KDE Programs Naming Convention

[Derek Broughton]

Dotan Cohen wrote:

> On 09/01/2008, Martin Walshe <plasticman3327 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > There really should be a movement towards better names. What the hell
>> > is K3B? And what program should I burn a disk with?
>> >
>> > Microsoft has great names: Office for an office suit, Internet
>> > Explorer for an Internet web browser, Media Player for a media player.
>> > Ask someone off the street what Amarok or Firefox do, and you will get
>> > a blank stare.
>> >
>> > K3B has to be the worst of the bunch.
>> >
>> > Dotan Cohen
>>
>> K3B is such a great app though its name doesnt matter.
> 
> Er, names do matter. K3B might be a ha-ha funny name, but it does not
> tell me what the program does.

No, names matter, but the origin of the name does _not_ matter.  I know
(now, because I looked it up) what k3b means (my guess was "burn, bash and
bury", which only tells you I was a Boy Scout and when...).  If they had
used the full origin as a name, _that_ would be silly.  k3b, otoh, is no
sillier than GNU or UNIX or Access.  k3b is a fine name - it's definitive
(you always know what it means, if you've seen it once), it's simple, and
it's memorable.
> 
>> If you want the normal why are you on a linux distro?

That's lowering the argument to name calling.

> Linux is not the norm? It's only for freaks and weirdos? Would you not
> like Linux to be the norm?

Why?  Of course I wouldn't.  I want it to be usable, but I couldn't care
less if it's ever "the norm", and I don't believe that's what we should be
striving for.

>> Anyone who uses the distros knows what
>> the apps are so i dont see a problem.
> 
> I have over a dozen friends that I switched to Linux. None of them
> could even guess what K3B means.

They don't need to (or probably want to).  They need to be shown it once,
and they'll never forget it.  _That_ is what makes it a good name.
-- 
derek