bug#14919: 24.3.50; Bad menu name: `Directory Search'. Misleading terminology used.

bug#14919: 24.3.50; Bad menu name: `Directory Search'. Misleading terminology used.

[Drew Adams]

This menu is apparently about directory services or directory servers.
It should be called something appropriate.

In Emacs generally, "directory" means a file-system directory - a
folder.  A directory service such as LDAP is something quite different,
and this menu name is misleading.  Consider perhaps `Directory Services'
or `Directory Servers'.

It is important to look at all of Emacs when coming up with a menu name
or even a command name.  It is a big mistake to look only inside an
individual Lisp library, which might well use terminology limited to a
particular domain.  Even then, when adding such a file to Emacs, the
file should be cleaned up to remove any ambiguity or confusion.

In this file, most of the occurrences of "directory" are followed by
"server", which is fine.  But there are some, including the first
lines of doc strings, that are not and that promote confusion.  E.g.,

eudc-format-attribute-name-for-display:
"Format a directory attribute name for display."

eudc-print-attribute-value:
"Insert the value of the directory FIELD at point."

And there are others, particularly referring to "directory queries".
Better to call these "directory service queries" etc.


In GNU Emacs 24.3.50.1 (i686-pc-mingw32)
 of 2013-07-14 on ODIEONE
Bzr revision: 113423 lekktu@gmail.com-20130715004922-i67tg2ois14h3fpm
Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 6.1.7601
Configured using:
 `configure --prefix=/c/Devel/emacs/binary --enable-checking=yes,glyphs
 CFLAGS='-O0 -g3' CPPFLAGS='-Ic:/Devel/emacs/include'
 LDFLAGS='-Lc:/Devel/emacs/lib''

bug#14919: 24.3.50; Bad menu name: `Directory Search'. Misleading terminology used.

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

> This menu is apparently about directory services or directory servers.
> It should be called something appropriate.
>
> In Emacs generally, "directory" means a file-system directory - a
> folder.  A directory service such as LDAP is something quite different,
> and this menu name is misleading.  Consider perhaps `Directory Services'
> or `Directory Servers'.

Yeah, I agree.  Anybody mind if I rename this to "Directory Services"?

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  bloggy blog http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/

bug#14919: 24.3.50; Bad menu name: `Directory Search'. Misleading terminology used.

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org>
> Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 22:02:06 -0800
> Cc: 14919@debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:
> 
> > This menu is apparently about directory services or directory servers.
> > It should be called something appropriate.
> >
> > In Emacs generally, "directory" means a file-system directory - a
> > folder.  A directory service such as LDAP is something quite different,
> > and this menu name is misleading.  Consider perhaps `Directory Services'
> > or `Directory Servers'.
> 
> Yeah, I agree.  Anybody mind if I rename this to "Directory Services"?

"Directory Servers" or "Emacs Directory Client" sound better to me.
What you suggests can still be interpreted as related to filesystem
directories.

bug#14919: 24.3.50; Bad menu name: `Directory Search'. Misleading terminology used.

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org>
>> Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 22:02:06 -0800
>> Cc: 14919@debbugs.gnu.org
>> 
>> Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:
>> 
>> > This menu is apparently about directory services or directory servers.
>> > It should be called something appropriate.
>> >
>> > In Emacs generally, "directory" means a file-system directory - a
>> > folder.  A directory service such as LDAP is something quite different,
>> > and this menu name is misleading.  Consider perhaps `Directory Services'
>> > or `Directory Servers'.
>> 
>> Yeah, I agree.  Anybody mind if I rename this to "Directory Services"?
>
> "Directory Servers" or "Emacs Directory Client" sound better to me.
> What you suggests can still be interpreted as related to filesystem
> directories.

Yup.  Should wait until the next release cycle, though.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
  bloggy blog http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/

bug#14919: 24.3.50; Bad menu name: `Directory Search'. Misleading terminology used.

[Lars Ingebrigtsen]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org>
>> Date: Fri, 07 Feb 2014 22:02:06 -0800
>> Cc: 14919@debbugs.gnu.org
>> 
>> Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:
>> 
>> > This menu is apparently about directory services or directory servers.
>> > It should be called something appropriate.
>> >
>> > In Emacs generally, "directory" means a file-system directory - a
>> > folder.  A directory service such as LDAP is something quite different,
>> > and this menu name is misleading.  Consider perhaps `Directory Services'
>> > or `Directory Servers'.
>> 
>> Yeah, I agree.  Anybody mind if I rename this to "Directory Services"?
>
> "Directory Servers" or "Emacs Directory Client" sound better to me.
> What you suggests can still be interpreted as related to filesystem
> directories.

I've now renamed it to "Directory Servers".

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no