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Wolfram is an egoist of the highest order. Even Linus Torvalds had the good sense not go full ego and call his OS “Linus”. PL designers have huge egos in gener

Wolfram is an egoist of the highest order. Even Linus Torvalds had the good sense not go full ego and call his OS “Linus”. PL designers have huge egos in general, often referring to themselves as benevolent dictators over their project. But most language authors name their language after a clever pun, a famous person in the field, or a loved one. Not Wolfram though, he named his language after himself — really takes it to a next level.

0xcde4c3db 5y ago
> Even Linus Torvalds had the good sense not go full ego and call his OS “Linus”. Allegedly, Linus was going to call it "Freax", but a FUNET admin hated that name and forced the issue by naming the directory "linux".
- ModernMech 5y ago
  Could you imagine? As if Linux doesn't have enough trouble finding mainstream support as it is, imagine if it were called Freax. My God nerds suck at marketing, and I mean that with so much love. I guess marketing types suck at writing operating systems, so it's unfair to expect the world from one guy.
Nevermark 5y ago
If I manage to create a successful computing ecosystem, I plan to name myself after it. :)
retzkek 5y ago
I believe he truly sees the Wolfram language as an extension of himself, from the very beginning it was designed only based on his needs and desires. That others find it useful is just a happy accident. Maybe it is just ego, or maybe it's something a bit more profound.
- ModernMech 5y ago
  Tbf that’s the standard for many pl projects. It’s why so many anoint themselves as bdfl; they don’t want to lose control over the project and find themselves unable to execute their visions. Many PLs start with one developer saying to themself “this tool suck, I could do it better.” What follows is an endeavor of so much breadth and depth it takes many years to execute on that vision, so pl designers become very attached to them. This is why there are a billion languages with only a single user: the designer.
graphpercolator 5y ago
I really don't see the difference with Linux on any level. To be fair, wolfram is a pretty cool name in general. It sounds like a computing product already. I don't see how you can blame the guy for using that.
- ModernMech 5y ago
  I'm not blaming him for anything. I guess you're taking being an egoist as a bad thing? It's needed for the role he's in. He just takes it to a next level, that's all. Like you said, he's got a cool name, why let that go to waste?

0xcde4c3db 5y ago

> Even Linus Torvalds had the good sense not go full ego and call his OS “Linus”. Allegedly, Linus was going to call it "Freax", but a FUNET admin hated that name and forced the issue by naming the directory "linux".

ModernMech 5y ago
Could you imagine? As if Linux doesn't have enough trouble finding mainstream support as it is, imagine if it were called Freax. My God nerds suck at marketing, and I mean that with so much love. I guess marketing types suck at writing operating systems, so it's unfair to expect the world from one guy.

Nevermark 5y ago

If I manage to create a successful computing ecosystem, I plan to name myself after it. :)

retzkek 5y ago

I believe he truly sees the Wolfram language as an extension of himself, from the very beginning it was designed only based on his needs and desires. That others find it useful is just a happy accident. Maybe it is just ego, or maybe it's something a bit more profound.

ModernMech 5y ago
Tbf that’s the standard for many pl projects. It’s why so many anoint themselves as bdfl; they don’t want to lose control over the project and find themselves unable to execute their visions. Many PLs start with one developer saying to themself “this tool suck, I could do it better.” What follows is an endeavor of so much breadth and depth it takes many years to execute on that vision, so pl designers become very attached to them. This is why there are a billion languages with only a single user: the designer.

graphpercolator 5y ago

I really don't see the difference with Linux on any level. To be fair, wolfram is a pretty cool name in general. It sounds like a computing product already. I don't see how you can blame the guy for using that.

ModernMech 5y ago
I'm not blaming him for anything. I guess you're taking being an egoist as a bad thing? It's needed for the role he's in. He just takes it to a next level, that's all. Like you said, he's got a cool name, why let that go to waste?