[PLUG] Re: [PLUG-ANNOUNCE] ANNOUNCEMENT: May PLUG Meeting

[Rich Shepard]

On Tue, 30 Apr 2002, Craighead, Scot D wrote:

> I keep seeing all over people complaining about the use of this term,
> however, it's use continues to increase.  I think it's a "new school/old
> school" thing.  I guess I'm new school and don't understand why people get
> upset about this term.  X Window System is too many syllables and X is too
> vague.  What is the objection to "X Windows"?

  There is defined usage and common usage. The increased use of the latter
frequently leads to communications breakdowns. An analogy to the 'X Windows'
vs. 'X Window System' (singular) is 'linux' and 'GNU/linux'. In both cases
the copyrighted, official name is the longer one. In colloquial use it may
not matter, but there is a difference in more formal settings.

  The other aspect is a social one and not on topic for this list. That's
the grammatical sloppiness we see everywhere with the misuse of apostrophes
and the combining of two words (e.g., "a lot") into a single word ("alot").
These both inhibit communications and provide insight into the writer.
Again, this is neither a troll nor flame bait, but a comment that we need to
work on improving our commuications, not obfuscating what we mean.

Eschew obfuscation! Excelsior!

Rich