[Mageia-dev] Mirror layout, round two

Maarten Vanraes maarten.vanraes at gmail.com
Sun Dec 5 22:19:21 CET 2010


Op zondag 05 december 2010 21:50:00 schreef Erin Wilkins:
> On December 5, 2010 10:59:45 Maarten Vanraes wrote:
> > Op zaterdag 04 december 2010 20:58:12 schreef Erin Wilkins:
> > > Since the packages in that repository are there because they're
> > > (potentially) encumbered by patents, why not call it for what it is,
> > > "encumbered"?
> > > 
> > > --
> > > Erin
> > 
> > too difficult
> 
> To understand? If that's the case, I think you're going to be stuck with
> "tainted". And while I don't have an issue with it, this whole discussion
> started because some people find it too negative.
> 
> The purpose of the repository name is to convey what sort of packages are
> contained in it. While many of the names that have been mentioned (foggy,
> speculative, etc) are relatively easy to remember, they don't have any
> existing meanings with regard to software. If I, or pretty much any other
> user, were not following this thread, I would not understand what sort of
> packages would be in a repository with those names. And like any other name
> that I wouldn't understand, I'd have to look up the documentation.
> 
> I don't know about you, but I'd rather go with a name that conveys an
> existing meaning, but some people will need to look at the documentation
> to understand.

I understand your point. however, Mageia is international and i think a high 
group of international no-native-english-speakers will have a hard time finding 
out what this is about...

the english language is pretty rich; and i suspect there are quite a few words 
that could convey the correct meaning without the word being too difficult.

otoh, there is also the fact that "free" or "core" don't really convey the 
correct meaning at all either and could be quite dubious.

patented would be more correct, but i don't wanna call it that, because then 
mageia would be sued by patent-lawyers all over the world. don't get me wrong, 
it wouldn't be illegal, but it would just be too timeconsuming...

imho, we should have a simple not too difficult word that somehow shows a bit 
about the nature of the contents in it, while still being vague enough.


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