Updating default branch name to main

[shaydewael]

Hey all 👋

I wanted to drop a quick note to say we’ve updated the default branch name from master to main in this repository (there’s a good writeup about the history and motivation on the Software Freedom Conservancy’s blog).

To migrate, we’re using Github’s renaming feature, which automatically updates the base branch for any PRs and updates links accordingly. However, it can’t update anyone’s local clone of the repo so you’ll have to that manually.

Updating your local clone

You can follow Github’s instructions, which I’ll include below as well:

git branch -m master main
git fetch origin
git branch -u origin/main main
git remote set-head origin -a

The following command also removes tracking references to the old branch name:

git remote prune origin

If you run into any problems, let us know!

[insomnia-creator]

[TwilightZebby]

iirc, it was seen as a possible reference to slavery?

[NovaFox161]

No. the origin of the word master, and its context in the programming/version control space is unrelated. There was a big deal made about this several years back, and companies responded by changing to "main" just in case, to avoid PR issues. This is really not a big deal, overblown, and definitely not the thing to be spending time getting upset about.