[Zope3-dev] RFC: Rename "principal" to "participant"

[Craeg Strong]

It seems the word "Principal" is ubiquitous in security-related 
software: see

Microsoft dot Net Principal [1]
java.security.Principal
Kerberos [2]
GSS API

[1] 
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpref/html/frlrfsystemsecurityprincipal.asp
[2] 
http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/www/krb5-1.4/krb5-1.4.2/doc/krb5-user/What-is-a-Kerberos-Principal-.html

There are lots of other examples of its use. Just do a google search for 
"security principal"

I think we should be careful before departing from common terms for API 
concepts lest we violate the
"principle of least surprise"  ;-)

--Craeg

Philipp von Weitershausen wrote:

>Hi there,
>
>while I very much like Zope 3's understanding security and abstract
>concepts of interactions, participations, and principals, I've never
>really grown to love the word "principal." It might be easier to
>understand for native speakers, but I've certainly had problems to grok
>and remember(!) its meaning from the word alone. "Interaction" and
>"participation" are much easier to understand right away.
>
>Since "principal" doesn't seem to be a common term in IT speak either,
>translators repeatedly have their problems with it. In German, for
>example, we came up with "Nutzungsberechtigter" which is just an
>arbitrary choice and doesn't even fit all aspects of "principal". It's
>still a good choice for now because if we had chosen to literally
>translate it as "Prinzipal", noone would even be close to understanding
>what we meant. Sebastien Douche seemed to have the same problem
>regarding the French translation, as he told us on IRC today. There just
>aren't good native words that translate "principal" well enough, let
>alone a good literal translation.
>
>So, I would like to give "principal" a better name. How about
>"participant"? After all, a principal _participates_ in an interaction
>through a participation (e.g. an HTTP request). Participant should also
>be pretty easy to translate: it's a common word, especially outside IT
>vocubulary, which means chances are good to find appropriate native
>translations for it.
>
>(Note that the point of finding translations for technical terms is not
>only for the sake of a translated Zope 3 UI. It's more about how people
>understand technical terms. I think most Zope 3 developers aren't native
>English speakers and they do not necessarily think in English. So, good
>words that have good native translations help the understanding process
>on their end. That is not only important for _learning_ a concept, but
>also for _explaining_ it. As a book author, I know what I'm talking
>about... :))
>
>Hope to hear some comments,
>
>Philipp
>
>  
>