Eliminating "Sanity Checks" - Inclusive language guide prohibits dubious tech terminologies
The Linux Foundation, along with the Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) and the Alliance for OpenUSD (AOUSD), have released updated Inclusive Language Guidelines for tech terms. These guidelines aim to foster a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture within technology communities.
Key updates and recommendations include:
- Ban on terms such as "master/slave," "blacklist/whitelist," "owner," "dummy," "hung," "pow-wow," and "sanity check" due to their potential to offend or exclude certain groups.
- Avoidance of gendered language like “manpower” and gender-specific pronouns (“he,” “she”) to be more inclusive of all gender identities.
- Recommendations to avoid terms with racial or discriminatory connotations or that imply a positive/negative association with colors, such as “blacklist” and “whitelist.”
- Encouragement to replace phrases like "middleman," which assumes a gender, with more neutral terms.
- The guidelines cover a range of language categories: socially charged terms, gendered language, ableist terms, and violent or exclusionary phrasing, aiming to empower developers and writers to revise codebases and documentation accordingly.
These guides reflect a broader movement within tech organizations to create respectful and welcoming environments by carefully choosing language that does not alienate or marginalize any group. The Linux Foundation’s latest 2025 guide notably added new banned words like "hung" and "pow-wow" and continues to emphasize the importance of avoiding “gendered” and “ableist” terms to foster inclusion.
If unsure about specific terms, the consensus is to ask colleagues and opt for language that minimizes discomfort and respects diversity.
The Inclusive Language Guide was initially released by the Academy Software Foundation in 2021. Google also has parallel Inclusive Documentation guidelines recommending avoiding words like “hang” that can be exclusionary or problematic.
These guidelines are a starting point for ongoing conversations and require collaborative adoption across teams for effective implementation. The Alliance for OpenUSD and ASWF collaborated closely on these guidelines to align development practices in the OpenUSD ecosystem.
In summary, the updated Inclusive Language Guidelines from the Linux Foundation and allied organizations focus on replacing historically problematic tech terms with inclusive alternatives, eliminating gendered and ableist language, and promoting ongoing dialogue to embed equity and respect in tech culture.
[1] Linux Foundation, "Inclusive Language Guide," https://docs.linuxfoundation.org/inclusive-language-guide/ [2] Google, "Inclusive Documentation," https://google.github.io/eng-practices/docs/style-guide/inclusive-language/ [3] Academy Software Foundation, "Inclusive Language Guide," https://aswf.io/inclusive-language-guide/ [4] Alliance for OpenUSD, "Inclusive Language Guide," https://github.com/Alliance-for-OpenUSD/alliance-docs/blob/main/docs/inclusive_language.md [5] Linux Foundation, "Linux Foundation and Allied Organizations Release 2025 Inclusive Language Guide," https://www.linuxfoundation.org/press-release/linux-foundation-and-allied-organizations-release-2025-inclusive-language-guide/
- The updated Inclusive Language Guidelines, released by the Linux Foundation and allies, recommend avoiding terms like "hung" and "pow-wow" that may be offensive or exclusive to certain groups.
- Tech organizations, including the Linux Foundation and Google, are striving to promote a more inclusive culture within the tech industry by adopting guidelines that discourage the use of gendered and ableist language, such as "manpower" and "hang."
