2011/4/2 Robert Burrell Donkin <[email protected]>: > Our twitter (kudos, BTW for @ApacheJames) byline 'Java Apache Mail > Enterprise Server' uses the older acronym theory (JAMES) for James. > The acronym name theory is arguably problematic. In the future, Oracle > may become twitchy about this sort of thing. > > The James in Apache James is James (the word), not JAMES (an acronym). > IMHO having a punchy byline is cool but we should pick a new one now > (so we can forget about the old one). > > Here's starting strawman: > > "An Enterprise Mail Server" (short, elegant, understated, plainspoken) > > Let discussions begin :-)
A "short" reply to your question splitting the question in 3 :-) Q. Should we try to be consistent about letters case? A. In our logos and in the official documentation yes, elsewhere I don't case (lowercase is good to read). Q. Do you prefer JAMES, James or james? A. no real preference * Q. Do you prefer James to be explained as a name or as an acronym? A. I prefer the acronym explanation because I don't have any "person name" explanation that make sense. And now the long explanation/considerations: Back in 2005 we had the same discussion and decided for JAMES. Then I did all the changes around to uppercase it ;-) I don't have a BIG personal preference for one or the other but I agree that consistency in the official documentation is better (even if we have cases like Sun/SUN where the two versions were widely used). I'm a bit in favor of the uppercase JAMES mainly because it is what we decided in past and I don't see big reasons to change it (but maybe after that update a lot of new "James" were introduced). Then "James" is a person name: I wouldn't propose "Stefano" as a name for a product, it doesn't make sense. I like the choice of Hudson/Jenkins but they are surnames and there is a clear connection to a famous person. So, even in the case of "James" I would think at it as an acronym now used as a word: Italian car-makers FIAT and ALFA are both italian acronyms but everyone read them as "words" and not spelling it: Fiat and Alfa (then Alfa Romeo since Nicola Romeo joined it). I would like "James" as a firstname in case we have a famous "James Foo" inventing some email protocol or being another known personality that influenced the email world. It would be perfect if James Naalnish was a native american that invented the smoke signs (unlinkely as native americans names didn't start with J). IMHO it's like MINA: it is uppercase but no one care of what it really means :-) Everyone read it as a word, and not spelling it. I don't think we are forced to explain the acronym. If we fear using J for Java can give issues then "J" could be just "JAMES" like the G in GNU. (I don't know too much about this legal stuff, but I can't believe Oracle "own" every word starting with "J". But in this case I already have a plan: I'll register jbook.com and wait for facebook and Oracle to fight each other ;-) ) Maybe we just need a better acronym explanation? I propose "JAva MEssaging Services". So we could even write it JaMeS :-D We often write imap and pop3 in lowercase and read them as words (in italian we read them as italian words.. I don't expect english to read them "i-em-a-pee" and "pee-o-pee-three", so I'm fine with using James or james even if in the "why is it named James" documentation section we explain it is an acronym. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
