Re: Unifying name for Plugins/Extensions/etc.

["Sankar P" <psankar novell com>]

On Thu, 2007-12-20 at 11:23 -0600, Shaun McCance wrote:
> <off-topic>
> Well, since you mention working on Evolution, I just can't
> resist this.  Notice the extra ">" preceding "From" at the
> start of the above paragraph?  IIRC, this is used to escape
> a line starting with "From" in mailbox files, since "From"
> is used to start a new email.  Why doesn't evolution strip
> this escape when it displays the message to me?

Bug. http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=475359 

> </off-topic>

>  
> > Changing the term Plugin means, All the dependent user-docs, wiki
> pages,
> > developer-docs, FAQ pages, screenshots should also be updated. Some
> > distros ship plugins as seperate RPMs/packages. So these rpm/package
> > names should also be changed. IMHO it is too much of an effort with
> > lesser benefits. 
> 
> Changing terminology is always a bigger undertaking than
> people think it is, and the end result is usually far less
> comprehensive than people anticipated.  Witness:
> 
> * We recommend using "folder" over "directory", but the
> term "directory" is still very prominent.
> * We changed "shade" to "roll up", but among the shaders
> I know, none of them ever say "roll up".
> * We recommend against using "combo box".  As if.
> * We recommend using "point to" instead of "hover".  Yet
> another losing battle.
> 
> I could go on.  In general, I think "extension" is a far
> better word than "plugin".  The question is, is it worth
> the bound-to-partially-fail effort?  

No, IMHO. And you gave a much better witness list than I could have :)


-- 
Sankar P