Proposal: Update all git repositories to use `trunk` instead of `master`

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WordPress Etiquette

As a part of tearing down the systems of oppression that exist in the world, WordPress should remove references to master and replace them with trunk in all git repositories.

Master as the primary branchbranch A directory in Subversion. WordPress uses branches to store the latest development code for each major release (3.9, 4.0, etc.). Branches are then updated with code for any minor releases of that branch. Sometimes, a major version of WordPress and its minor versions are collectively referred to as a "branch", such as "the 4.0 branch". in git has its roots in BitKeeper which explicitly used it to mean master/slave relationships. Master/Slave is terminology rooted in oppression.

This may require updates to scripts so everything continues to function correctly. For things on GithubGitHub GitHub is a website that offers online implementation of git repositories that can easily be shared, copied and modified by other developers. Public repositories are free to host, private repositories require a paid subscription. GitHub introduced the concept of the ‘pull request’ where code changes done in branches by contributors can be reviewed and discussed before being merged be the repository owner. https://github.com/, there is a tool worth exploring to help with this: https://github.com/liyanchang/default-branch-migration

WordPress would not be alone in working to remove master/slave terminology. Github is changing the default, popular plugins such as Jetpack are updating and open source projects like Drupal and Python have already made this change. This is also in line with the work to eliminate whitelist/blacklist from the Core codebase.

This is a small move, but if it makes one more person comfortable contributing to a WordPress project, it will be worth it.

EDIT: This proposal originally suggested using main, I have modified it to use trunk based on feedback.

Props @desrosj and @jeffpaul for pre-publication feedback

#git, #github