Thread: Re: [COMMITTERS] pgsql: Remove mention of the Berkeley origins of the alias "Postgres"

momjian@postgresql.org (Bruce Momjian) writes:
> Remove mention of the Berkeley origins of the alias "Postgres" ---
> seems unnecessary to mention in the FAQ, per discussion on IRC.

This doesn't seem like an improvement in the least.  It makes it
appear that Postgres is just a randomly chosen abbreviation that
has no particular historical standing compared to, say, Postgre.
The previous text made it perfectly clear *why* that shortening
is preferred over others.

Why are such politically touchy decisions being taken in an anonymous,
unarchived forum like IRC, anyway?  Especially when what *was*
being publicly discussed was an entirely different change?
http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-docs/2008-04/msg00001.php

(Not that I like JD's proposed change better, but at least he
made it in a reasonably well-read forum.)

            regards, tom lane

Tom Lane wrote:
> momjian@postgresql.org (Bruce Momjian) writes:
> > Remove mention of the Berkeley origins of the alias "Postgres" ---
> > seems unnecessary to mention in the FAQ, per discussion on IRC.
>
> This doesn't seem like an improvement in the least.  It makes it
> appear that Postgres is just a randomly chosen abbreviation that
> has no particular historical standing compared to, say, Postgre.
> The previous text made it perfectly clear *why* that shortening
> is preferred over others.

OK, you the second person to say that so I re-added it.

> Why are such politically touchy decisions being taken in an anonymous,
> unarchived forum like IRC, anyway?  Especially when what *was*
> being publicly discussed was an entirely different change?
> http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-docs/2008-04/msg00001.php
>
> (Not that I like JD's proposed change better, but at least he
> made it in a reasonably well-read forum.)

I everything related to the alias politically charged.  That is a
serious problem.

--
  Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us
  EnterpriseDB                             http://enterprisedb.com

  + If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +

Bruce Momjian wrote:
> > Why are such politically touchy decisions being taken in an anonymous,
> > unarchived forum like IRC, anyway?  Especially when what *was*
> > being publicly discussed was an entirely different change?
> > http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-docs/2008-04/msg00001.php
> > 
> > (Not that I like JD's proposed change better, but at least he
> > made it in a reasonably well-read forum.)
> 
> I everything related to the alias politically charged.  That is a
> serious problem.

Let me add that politically-charged discussion is something we have
avoided for many years, and if it continues to appear it will hurt us
greatly.  Our community will be fragmented and dedication to the project
will lag.

I have seen it twice today.  That is not a good sign.

--  Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us EnterpriseDB
http://enterprisedb.com
 + If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +

On Tue, 8 Apr 2008 21:03:49 -0400 (EDT)
Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> wrote:


> Let me add that politically-charged discussion is something we have
> avoided for many years, and if it continues to appear it will hurt us
> greatly.  Our community will be fragmented and dedication to the
> project will lag.
> 
> I have seen it twice today.  That is not a good sign.

I don't know that there is anyway to have an open source project
without politically charged debates but this is offtopic for this list.

Joshua D. Drake



-- 
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On Tuesday 08 April 2008 21:03, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> Bruce Momjian wrote:
> > > Why are such politically touchy decisions being taken in an anonymous,
> > > unarchived forum like IRC, anyway?  Especially when what *was*
> > > being publicly discussed was an entirely different change?
> > > http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-docs/2008-04/msg00001.php
> > >
> > > (Not that I like JD's proposed change better, but at least he
> > > made it in a reasonably well-read forum.)
> >
> > I everything related to the alias politically charged.  That is a
> > serious problem.
>
> Let me add that politically-charged discussion is something we have
> avoided for many years, and if it continues to appear it will hurt us
> greatly.  Our community will be fragmented and dedication to the project
> will lag.
>
> I have seen it twice today.  That is not a good sign.
>

I agree, let's just bite the bullet and rename it to Postgres. 

-- 
Robert Treat
Build A Brighter LAMP :: Linux Apache {middleware} Postgre