[GLLUG] Meeting Thursday, September 28

[Caleb Cushing]

I didn't miss the point. who the hell thought a spreadsheet should be
named excel? an crappy database access? visio a flowcharting program?
outlook an email client? powerpoint slideshow? come on If I didn't
know thes off the top of my head I wouldn't have guessed by the name.
infact I would have guessed visio for slide show and outlook as a
horoscope or weather. your point has nothing to do with open source.
so samba is a weird name so is netbios and cifs which it was built to
handle. and network file system (nfs) is taken. it's used for *nix
systems. btw we can continue the list to stupidly named software.

On 9/26/06, Thomas Hruska <thruska at cubiclesoft.com> wrote:
> Caleb Cushing wrote:
> > remind me to refute this in my presentation, because, sorry tom, this
> > is simply untrue, or irrelavant most commands make more sense to me
> > than in other os's and proprietary has names that are just as weird or
> > make less sense.
> >
> >> The command-line grants great power and refined control but must be used
> >> wisely or one might 'rm -rf /' and lose everything.  What's really
> >> mysterious is why some of the commands are so weirdly named (e.g. 'ls' =
> >> directory listing?!  'Samba' = network sharing?!).  The answer?  That's
> >> the average Linux programmer for you - weird names for everything
> >> instead of picking names that make sense.  Weird names make it hard to
> >> find the command-line you are looking for but it's okay...that's what
> >> Google and 3 hours of searching to obtain the correct "incantation" are
> >> for.  Or you can come to the meeting and learn from those who have done
> >> the Google searching already.
> >>
> >> <grin>
> >>
> >> (That's my weak attempt at humor.  Open Source programmers _DO_ pick
> >> some of the strangest names for their projects...which can make the
> >> right project difficult to find unless you know the name in advance.)
>
> You missed my point altogether Caleb.  The point is that the names
> _chosen_ are decided by the _programmer_.  They didn't bother to ask
> _users_ what THEY thought the name should be.
>
> You use 'ls' and other commands without thinking.  Sure.  But there
> wasn't ever a vote about the name by those who would use it.  Microsoft,
> for example, probably had several (internal) business meetings about the
> name choice for the 'dir'ectory listing command.  Most of those people
> were probably technically inclined, but there was some semblance of
> coordination, direction, and customer analysis involved.*
>
> Unfortunately, most of the good names are taken anymore.  And, if I may
> make one case in point about weird names.  The "Linux Registry" project
> changed its name to Elektra.  It had a perfectly good name at the #1
> position on Google and switched names to something no one would ever
> find again (esp. since there are a movie and comic book character by the
> same name).  Granted only programmers care about that particular
> project, but once a name has been chosen, stick with it through
> thick-and-thin.
>
> Thus, changing something like 'ls' to something else would be bad.  I'm
> just trying to say that users should be able to have a say in the naming
> of projects instead of leaving it to programmers who have no clue.
>
> * To be fair, Microsoft has its own fair share of weird names too.
> Visual C++ .NET 2005 for instance confuses people into thinking programs
> written with it require .NET when the .NET-specific libraries have to be
> _explicitly_ compiled in - the person can write perfectly normal
> non-.NET programs.
>
> My point is that I want to see _users_ involved in choosing names.
> Users have this habit of pointing out obviously poor names.  For
> instance, Jackson National Life's parent company Prudential UK picked
> the stock symbol PUK for going IPO.  Everyone at JNL had a good laugh
> when the symbol was unveiled...no one involved in the choice had noticed
> PUK could be pronounced 'puck' or 'puke'.  Long after, people who deal
> with stocks still have a consistently good chuckle when they see PUK.
>
> I have a recent case myself where I picked a bad name.  Several of you
> have seen what I've been working on at the meetings.  I'm currently
> running it through beta testing and users are consistently calling it
> something other than I initially labeled it.  So, I'm going back and
> making a minor change.  It is a single space difference in the name but
> that difference is apparently quite important.
>
> --
> Thomas Hruska
> CubicleSoft President
> Ph: 517-803-4197
>
> Safe C++ Design Principles (First Edition)
> Learn how to write memory leak-free, secure,
> stable, portable, and user-friendly software.
>
> Learn more and view a sample chapter:
> http://www.CubicleSoft.com/SafeCPPDesign/
>
>