4 ms·

Why did they change the name?

untothebreach 12y ago
I wondered the same thing, but this is all I have been able to find on reasons for the name change: http://forum.nim-lang.org/t/561#3012 http://forum.nim-lang.org/t/561#3012
bane 12y ago
Nimrod is a terrible name for a language. In North America it's synonymous with "idiot".
- kachnuv_ocasek 12y ago
  Git (albeit not a language) has a similar meaning in the UK.
  - k__ 12y ago
    Which makes Github the Moron Central. ;)
  - Amezarak 12y ago
    Even in the US, "git" means "idiot." It was my understanding Linus called Git for the same reason Mercurial is called Mercurial: as an unflattering reference to Larry McVoy, who was involved in the Linux/Bitkeeper mess. While typing this though, I discovered that Linux apparently denies this and says it's self-reference. ("I'm an egotistical bastard, and I name all my projects after myself. First 'Linux', now 'Git'".) Nimrod is actually a little interesting. Until the 1980s, Nimrod was just a Biblical figure, a powerful king/great hunter figure. Possibly because it was used in an ironic sense for bad hunters (perhaps beginning with Elmer Fudd), it came to mean the opposite of its original sense and generalized to "idiot." http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Nimrod http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Nimrod EDIT: Sorry about that...I accidentally said Perforce instead of BitKeeper. Perforce on the brain. :) Thanks nocman.
    - nocman 12y ago
      I'm assuming you meant to say the "Linux/BitKeeper" mess. McVoy is the BitKeeper guy.
- Symmetry 12y ago
  That's thanks to Bugs Bunny. Nimrod is traditionally the name of a mighty hunter so it made sense for Bugs to call Elmer that to show how far from a mighty hunter he was. But nowadays in the English speaking world we're more likely to think of the Bugs Bunny meaning than the biblical meaning. It's always hard naming things in a language that isn't your first.
  - mikecb 12y ago
    I love learning etymological anecdotes like this.
- vram22 12y ago
  Nimrod was also the name of a British warplane, IIRC. And also the name of a biblical king and mighty hunter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod
vanderZwan 12y ago
TLA FTW? Although it honestly wouldn't surprise me if the difference between typing three or five characters to compile is a huge deal in programmer land. Just like how a few tenths of a second of extra loading makes an enormous difference in customer satisfaction with the Google: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/technology/impatient-web-users-flee-slow-loading-sites.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/technology/impatient-web-u...
wildmXranat 12y ago
When I first heard about Nimrod, I thought of Green Day album "Nimrod" from 1997. Then I thought, why would this language be like a nimrod. Like most, I did not link it with the other literary meaning of "a mighty hunter" hunter. Either way, Nim is short and sweet.

I wondered the same thing, but this is all I have been able to find on reasons for the name change: http://forum.nim-lang.org/t/561#3012 http://forum.nim-lang.org/t/561#3012

bane 12y ago

Nimrod is a terrible name for a language. In North America it's synonymous with "idiot".

kachnuv_ocasek 12y ago
Git (albeit not a language) has a similar meaning in the UK.
- k__ 12y ago
  Which makes Github the Moron Central. ;)
- Amezarak 12y ago
  Even in the US, "git" means "idiot." It was my understanding Linus called Git for the same reason Mercurial is called Mercurial: as an unflattering reference to Larry McVoy, who was involved in the Linux/Bitkeeper mess. While typing this though, I discovered that Linux apparently denies this and says it's self-reference. ("I'm an egotistical bastard, and I name all my projects after myself. First 'Linux', now 'Git'".) Nimrod is actually a little interesting. Until the 1980s, Nimrod was just a Biblical figure, a powerful king/great hunter figure. Possibly because it was used in an ironic sense for bad hunters (perhaps beginning with Elmer Fudd), it came to mean the opposite of its original sense and generalized to "idiot." http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Nimrod http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Nimrod EDIT: Sorry about that...I accidentally said Perforce instead of BitKeeper. Perforce on the brain. :) Thanks nocman.
  - nocman 12y ago
    I'm assuming you meant to say the "Linux/BitKeeper" mess. McVoy is the BitKeeper guy.
Symmetry 12y ago
That's thanks to Bugs Bunny. Nimrod is traditionally the name of a mighty hunter so it made sense for Bugs to call Elmer that to show how far from a mighty hunter he was. But nowadays in the English speaking world we're more likely to think of the Bugs Bunny meaning than the biblical meaning. It's always hard naming things in a language that isn't your first.
- mikecb 12y ago
  I love learning etymological anecdotes like this.
vram22 12y ago
Nimrod was also the name of a British warplane, IIRC. And also the name of a biblical king and mighty hunter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod

vanderZwan 12y ago

TLA FTW? Although it honestly wouldn't surprise me if the difference between typing three or five characters to compile is a huge deal in programmer land. Just like how a few tenths of a second of extra loading makes an enormous difference in customer satisfaction with the Google: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/technology/impatient-web-users-flee-slow-loading-sites.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/technology/impatient-web-u...

wildmXranat 12y ago

When I first heard about Nimrod, I thought of Green Day album "Nimrod" from 1997. Then I thought, why would this language be like a nimrod. Like most, I did not link it with the other literary meaning of "a mighty hunter" hunter. Either way, Nim is short and sweet.