[TriLUG] GOSFUI

[Thomas Delrue via TriLUG]

On 04/28/2017 01:59 AM, Steve Litt via TriLUG wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> A few months ago I invented the word GOSFUI to prevent arguments and
> hijackings when discussing window managers and/or desktop environments.
> Now I've written about GOSFUI in detail:
> 
> http://troubleshooters.com/linux/gosfui.htm
> 
> If you agree with me, please spread the word.

I like this idea for general and casual discussions (when you're talking
preferences as in your example).
However there is a time and place for this and jargon exists for a
reason: it is a vocabulary of words with very specific and well defined
meanings (frequently different from their day-to-day meaning). In that
context, when I say Desktop Environment I mean specifically the thing
that is/behaves like a DE and specially is not a WM (or vice versa).
From the world of software engineering: when I say "abstract factory",
"decorator" or "memento", those words have very specific meanings and
when I use them I want to convey that very specific structure and/or
behavior. Using an ambiguous term ("object creator", "additional
behavior extension", "undo mechanism") does not help me here because I
lose specific semantics that I wanted to convey.

So sure, in casual discussions, use GOSFUI, that's perfectly fine and
will accomplish your goal of preventing the discussion of becoming a
technical-prowess-genitalia-waving-contest, but please don't do it in
technical discussions unless you're ok with (the rough equivalent of)
your surgeon asking his assistant to "hand me the thingamajig, the one
with the shiny color" while you're under narcosis.

Jargon isn't bad, it may just offer an opportunity to educate Charles
(the one in your example on the site) about social etiquette and to
teach Charles how to distinguish a technical discussion from a
social/casual one. Not all discussions should always technical... I
think adding this point to the post may be helpful as well.
(I fully realize the irony of this statement by having just made a
completely technical reasoning above)

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