[Thunar-dev] Name suggestion

[Adam Scheinberg]

Interesting.  I like Chronicler, although it does feel like a mouthful.  

I think that basic names are generally good.  Let's review what's out
there right now trying to be professional:

Windows -> Explorer 
MacOS -> Finder
BeOS -> Tracker 
SkyOS -> Viewer
Gnome -> Nautilus
KDE -> Konqueror
QNX -> Photon
Norton -> Commander

Those are all fairly straight forward (with the exception of Gnome and
KDE, of course).  On that front, if you wanted to keep with "very
specific function" naming theory, like the first 4, some names I like
are Digger, Handler, File Keeper, and Peeker.  Basic, but descriptive.

The FM is essentially a window into your file organization, so people
identify with "browsing" or "finding" files.  So I looked up
"organizer," "manager," and a few others into a thesaurus. 
Interesting that Finder, Viewer, and Tracker had no apparent useful
synonyms.  Here are some results I liked that I could find: Kingpin,
Chairman, Skipper, Conductor.  All convey "management" and/or power of
some sort.

Then you can go the explorer route.  Terms that indicate "exploring"
and "wandering" include: Nomad, Swashbuckler, Rover, Scout, Vagabond. 
Strange that none of these really appeal to me, when Explorer is the
most used FM out there.

I think it's a mistake to use a nonsensical or cutesy name, because
XFCE, especially with HP bundling it with thin clients, is definitely
moving into professional and more widespread acceptance.  A name that
alludes to something meanigful has benefits paid in credibility. 
Thunar, which as best as I can tell has some mythological roots, is
not so bad itself.

Something that is understandable English, in *my* mind, seems to
suggest something on a grander scale than XFFM ever could've been.  No
non-geek would ever refer to XFFM.  That's why real commercial
products aren't just letters.  (Yes, I know this isn't a commercial
product, but it does have to "sell," if only to the XFCE community as
a viable FM/application.)  I would not expect to hear someone telling
a co-worker "Click the second icon on the panel across the bottom and
that will launch ________" where ______ is XFFM.  I can, however, hear
that sentence with "the File Digger" or just "Digger."  Or maybe
that's just because I use the dig command a lot.

Just sharing a few thoughts... 

Adam

On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 04:11:39 +0200, Foxtrot <simsalabimladen at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thunar needs a name, as noted in the wiki. Since names are fun, how
> about a small debate on it?
> 
> I think that because xffm already has the "official" name that the
> XFce File Manager should rightly have, it won't hurt to deviate a bit
> from common terminology and make a more fancy name, more like Nautilus
> or Konqueror. Basic Archive Manager sounds IMHO too official, and new
> users would most likely confuse it with Xffm. FileWorks is a cool
> name, but not as the abbreviated "FWX". Out of the current
> suggestions, I like FileWorks (without an X) the most.
> 
> <thoughts>
> It must distinguish itself from XFce File Manager (xffm). From a user
> standpoint, there cannot be two official file managers, just as there
> cannot be two settings managers. If there are to be two, then they
> should be distinguished from each other, preferably by the name. This
> means that Thunar's name cannot be purely descriptive of its function
> in the way that xffm is. Judging from previous file managers,
> something vaguely descriptive is sufficient. Examples are Explorer,
> Nautilus, Konqueror, and ROX. At most, these names vaguely suggest its
> function, and are primarily cosmetic.
> 
> It should distinguish itself from the other file managers, obviously.
> If Konqueror suddenly called itself "Konquistador", people would
> automatically associate it with Explorer, as the conquistadors were
> Spanish soldiers and explorers. This would be good for a joke, playing
> on Explorer's name (which Konqueror to some degree already does), but
> it wouldn't be as funny if XFce, which has been called GNOME-lite,
> made a file manager they called Sea Crab, as people would
> automatically associate it with the GNOME equivalent.
> 
> I don't know whether a name that's purely descriptive is preferred, or
> whether it should be something a bit more personal, like Thunar is,
> but I personally think it should be somewhere in-between, as it has
> been in the aforementioned examples. This isn't xffm, and it should
> make the user aware of that. If it becomes the standard on XFce, I
> think it's a different question, and a more descriptive name may be in
> order. Not now, though.
> </thoughts>
> 
> Anyway:
> The best (I think) that I've come up with so far is Chronicler.
> 
> http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=chronicler
> 
> I think it sounds original, and though it might be a bit too fancy for
> some, I think that it's more descriptive than Konqueror, ROX, Explorer
> or Nautilus. The only problem I can see with it is that people might
> associate it with a log program, though it does in a sense log the
> files in your system while making the changes you ask it to. In a way,
> it is the chronicler of your system, which would make the name
> appropriate for its task.
> 
> Anyone got any suggestions? Opinons? I'd be glad to write some online
> notes that people can access about choice of names as the debate takes
> off (presuming, of course, that it does).
> 
> --
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> people very angry, and has been widely regarded as a bad move."
> -Douglas Adams
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-- 
Adam Scheinberg
ascheinberg at gmail.com