3 ms·

Discussion on changing name from PostgreSQL to Postgres

22 points by duck 14y ago

jbellis 14y ago
Having gone through a company rename with much less history than the PostgreSQL name, I would say this is a shockingly bad idea.
- agscala 14y ago
  It's not much of a rename, though. Lots of people call it Postgres anyways. Besides, most people don't know how to pronounce PostgreSQL anyways, whereas Postgres is easily pronounceable. I think it's a great decision.
buster 14y ago
Finally, i was never sure how to pronounce that damn thing! :P
jspthrowaway2 14y ago
This is not an announcement, and is a misleading HN submission. The history of that page makes it fairly obvious: http://wiki.postgresql.org/index.php?title=Postgres&action=history http://wiki.postgresql.org/index.php?title=Postgres&acti... The text is almost verbatim since it was written in 2008. The last discussion on this was 2007/2008, as I recall: http://andyastor.blogspot.com/2007/08/postgresql-or-postgres.html http://andyastor.blogspot.com/2007/08/postgresql-or-postgres...
paulhauggis 14y ago
I've (and all of my developer friends) have been calling it Postgres for years.
jaytaylor 14y ago
Too much thinking about something which does not ultimately matter. I regret even bothering to write these two sentences.
pav3l 14y ago
This is just a wiki page, not an official announcement.
wulczer 14y ago
This is a wiki page created to discuss the steps that would have to be taken should the decision to change the name be taken. As far as I know, the core team's position is that the product is called PostgreSQL, with Postgres being an acceptable alias. If you ask me, this comic sums up the issue adequately: http://xkcd.com/747/ http://xkcd.com/747/ Alternatively, if you want to have a few laughs, check this out: http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/File:05_-_Gabrielle_Roth_-_pg_pronounce.pdf http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/File:05_-_Gabrielle_Roth_-_p...
skyebook 14y ago
As mentioned, this page has been up for ages (I've actually read it previously). At this point its sort of pointless, it is normally referred to as 'Postgres' by people giving PG talks at conferences and such.
dude_abides 14y ago
some other names that I often use when refering to postgresql: pgsql psql postgre In the end postgres might end up just as confusing as postgresql, and in favor of the current name, at least it is status quo.
gullfaraz 14y ago
As mentioned, this page has been up for ages (I've actually read it previously). At this point its sort of pointless, it is normally referred to as 'Postgres' by people giving PG talks at conferences and such.http://www.readenews.com http://www.readenews.com
kmfrk 14y ago
Maybe, just maybe, people might actually be able to spell and pronounce it now. I mean, even the leaders in the feel fuck it up all the time.
pvh 14y ago
At Heroku we call it Postgres in all things and at all times unless we're referring to official community stuff. It's a much better name, and it's the original name, and I hope some day it will be the only name.

22 points by duck 14y ago

Having gone through a company rename with much less history than the PostgreSQL name, I would say this is a shockingly bad idea.

agscala 14y ago
It's not much of a rename, though. Lots of people call it Postgres anyways. Besides, most people don't know how to pronounce PostgreSQL anyways, whereas Postgres is easily pronounceable. I think it's a great decision.

buster 14y ago

Finally, i was never sure how to pronounce that damn thing! :P

jspthrowaway2 14y ago

This is not an announcement, and is a misleading HN submission. The history of that page makes it fairly obvious: http://wiki.postgresql.org/index.php?title=Postgres&action=history http://wiki.postgresql.org/index.php?title=Postgres&acti... The text is almost verbatim since it was written in 2008. The last discussion on this was 2007/2008, as I recall: http://andyastor.blogspot.com/2007/08/postgresql-or-postgres.html http://andyastor.blogspot.com/2007/08/postgresql-or-postgres...

paulhauggis 14y ago

I've (and all of my developer friends) have been calling it Postgres for years.

jaytaylor 14y ago

Too much thinking about something which does not ultimately matter. I regret even bothering to write these two sentences.

pav3l 14y ago

This is just a wiki page, not an official announcement.

wulczer 14y ago

This is a wiki page created to discuss the steps that would have to be taken should the decision to change the name be taken. As far as I know, the core team's position is that the product is called PostgreSQL, with Postgres being an acceptable alias. If you ask me, this comic sums up the issue adequately: http://xkcd.com/747/ http://xkcd.com/747/ Alternatively, if you want to have a few laughs, check this out: http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/File:05_-_Gabrielle_Roth_-_pg_pronounce.pdf http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/File:05_-_Gabrielle_Roth_-_p...

skyebook 14y ago

As mentioned, this page has been up for ages (I've actually read it previously). At this point its sort of pointless, it is normally referred to as 'Postgres' by people giving PG talks at conferences and such.

dude_abides 14y ago

some other names that I often use when refering to postgresql: pgsql psql postgre In the end postgres might end up just as confusing as postgresql, and in favor of the current name, at least it is status quo.

gullfaraz 14y ago

kmfrk 14y ago

Maybe, just maybe, people might actually be able to spell and pronounce it now. I mean, even the leaders in the feel fuck it up all the time.

pvh 14y ago

At Heroku we call it Postgres in all things and at all times unless we're referring to official community stuff. It's a much better name, and it's the original name, and I hope some day it will be the only name.