project names - a chance to learn about the world

[Michael_Keller]

Dear community, many of you are working on projects. Some projects arise through the job, some in free time. It's often about software that you develop 🙂 Every project and every piece of software needs a name.

In the past, for example, I was enthusiastic about the Android version names: KitKat or Oreo. Meanwhile, Android versions are also named with numbers (latest one is 12L). This is less funny, but logically users can classify it better. Eclipse versions used to have nice names in the past too. There were such beautiful names as Oxygen and Photon. Here, too, there is now a more meaningful versioning like 2022-03.

The meaningful versioning should not be changed at all. That's not the topic of this blog or my proposal. But you can still add an "unofficial" name 😉 It's a great chance to easily learn something about the world. If you assign an unofficial project name after a place in the world, which is contained in the English-language Wikipedia, for example, people can find out about it quickly and easily. Here are three examples from Europe:

1. Cairanne


2. Valencia


3. Chur

I know some names sound strange, harsh and unfamiliar. But that's also the attraction, because a name gives you a very small pinch of a culture.

In addition, while reading the associated Wikipedia article, the mental journey begins. It's this James Bond movie effect: every James Bond movie is set in different locations, which is one of the charms of the films. In the Indiana Jones movies, this is illustrated even better, as you see Indy traveling over a map on an airplane. Mentally you travel along and get more involved in the adventure. A mind forever voyaging...

Well, the human imagination is immense. We like to dream. This is exactly what we should use to gain a better understanding of the world, its cultures and especially other people. We have the Internet, Wikipedia and much more for this. To connect us, to gain impressions and maybe even to find the next holiday destination by chance 😉

In my experience, getting to know each other and gaining an international understanding works in a similar way through: food. That connects us all. We eat. Every day. Not only the name of the dishes is interesting, but also the type of ingredients, the preparation, the presentation and the taste. You have a connecting element that can be the basis of a conversation. It may turn into a lifelong friendship 🙂 Therefore, some names for projects could possibly also come from this area.

So, if you are currently working on your next (open source) project and would like to act as an ambassador for a place you love or have learned to love, see if there is a Wikipedia article (or write one) and give the project the appropriate unofficial name. I at least would be very happy to learn more about the world.

 

Thanks for reading, stay healthy and kind regards

Michael