Maurice Garcia-Sciveres of the Physical Sciences Area has started an online pledge to eliminate the term “master and slave,” which is often included in electronics and technical documents. Those who sign the pledge agree to use alternate terminology in their communications.
“I pledge to not use the words Master and Slave to designate components or roles in circuits, systems, software, or any other technological context. This extends to all my professional communication including writing, presentation, instruction, discussion, and design. I affirm that, for any given use case, there is suitable alternate terminology that I will choose from. When referring to existing literature or components so designated, I may use the initials M and S, where M stands for the Main element or role and S for the Secondary element or role.”
