rdm@hoptoad.uucp (Rich Morin) (05/23/87)
The case sensitivity of UNIX (or is that Unix?) has long been considered to
be a great virtue. Until recently, however, little use was made of it. Now,
through the combined efforts of an international collection of techies and
marketeers, we are starting to see some promising applications.
The "network news" in UNIX-land refers to the netnews system, as opposed to
any syndicated TV program. The netnews home directory is generally called
"news". The default location for files saved by news reading programs,
however, is a directory named "News".
This modest bit of name overloading is pretty timid, however, being in the
same class as, say, [Mm]akefile. Recently, however, Sun (*not* SUN) has
introduced the "NeWS" software for window management. Always quick to seize
upon new ideas, Sony has now introduced the "NEWS" workstation.
By CFCL's careful calculation, this four-way overloading has used up only
25% of the available permutations, as:
0 news netnews
...
8 News rn, etc.
...
B NeWS Sun
...
F NEWS Sony
In line with the increasing commercialization of usenet (or is that Usenet?),
CFCL has set up the [Nn][Ee][Ww][Ss] registration service. Anyone wishing to
register their use of a [Nn][Ee][Ww][Ss] permutation can now send in the
economical fee of $25K, and have CFCL's assurance that NO OTHER PARTY will be
allowed to register a conflicting one.
In the future, CFCL will be exploring the registration of other names, as part
of its Name Registration OFFicialization (NROFF) program. Yours for a more
orderly name space...
--
Richard Morin, proprietor {hoptoad,leadsv,lll-lcc}!cfcl!rdm
Canta Forda Computer Lab. +1 415 994 6860
Post Office Box 1488 Full spectrum consulting services
Pacifica, CA 94044 USA for science and enjohan@apple.UUCP (Johan Strandberg) (05/23/87)
In article <2168@hoptoad.uucp> rdm@hoptoad.uucp (Rich Morin) writes: >CFCL has set up the [Nn][Ee][Ww][Ss] registration service. Anyone wishing to >register their use of a [Nn][Ee][Ww][Ss] permutation can now send in the >economical fee of $25K, and have CFCL's assurance that NO OTHER PARTY will be >allowed to register a conflicting one. > >In the future, CFCL will be exploring the registration of other names, as part >of its Name Registration OFFicialization (NROFF) program. Yours for a more >orderly name space... >-- >Richard Morin, proprietor {hoptoad,leadsv,lll-lcc}!cfcl!rdm Rich, I hope you meant to say "NROff" since the name "NROFF" is trademarked and registerd with the "NrOff" service, for an as yet unconceived A/UX product. :-) Johan
fair@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU (Erik E. Fair) (05/26/87)
Mr. Morin, I thank you for your eminently sensible proposal, but I see
(or rather, hear) one problem with it: there is no aural case distinction.
How, for example, am I to tell which of several things that a speaker
might be referring to, when he says "news"?
Fortunately, some friends of mine came up with a solution during a
party in Washington, D.C. during the last USENIX Conference. It struck
us during a discussion of what particular types of torture to apply to
the Sun Microsystems marketroid who thoughtlessly chose that most
uninspired name for their marvelous new window system. I think it was
the wine that inspired us. Anyway, it was decided that the name of
Sun's window system really has two syllables, and is pronounced:
NEE wiss
or
NEE wuss
In this manner, you can unambiguously refer to Sun's NeWS, as opposed
to USENET News. If one person does it, they'll think he's crazy, and
they'll ignore him. If ten people use this pronunciation consistently,
they'll think it's a movement! And that's what it is: the USENET news
anti-window system naming movement. Perhaps, in time, Sun Microsystems
will admit their grievous error, and change the name. After all, Coca
Cola admitted that they made a mistake, once. In the mean time, we have
the means to drive Sun's marketroids up the proverbial wall...
Of course, this still leaves the problem of referring to Sony's new
workstation. Maybe we can discuss it at a party during the next USENIX
Conference in Phoenix? You bring the wine...
Erik E. Fair ucbvax!fair fair@ucbarpa.berke
>, am,csg@pyramid.UUCP (05/27/87)
Erik E. Fair writes: >It struck us during a discussion of what particular types of torture to >apply to the Sun Microsystems marketroid who thoughtlessly chose that most >uninspired name for their marvelous new window system.... Perhaps, in time, >Sun Microsystems will admit their grievous error, and change the name. After >all, Coca Cola admitted that they made a mistake, once. I liked Gosling's original name "Sundew." Doesn't obviously mean anything, I suppose, but then neither does NeWS. To me, "sundew" suggests a beautiful summer morning meadow, where the sun seems to be dripping off the plants like the dew.... In fact "sundew" is a type of carnivorous plant. It's also the name of a close friend's workstation, the happy result of pouring through a dictionary looking for pleasant-sounding words that started with "sun" and had not already been claimed by someone else (at least not at the time). :-) While talking about grievous errors, what about "Sun IPC" for the 80286 card? <csg>
ems@apple.UUCP (Mike Smith) (05/29/87)
In article <19025@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>, fair@ucbarpa.Berkeley.EDU (Erik E. Fair) writes: > Mr. Morin, I thank you for your eminently sensible proposal, but I see > (or rather, hear) one problem with it: there is no aural case distinction. [...] > > Fortunately, some friends of mine came up with a solution during a > party in Washington, D.C. during the last USENIX Conference. > [...] Anyway, it was decided that the name of > Sun's window system really has two syllables, and is pronounced: > > NEE wiss > or > NEE wuss > hmmm, and here I thought you were going to say Nu Wizz ... :-) -- E. Michael Smith ...!sun!apple!ems 'If you can dream it, you can do it' Walt Disney This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything. (Including but not limited to: typos, spelling, diction, logic, and nuclear war)
geoff@eagle_snax.UUCP (05/29/87)
In article <2569@pyramid.UUCP>, csg@pyramid.UUCP (Carl S. Gutekunst) writes: > > While talking about grievous errors, what about "Sun IPC" for the 80286 card? > > <csg> >sigh< Poor ol' Sun IPC. Carl, d'you realize how difficult it is to find ANY name which includes the magic letters "PC" that hasn't been claimed two or three times over? We had an internal naming competition, went through searches, had to reject all of the top choices.... -- "You want a disclaimer form? Next window, please..." Geoff Arnold, Sun Microsystems East Coast Division (home of PC-NFS) UUCP: {ihnp4,decwrl,...}!sun!garnold ARPA: garnold@sun.com
ted@blia.BLI.COM (Ted Marshall) (06/02/87)
In article <101@eagle_snax.UUCP>, geoff@eagle_snax.UUCP ( R.H. coast near the top) writes: > >sigh< Poor ol' Sun IPC. Carl, d'you realize how difficult it is to find > ANY name which includes the magic letters "PC" that hasn't been claimed > two or three times over? We had an internal naming competition, went through > searches, had to reject all of the top choices.... How about "FDGYTJTYBYBBYJBYRTBYTBYTVRERCECTJYUOIUYVREGCRCWQEXRET-PC"? I'll bet that one is still available!!! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) (-: (-: (-: (-: (-: (-: (-: (-: (-: I'm sorry, but I just couldn't resist! -- Ted Marshall ...!ucbvax!mtxinu!blia!ted <or> mtxinu!blia!ted@Berkeley.EDU Britton Lee, Inc., 14600 Winchester Blvd, Los Gatos, Ca 95030 (408)378-7000 The opinions expressed above are those of the poster and not his employer. "My hovercraft is full of eels" *fnord*