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Seeking Minimal Python Project Name (was: [pypy-dev] Re: [ann]MinimalPython project)

Terry Hancock hancock at anansispaceworks.com
Mon Jan 13 13:59:57 EST 2003 
Erik Max Francis wrote:
> Terry Hancock wrote:
>> I immediately thought of the image of a snake biting its tail -- an
>> ancient
>> symbol of the cycle of life, recursion, etc.  The name for this symbol
>> appears to be variously:
>>  Uroboros  Ourobouros Ourobourus
>> Not sure which spelling is "canonical".  Not so easy to pronounce
>> though.
> 
> I've seen so many spelling variations that I would think that in itself
> would disqualify it as a good choice of names.  In this day and age, it
> makes sense to choose names that can be easily found through search
> engines.  If it's inherently hard to spell right, it's not a good name.

Agreed, but on the other extreme, if it's too common, it will get buried in 
unrelated fluff.

There's another snake-biting-tail in Norse mythology, called "Jormungard". 
The caduceus was also suggested by a friend, but that has a tight-binding 
to the medical profession.

Haven't found another really good one, though. Hmm. The only Monty Python 
reference that comes to my mind is the Deja Vu sketch, but that's not so 
great either, and it's also been taken (by a web service?).  You could also 
go for other snake names, e.g.: Viper (or Vyper).

PyPy suggests "pipe" or "pippy" or Py^2 which leads to PySquared or pi^2, 
which suggest pi*r^2 or the area of a circle (pi^2 itself occurs in some 
integrals, though I can't think of any interesting ones). Or perhaps 
Pythagoras.  Or maybe Pygmalion who created Galatea in Greek mythology, 
another symbol of recursion.

Terry
-- 
Anansi Spaceworks
http://www.anansispaceworks.com
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