Linux kernel will no longer use terms ‘blacklist’ and ‘slave’
Linux kernel will no longer use terms ‘blacklist’ and ‘slave’
As part of a growing effort in the open-source community to eliminate racially charged language from community projects, the Linux kernel will no longer use the terms 'blacklist' and 'slave'.
Linus Torvalds, the principal engineer of the Linux kernel, has approved new terminology for its code and documentation to promote the inclusive language. The change abolishes terms such as blacklist, master, and slave.
There are no formal alternatives in place, but Torvalds suggested plenty of choices. Suggested replacements for master/slave are primary/secondary, controller/device, requester/responder, and main/replica.
Alternatives for blacklist/whitelist are denylist/allowlist and blocklist/passlist.
