[Mageia-discuss] New name for cooker

[John Keller]

On 09/21/2010 05:13 PM, Wolfgang Bornath wrote:
> 2010/9/21 John Keller <mageia at johnkeller.com>:
>> I'm sure you're excited about this launch, but I think that's an
>> inflammatory statement. You don't have to be illiterate or a monkey to
>> have problems with language, just inexperienced in foreign languages
>> and/or English.
> 
> Hmm, you are right but the complaint about prononciation came from an
> English speaker, not from somebody of a different language and/or
> cultural background, so I reacted to his words.
> 
>> And as a native English speaker, I can attest to the fact that yes, in
>> the technical world, people tend to have, er, interesting ideas about
>> spelling - whether it's intentional or not. And while the international
>> technical language may be English, names bring along with them a lot of
>> cultural and orthographic baggage.
> 
> Yes, I remember a discussion about proper spelling while proofreading
> an english text, where the proofreader (a college professor for
> literature) reminded me that non-native english speakers often have a
> better knowledge about english grammar and/or spelling than native
> speakers. I see the same with non-native German speakers compared with
> native german speakers.
> 
> But I thought cauldron to be a known english expression and wondered
> why it was said to be too complicated to pronounce.
> 
> If I was too offending, pls accept my apology.

No need to apologize to me, I just wanted to point out that the language
isn't exactly, er, diplomatic...

Cauldron is certainly a word you'd have encountered if you like fantasy,
fairy tales, or maybe some history. And I think you'll find a big
overlap between the technical community and fans of one of those. But
not everyone is a well-rounded English native speaker (and sadly, not
every English native speaker is well-rounded either).

And while I don't know you personally, I'm very familiar with your work
and presence in Mandriva over these past years that I've used Mandriva
and been on the cooker list. I'd definitely rank your English as
top-notch. I definitely agree that non-native speakers/writers who apply
themselves have a better grip of the finer points of a language than
native speakers.

As for non-natives who don't want to learn the basics, we just have to
be tolerant. Just as we were of branding such as "Manbo Labs". ;-)

- John