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Programmers and software developers lost the plot on naming their tools

(larr.net)
330 points todsacerdoti | 4 comments | 11 Dec 25 18:06 UTC | HN request time: 0.857s | source
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wpollock ◴[11 Dec 25 18:50 UTC] No.46235391[source]▶
If you didn't already know, what do you think a tool called "emacs" does?
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1. jolmg ◴[11 Dec 25 19:04 UTC] No.46235627[source]▶
It's still to his point:

> Even when engineers get creative, there’s logic: a butterfly valve actually looks like butterfly wings. You can tell how the name relates to what it actually defines, and how it can be memorable.

Editor MACroS still has a logic. It isn't just random.

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2. wat10000 ◴[11 Dec 25 19:10 UTC] No.46235732[source]▶
A butterfly valve is a category of thing. The corresponding word for emacs would be "editor." That is entirely descriptive: an editor edits.

Picking a specific butterfly valve randomly from an internet search, I find one called the FNW FNWHPA1LSTG24.

Product types and categories get generic names, specific products often get weird names. It's true in just about every field.

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3. jolmg ◴[11 Dec 25 19:23 UTC] No.46235937[source]▶
Someone was probably the first to call their valve a butterfly valve.

Emacs can also be taken to be a category of editors. There are multiple emacs-derived editors.

4. mvdtnz ◴[12 Dec 25 00:02 UTC] No.46239152[source]▶
That's as good as random.