On July 4, Dan Williams proposed changing Linux-specific terms to new names that are not used as often. Because Linux has a distinct coding style, Williams says the change will “set the system apart” even more. He also noted that the change to the terms Blacklist and Whitelist is necessary because of the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
After much discussion, Linus Torvalds accepted the change in the special terms in the Linux source tree. For the same reason, with the release of Linux 5.8-rc5, Torvalds recommends that developers avoid using the terms master/slave and blacklist/whitelistin kernel code, as well as in operating system documentation.
New Linux terms:
Although developers to avoid using the old terms, the Linux development team has not announced official alternative phrases. However, users can choose and use phrases from the list below:
| Banned Terms | Recommended Replacements |
| master | primary, main, initiator, requester, controller, host, leader, director |
| slave | secondary, replica, subordinate, target, responder, device, worker, proxy, follower, performer |
| blacklist | denylist, blocklist |
| whitelist | allowlist, passlist |
It is important to note that the use of the terms master, slave, blacklist and whitelist is only allowed in cases where these terms are necessary. Examples of such cases are userspace ABI/API, as well as updating various Linux protocols.
However, many users refuse to use the new terminology. According to the Linux community, in the digital world, users are the same, and the terms whitelist and blacklist do not lead to racism. However, with the Black Lives Matter movement, many companies are advising employees not to use similar terms.
The Linux Kernel also states that the changes aim to change the terms so that they are not associated with either color or any other characteristic of each user.
