On 8/8/07, Jesús Guerrero <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Wed, 8 Aug 2007 23:31:08 +0200 > Dominik Vogt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > On Wed, Aug 08, 2007 at 09:45:12PM +0100, Thomas Adam wrote: > > > On 08/08/07, Dan Espen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > "Dominik Vogt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > > > > The standard convention is to spell acronyms in capitals. > > > > > > > > > > I never thought of fvwm as an acronym. > > > > > > > > If we say it's not an acronym then it's not. > > > > > > Sure. Whilst we're there we could also that that whilst we don't need > > > full stops, we won't use them either. That might seem facetious, but > > > it's not meant to be. :P > > > > > > > In English, normally proper names are capitalized, > > > > like Fvwm, put product names are free to do whatever they > > > > like, for example, "iMac". > > > > > > Yes, but on this occasion, FVWM *stands* for something -- its name > > > *is* the product name which means correct capitalisation of the > > > acronym. > > > > Yes, and laser also stands for something and has become so > > familiar that almost nobody writes it LASER (or knows what the > > letters stand for). So what? > > > > I am not going into the discussion, it is not a thing I am willing > to fight for, I just wanted to make a small comment. > > The fact that 'laser' is written in lower case is not because it is > a lower case acronym, but because of the evolution of the language. > > New words are created each day. By the day the first LASER device > was created, there were no word to name that thingy, and that is > why it was named with an acronym: 'LASER'. But language evolved, and > a new word was created: 'laser'. So, that argument above is pretty > much pointless. > > Nowadays, 'laser' (lower case) is a word, and no longer an acronym, > you can look at the dictionary. Of course, the acronym 'LASER' does > exists still. But 'laser', is a word, with a meaning, regardless of > its etymology or origin. It is a noun, not an acronym. Any dictionary > will tell you the same. > > That is not the case for 'fvwm', so, the two cases are not comparable. > > Just my .02
I'm used to have "real" code written in lowercase, while macros are written in uppercase. I tend to dislike the way macros look, and certainly don't want fvwm's name to look like a macro.. Maybe not perfect english (English?), but we live by our own rules. Cheers, Renato
