[GLLUG] Meeting Thursday, September 28

Tue Sep 26 13:37:23 EDT 2006

honestly I agree with you. I'm just making the point that the names
don't mean anything and that open source names are no worse than
proprietary.

On 9/26/06, STeve Andre' <andres at msu.edu> wrote:
> Me, I'm having a hard time understanding your feelings on
> software names.  No 'excel' isn't indicitive of a spreadsheet,
> but I'm not sure that anything other than "Microsoft Spreadsheet"
> would be.  So they have a distinctive name for it.  How many
> cars have names that say what they are?  So it is with software
> names...
>
> --STeve Andre'
>
> On Tuesday 26 September 2006 13:19, Caleb Cushing wrote:
> > 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/
> >
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