In the ALSA sound subsystem, work has been done to get rid of the term slave

Developers of the ALSA sound subsystem подготовили to be included in the linux-next branch that will form the 5.9 kernel release, set changes, which saves the code working on the side of the kernel from politically incorrect terms. Changes prepared in accordance with recently adopted guidelines for using inclusive terminology in the Linux kernel.

The changes include 10 patches, of which 9 are connected with getting rid of the code of sound drivers ac97, bt87x, ctxfi, es1968, hda, intel8x0, nm256, via82xx, usb-audio from the terms "whitelist" and blacklist. These terms have been replaced with "allowlist" and "denylist". Tenth patch aims to end the use of the established term "slave" in the vmaster API.

Rename concerns including names of structures and functions. Initially, to replace selected word
"replica" (for example, the snd_ctl_add_slave() function was replaced with snd_ctl_add_replica()), which caused criticism, since the term replica is more applicable to the DBMS and distorts the meaning in the context of the audio subsystem. As a result, to replace selected the term “follower”, which also introduces a certain ambiguity (for example, instead of “list of slave” and “link slave”, now “list of follower” and “link follower” are used). It is noteworthy that the term "master" is left, including in the name of the vmaster API itself, since it is considered in the context of "master volume control".

The patches were submitted for the linux-next branch by Takashi Iwai, ALSA subsystem maintainer at SUSE. But it is not yet clear whether they will be approved for inclusion in the kernel by Linus Torvalds, since many of the function names in the vmaster API overlap with functions in Sound Driver Development API, which can lead to a lot of confusion in terminology. Getting rid of the driver development API from the term slave will lead to a violation of compatibility with third party drivers, not included in the main part of the kernel, as well as with external patches and settings.

Of the non-terminology related changes, planned for inclusion in the Linux 5.9 kernel, the implementation of support is noted Intel Silent Stream (continuous power supply mode for external HDMI devices to eliminate delay when starting playback) and new device to control the illumination of the microphone activation and mute buttons.
Also added support for new hardware, including controller Longson 7A1000.

Source: opennet.ru