Python Evangelism

[Andrew Gwozdziewycz]

> I agree that names are very important -- Java would never have caught
> on the way that it did if Sun had left the name as "Oak".  I think
> you're wrong about the name "Python", though.  Snakes are cool and
> have street cred.  That's why there are cars with names like "Cobra"
> and "Viper".
>
> It doesn't matter if the average joe is scared when they see a folder
> named "python" on their computer, as the average joe isn't a
> programmer.
>
> Ruby didn't start catching on until Ruby on Rails came out.  If Python
> has a naming problem, it's with the name of Django, rather than
> Python.  Firstly, Django doesn't have "Python" in the name, so it
> doesn't popularize the language behind it, even should Django become
> very popular.  Secondly, Django just doesn't have the ring of "Ruby on
> Rails".  They should change the name to "Blood Python" instead.  Okay,
> well, maybe not.  How about "Green Tree Python"?  Hmmm, kind of
> boring.  Well, maybe "Python on the Bullet Train"?  Okay, too
> derivative.  "Maglev Python"?  "Python with Panache"?  "Python on
> Prozac"?
>

I'll admit "Ruby on Rails" is a clever name. The fact that you mention
it "didn't catch on"
is only partially true. Popular? Not by any means, but there were a
good number of users
before Rails. Quite a lot of libraries and a very usable language.
Rails did however
jump start it's new career as the definitive web2.0 language, but who
cares? Not me!

We're talking python here. There's no need for Python to have "Python
on Cables" or
some other equally stupid named project. Python doesn't even need to
be the definitive web
language. Who cares? Use it if you want to to build a website. Hell I
like django quite
a bit, but anyone writing something for django knows it's written in
python. Anyone
writing something with Ruby On Rails knows that ruby is the language
behind it. Does
some non programmer care? No. If some non-programmer decided to  
create a new web
app, and his friend said, 'I hear django is quick and oh, it use's
this really cool easy to learn
language python,' What's the difference? Is calling it Python on Trees
any different? The
guy doesn't know what python on is, let alone why it's on trees?


---
Andrew Gwozdziewycz
apgwoz at gmail.com
http://ihadagreatview.org
http://and.rovir.us