On 06/19/2011 11:16 AM, Yuval Levy wrote:
On June 19, 2011 10:55:17 AM a.l.e wrote:
just one question: do the create folk really like that "stuff" thing for
resources?
I can't answer for others and there is no poll known to me to answer the
question. I can answer for myself...
i'm no english native speaker, so i'm not sure i'm the best person to
judge, but me don't like it.
... and you can (and should!) too. Everybody's opinions are welcome. No need
to be a native speaker. In fact the perspective of non-native speaker is more
important simply because there are more non-native speakers than native
speakers and this is not about getting things correct from a grammar/sytanx
point of view, but form how it sounds and feels and types for everybody.
I am no native speaker.
My own personal opinion about the few words that have been floating the room
for quite some time, in no particular order:
* stuff: I dislike it. It's as generic as "thing" and won't yeild useful
search engine results.
* LGM: I dislike acronyms. They require insider knowledge and are thus
difficult to memorize, and are ambigous to different sets of insiders and by
extensions to search engines. No good to communicate to the outside world.
* create: nice but too generic / ambiguous. while it expresses what we do,
there is little chance that we can pump into it enough power to make it stand
on its own.
* freedesktop: wrong context
* free / libre: relevant in a different context. too broad to define "us" (we
are only a small part of the free / libre movement) and too narrow to define
"us" as well (libre graphics is just a part of the graphics universe)
* graphics / graphicsworld: is what come nearest to what I like, but still a
little bit too generic (for search engines and for mnemonics). Plus, some of
us create multimedia, which covers also the time dimension and a broader space
that includes also the 20Hz-20KHz band and not only the "visible window" in
the 400–790THz band. And creativity goes beyond audio and video - there is
also text and surrogates like braille; and there is the physical creativity
with clay and other materials, rapid prototyping (3D-printers) etc.
So maybe a definition in terms of *purpose*. What are we creating for? Is it
a form of communication? exchange? self-gratification? all or none of the
above?
Of course it is always easier to criticize than to propose alternatives, so
please don't take the above as diminishing any of the terms mentioned. If I
had thought a better term, I would have proposed it long ago. I can live with
the status quo of a cacophony of terms and duplication of resources until a
superior term emerges from it by its sheer intrinsic power. In many parts of
the world a photo camera is called a "Kodak"; adhesive tape is called
"Scotch"; and a refirgerator is called a "Frigidaire" - the intrinsic power of
these terms have transcended their artificially created brands (when effort
needs to be put into a term to etch it in the collective language) to
establish themselves as common words (carried by their own intrinsic power).
In more recent time, Google is one of those terms. One day we'll find our
term and we'll know it just because it will become apparent. Until then, keep
creating, keep trying, and just because you invented an incumbent term that is
being "attacked" by a new term, don't be defensive about it.
I think you've touched on a number of legitimate complaints about these
various terms. As you say yourself, complaints are not solutions, so I
think in general until someone can come up with better alternatives
his/her complaints are not likely to get much traction.
I used to have a similar reaction to 'create', but now I think it's
pretty good, and allows for shifting directions of interest,
incorporation of new things and ideas. I do agree about 'stuff' being
troublesome, even before considering the issues non-native English
speakers face.
We do have to be mindful of how much various search functions are used
to locate things, so it may be that somewhere attached to pages
associated with 'create' there needs to be some associated terms that
help the site be found when searching for create site content. So in
general, when some generic term like 'create', like 'stuff' gets used,
how does it get embellished with some additional terms to help focus
those of us when we come looking for it?
Greg
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