Re: Something is very wrong with this group
On Mon, Mar 02, 1998 at 12:05:06PM -0000, bruce@va.debian.org wrote:
> I can't over-stress how much this has hurt us. We would not have Microsoft
> as the dominant force in computer operating systems but for the fact that
> they have kept an eye toward marketing and have shown more sympathy for the
> naive user than we have. The shoddyness of their design shows that we can
> beat them at their own game, given the motivation.
>
> Languages are sometimes generated to exclude outsiders. The body of Unix
> nomenclature was constructed to entertain computer scientists, and baffle
> anyone else. I think a lot of the people who participate in this find it
> hard to concieve that there are worthwhile people in the world who do not
> find self-reference to be an exciting idea. That attudide won't help us.
But look at the complaints people are raising against "trove":
- it's not obviously related to a package manager;
- it sounds like it's pirate-related in some way;
- its sound simply isn't appealing.
Some people have suggested weird (often cute) acronyms and wordplays, but
most of the suggestions were specifically made to counter one of the above
three complaints. Except for a very unlikely (given the different spelling
and age of the game) trademark conflict, "packman" is the best I've seen so
far. It's a package manager. It manages packages. It sounds like it
manages packages. And it's a catchy name.
Microsoft doesn't use creative names for its programs, hacker-friendly or
otherwise. It releases programs like Microsoft Word, Windows, Project,
and Office. When I want to install a program, I run Windows Setup. And so
on.
"Trove" most certainly does not qualify as simple and easy to explain by any
standard. Unlike some people (and like many others), I don't particularly
care what we call it: Deity might be a little excessive, but anything else
will do.
But if you are going to be picky about user-friendly names, "Trove" isn't it.
Have fun,
Avery
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