On Wed, 5 Feb 2020 at 01:45, Emily Shaffer <emilyshaffer@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > I sort of wonder whether safelist/blocklist is to prefer over > > whitelist/blacklist, or if it's the other way round. The former are new > > to me, whereas the latter are the terms I would have used. But that's > > just me, of course. I was a little surprised, that's all. > > Eh. I think the following things are true: > > - Whitelist/blacklist has a "smell" of discrimination, whether that's > the true etymology or not. > - Those with experience in the field can easily understand what > whitelist or blacklist means. > - Safelist/blocklist do not "smell" the same way. > - It is easy to tell what "safelist" means: "a list of stuff which is > safe." No experience needed. > > So, while it's new, I think it's not harmful. I see only a no-op or > positive impact from using this term instead of whitelist/blacklist. > Computer science seems to have quite a few terms which fall into this > long-standing but potentially negative area, so I don't mind looking for > alternatives where it's harmless to do so. Ok, that all makes sense. Thanks Martin
