Re: ELPA submission: plz-see

[Adam Porter <adam@alphapapa.net>]

>> From: Philip Kaludercic <philipk@posteo.net>
>> Cc: rms@gnu.org,  emacs-devel@gnu.org
>> Date: Fri, 03 Nov 2023 07:50:45 +0000
>> 
>> brickviking <brickviking@gmail.com> writes:
>> 
>> > I have it listed here in my elpa packages listing. A very short summary
>> > from
>> > the package itself is as follows:
>> >
>> > `plz' is an HTTP library for Emacs.  It uses `curl' as a backend, which
>> > avoids some of the issues with using Emacs's built-in `url' library.
>> 
>> And yes, the name is not indicative of what the packages does, but the
>> author had a strong preference of using a "fun" name and has advocated
>> this on multiple occasions, so it is extremely unlikely that it will
>> ever change
> 
> Too bad, FIWIW.  The name is not helpful, and I personally don't even
> find it "funny" in any sense of the word.
> 
> By proliferating packages with unhelpful names, we make ELPA and Emacs
> in general harder to use.

Please (ha) don't misunderstand me: I don't advocate for "fun" or 
"funny" names to be used exclusively for their own sake, nor at the 
expense of usefulness.  There are a number of criteria used in choosing 
a library's name, and it is ultimately a judgment call.

In the case of plz.el, all the obvious names for Elisp HTTP libraries 
were already taken (url, http, request, web).  I spent a good deal of 
time thinking about and choosing the name.  Then, when I submitted the 
package to ELPA (after having developed it for a few years), the 
alternatives suggested were long and awkward.  Then ensued a long 
discussion about how a name should be chosen, names vs. descriptions, 
concise names vs. long ones, memorable ones vs. descriptive ones, etc.

Were one of the obvious names available, I would have used it at the 
time; since none were, I chose what was the best in my judgment.  Those 
who weight criteria differently may arrive at different conclusions. 
And, yes, "fun" is one of the criteria, as is memorability.

In the end, once one finds and begins to use a tool, one tends to 
remember its name.  I would not search for "emacs" to find a text 
editor--but having found it and used it, I know what it is.

--Adam