[Zope3-dev] Rid the term 'product'

[Philipp von Weitershausen]

Jim Fulton wrote:
> I'm OK with picking a different term for this.  Picking a
> different term may be tricky.  I'm not so crazy about "extension",
> as that has has a specific Python meaning and, after all, applications
> aren't really extensions.

You're right, the term "extension" implies too much. When configuring, 
we don't really care (and Zope doesn't either) whether we're including 
just a small library or a whole application. Thus, maybe "packages" or 
"libraries" is more adequate.

> Some things to note:
> 
> - We have a similar problem for Python.  We don't have a good name
>   for the things we distribute with distutils.  Distutils defines the
>   term "module distribution", which I've never heard anyone use.
> 
>   Most people use the term "package", but then get confused about
>   whether they are talking about Python packages or things we distribute.

I guess it's Python's fault since it talks about packages where most 
other languages/sytems use the term libraries.

>   Fred and I have struggled with this a lot in talking about his work.
>   (We try to use various qualifications of "distribution", but it never 
>   seems to stick.)
> 
> - My intuition is that it is best to use a "name", rather than a "word",
>   so as not to get confused about alternate meanings.  A word that we don't
>   use much would be OK too.  For example, we've talked about using the term
>   "bundle" in the past.

I like the term "bundle", both because of its name nature and the fact 
that it's still figurative and meaningful. The only problem with it is 
that it is difficult to translate (depends on the language), or that it 
maybe shouldn't be translated at all, respecitively, which makes us use 
English terms in foreign languages everywhere. That's really a general 
problem with names.

"Plug-in" is sort of a name (though it has become a term), but I don't 
think it's really what we're looking for. I can't think of any good 
other names for "products", maybe someone else can. The fact that 
"product" itself is really more of a name than a term implies that if we 
come up with a new name, it must not be as confusing as "products". 
"Bundle" is a good example.

Philipp