GNU bug report logs - #76407
[GCD] A better name for the default branch

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From: Liliana Marie Prikler <liliana.prikler <at> gmail.com>
To: Andreas Enge <andreas <at> enge.fr>
Cc: 76407 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, Ekaitz Zarraga <ekaitz <at> elenq.tech>, Simon Tournier <zimon.toutoune <at> gmail.com>, Tomas Volf <~@wolfsden.cz>, Greg Hogan <code <at> greghogan.com>, Leo Famulari <leo <at> famulari.name>, Ludovic Courtès <ludo <at> gnu.org>
Subject: [bug#76407] [GCD] Rename the default branch
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2025 16:56:55 +0100

Am Mittwoch, dem 26.03.2025 um 15:27 +0100 schrieb Andreas Enge:
> Sorry, I do not know well enough how "guix pull" works to really
> elaborate.  And I am not sure what you mean by "master points towards
> main".  Assume we change the default branch; then as a committer I
> will push to "main", and "master" is one commit behind. I do not
> think that it is possible in git to have "master" just be an alias
> for "main"? (Or maybe it is on codeberg?) Then we would have to
> manually or automatically let master follow main; by running a script
> as a git hook doing the equivalent of
>    "git checkout master; git rebase origin/main; git push"
> (beware of recursive "git push" hooks...)?
Git does support symbolic references – someone else already wrote about
those.  Other than that, it'd probably be periodic runs of 
  git push origin main:master
i.e. push the current main to master.  We would need to prevent
inadvertent pushes to master, though.

> (Hm, this is a bit twisted, but it would be perfectly possible to
> have a local branch main that follows origin/master or vice versa,
> right? So locally each of us could use their own favourite
> terminology.)
Yes, that is possible.  We are merely talking here about the remote
view and the Guix tooling associated with it.

> The first time one does a "guix pull", I think it amounts to a "git
> clone", so whatever the default branch is at this time will be used.
> Supposedly the next "guix pull" just does the equivalent of "git
> pull", so if I am on master (and master is not updated to follow main
> after every commit) I will not get the update.
> Probably if master is simply deleted, I will get an error message,
> and could then be invited to delete $HOME/.cache/guix/checkouts? That
> would be okay in my opinion.
I think you wouldn't even have to do that, because `guix pull' supports
branches, so the pulled branch would simply switch from master to main.

> But as said, I am convinced the technical details can be worked out,
> but this requires to know exactly how "guix pull" works (which is
> probably your case).
> 
> > > So maybe we should name the principal branch "caput" or
> > > "κεφάλαιο".
> > Maybe "head", alluding to "HEAD"?  "caput" sadly has the meaning
> > "broken" if we pronounce it German ;) 
> 
> Well, I sort of liked the self-deprecating pun here :)
> 
> But this was only in the bike shedding part about what we feel with
> respect to the change; as said before, in reality I would oppose
> anything but "master" or "main". I do not think anybody has a real
> problem with "main", and then it is simply a matter of practicality
> to switch to the second most used branch name instead of our own
> invention.
Fair enough.

Cheers

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