist/whitelist terminologies came after a proposal filed by Linux kernel maintainer Dan Williams on July 4. Linux creator Linus Torvalds approved the proposal on Friday in a pull request for the Linux 5.8 repository.
