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Linux Furs @pawb.social

We've never been known for our naming skills

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The two hardest problems in computer science are cache invalidation, naming things, and off by one errors.
- A recent video I watched by Stand Up Maths about an off by one error 1200 years in the making:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAdmpAZTH_M

TIL Wayland is named after a town
- so is dracut and weston.
  i think that naming software after towns in Massachusetts is somekind of red hat in-joke.
  
  It's even neater. The name of towns/cites cannot be trademarked. The safest thing you can do when naming a project is naming it after a town so you don't run into legal troubles in the future.
  
  Openstack releases are named after the nearest town to conference that matches the next series in the alphabet.
- I always thought it was the corp from the Alien series. 🤓
  
  That's Weyland-Yutani
  
  In the Brolien universe it's called Wheyland
- the town
- I always thought this was the origin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayland_the_Smith

And before Pidgin was named Pidgin, it was named GAIM, which was short for GTK AIM, which was short for GIMP toolkit AOL IM, which was short for GNU Image Manipulation Program toolkit America Online Instant Messenger, which was short for GNU's Not Unix Image Manipulation Program toolkit America Online Instant Messenger and it never ends.
- Which bible passage is that again?
  
  Stallman 2:7-11
- Does anyone still use pidgin in 2024 even?
  
  With the new EU's interconnection laws I hope I can WhatsApp from Pidgin, or even from irssi!
  But no, I don't use pidgin anymore. irssi, yes.
  
  I use gajim/conversation/siskin spiritual successor
- I'm trying very hard but this seems harder than my math class.

Also, almost all of that is written in C, which is a successor to B, which is a simplified version of the Basic Combined Programming Language. There was never an A.
- Assembly.
  
  Ding ding.
- Is there a D?
  
  Yes, but I'm not sure if we want to open the "programming language can of worms".
  There's B, C, C++, C#, Objective-C, D, E, F, F#, F* and so many more. Also, they may or may not have anything to do with each other
  
  Of course. Great, another D in programming.
  
  Yes. D is pretty awesome.

(before it was Kool, KDE was a reference to CDE, the Common Desktop Environment)
- The logo looks like an ASCII butt.
  
  If your butt looks like that, please see a doctor.
  
  Put the E at the front and a 3 on the end and you have exactly that.
- Common is a pretty basic name, Kool is way cooler.
  
  *Kooler
  
  *kooler
- I hate backronyms

im almost sad that its linux that became the dominating open source kernel instead of "GNU's Not Unix! Hird of Unix-Replacing Daemons"
(hird stands for "Hurd of Interfaces Representing Depth")
- and it goes HARD

GNU is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX is not UNIX[Maximum call stack size exceeded]
- GNU is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System is not UNiplexed Information Computing System
- A tail-recursive version written in OCaml that should not reach stack limits easily. (Not an expert in OCaml, so this might be stupid. But I tried it with 10000 iterations, and it worked without any issues.)
  ocaml
  
  let gnu = let rec aux s = function | 0 -> s | n -> aux (s^" is Not Unix") (n-1) in aux "GNU";;
  
  Not an OCaml expert either but that looks tail recursive, you're never going to blow the stack.
  You can tell by how after the recursive call within aux, its result does not get used within the function. That means that the compiler doesn't need to push a return address to the stack as the only code that would be at that address is instructions to pop another address and return there, we can short-circuit all that and jump from the base case (0) directly to where aux(10000) is supposed to return to instead of taking 10000 dumb steps (like practically all procedural languages do because they don't have tail call optimisation).
  This would've been different if you had concatenated the string not as an argument to aux.

Not gonna lie, took me a moment of thinking and waiting for a search engine to load before I realized Kool Desktop Environment is just KDE...
- I always thought the K in KDE just stood for KDE.
  
  KDE stands for KDE is not a Desktop Environment.
  
  While looking it up, I'm pretty sure I read that Kool Desktop Environment was changed to K Desktop Environment. Either way, it's absolutely Konfusing regardless of how you slice it.
  
  It does now and has for years, but at first they didn't realise how stupid Kool Desktop Environment sounded

On second thought, let's not move to Linux.
- Yes, tis a silly place.

Never let programmers name things 😁
- Web browsers: elinks, based on links, which I'm pretty sure was a play on words on lynx, which is a play on words on "links" on a web page.
  Then there's email. There's mahogany and balsa and mulberry, which are in-jokes referring to pine, which was a joke referring to elm, which stood for ELectronic Mail. Pine has been forked to alpine, in an entirely different play on words.
  
  Pine has been forked to Alpine
  Wonder if it runs on Alpine the Linux distro.
  In other news, I never knew pine's genetic code still lives on; but I miss elm more. Can we do uw-imap too? Dovecot annoys me.
- Naming things is hard, and everyone remembers these names, so they must have done something right.
  
  Yes, naming things one of the three hard computing problems left along with cache invalidation.
- Yea no kidding. Gnome is pronounced Guhnome, Mate DE is pronounced Matay, Open Suse is susuh not soos, and Qt is to be pronounced as "cute" instead of just... Q-T. Many such cases.
  
  Wait for real? I don’t think I’ve heard many say those terms out loud, i pronounce them in my head Nome, Mate, Soos, and q-t

This sounds like it was written for a medical research journal.

Linux lore is my favourite

I have a slightly higher appreciation for recursive acronyms now.

With just little bit of formatting, it would communicate the information infinitely better. Why don't people make the minimal effort, once, when not doing leads to each and everyone having to figure out what the fuck it's actually trying to say.
Apologies. I'm grumpy after a three hour meeting.
- the real problem is this sentence contains no formatting no punctuation and no capitalization it must be a failure of our public education system in america that kid dont get the proper education they need in this day and age to use proper gramer and formatting where needed i bet most of you cant tell me the proper time to use a semicolon vs using a colon and thats ok because i dont either i do try my best to put it in the right place sometimes looking it up and failing to understand comas are also frequently used to much by people im sure your not alone in this assumption it could also be that english is hard and schools spend more time teaching us to consume and parse english rather than a balance of both reading comprehension and writing skills
  
  Typing this thing was admittedly hard on the phone. Without selecting any suggestions, it still manages to get the capitalization and punctuation right.
  
  A semicolon is used when you're separating sentences that are themselves part of a list. Typically you would use commas to separate list items, but when the list items are complete sentences with commas in them, you use a semicolon to separate them. A colon is used when you have to poop

Let's not forget about Ian and his wife, Debbie.
Edit: Now ex-wife, apparently.

"GNU is Not Unix Image Manipulation Program Tool Kit" is still a better name for GTK than "GIMP ToolKit".
It's a name that will definitely raise some eyebrows in the less technically inclined circles. (and maybe a few "Pulp Fiction" references about "bring out the gimp")

I can't wait to hear about the GNU Is Not UNIX Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of Hurd of Hird of
- Don't worry, at the rate it's going it probably will never see the light of day in any usable sense for the average person.

All these years I thought GTK stands for Gnome Tool Kit...
- It's pretty common for people to think that, since the GNOME Foundation adopted it. It was originally created for GIMP though - the developer didn't like Motif so they built their own replacement for it.

Don’t worry, it won’t be long before you find this sort of programmer humour more tiresome than charming.
- Not everyone becomes a joyless spoilsport.
  
  Everyone does after enough repetition. #endlessSeptember

I like GNU is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix is Not Unix Network Object Model Environment

You know what they say about people who have gnome on their desktop....they are into the swinger lifestyle.
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-11727491/Seven-signs-neighbors-think-youre-swinger.html&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjM6oDMu9uEAxUxODQIHTPTDjcQFnoECAwQAg&usg=AOvVaw3BqiGrw9882dd7mN5BTTB9

I mean... if you put it like that..

Wait why didn't they keep unpacking the recursive acronym further? GNU's Not Unix's Not Unix's Not Unix's Not Unix I'd say that's a pretty good amount although if there's a mathematical way of formulating the unpacking of acronyms in a text I'd like to see the that repeated until infinity.
- i tried that and the stack overflowed
  
  Fair enough.
- Just put it in a formal grammar:
  undefined
  
  GNU -> GNU's Not Unix's GNU -> gnu GIMP -> GNU image manipulation program