Re: How Do You Pronounce "PostgreSQL"?

The Hermit Hacker <scrappy(at)hub(dot)org> wrote:

> On Mon, 21 Aug 2000, Jan Wieck wrote:
>
> > The Hermit Hacker wrote:
> > >
> > > what's wrong wth "Post-Gres-QL"?
> > >
> > > I find it soooo simple to pronounce *shrug*
> >
> > Mee too. And I'm not sure if anybody pronounces PG the same
> > way. Is it PeeGee or PiG (in which case we'd have the wrong
> > animal in our logo).
>
> Actually, the one that gets me is those that refer to it as Postgres
> ... postgres was a project out of Berkeley way back in the 80's, early
> 90's ... hell, it was based on a PostQuel language ... this ain't
> postgres, its only based on it :(

Personally, I say P-G-Sequel or Post-Grease-S-Q-L.

And I have to say that "postgresql" has one of the worst
names of any software I've ever encountered. I'm entirely
in sympathy with the "suit" who suggested calling it "PG".

I would go further and say that in the near future when some
milestone is reached (say, the addition of outer joins?) it
might be a good idea to mark the occasion with a name change
of some sort.

I cringe at the thought of the hassles involved with
choosing a new name though.

Openbase? Freebase? ACIDtrip?

I think I like "Grease".

On Mon, 21 Aug 2000, Joe Brenner wrote:

>
> The Hermit Hacker <scrappy(at)hub(dot)org> wrote:
>
> > On Mon, 21 Aug 2000, Jan Wieck wrote:
> >
> > > The Hermit Hacker wrote:
> > > >
> > > > what's wrong wth "Post-Gres-QL"?
> > > >
> > > > I find it soooo simple to pronounce *shrug*
> > >
> > > Mee too. And I'm not sure if anybody pronounces PG the same
> > > way. Is it PeeGee or PiG (in which case we'd have the wrong
> > > animal in our logo).
> >
> > Actually, the one that gets me is those that refer to it as Postgres
> > ... postgres was a project out of Berkeley way back in the 80's, early
> > 90's ... hell, it was based on a PostQuel language ... this ain't
> > postgres, its only based on it :(
>
> Personally, I say P-G-Sequel or Post-Grease-S-Q-L.
>
> And I have to say that "postgresql" has one of the worst
> names of any software I've ever encountered. I'm entirely
> in sympathy with the "suit" who suggested calling it "PG".
>
> I would go further and say that in the near future when some milestone
> is reached (say, the addition of outer joins?) it might be a good idea
> to mark the occasion with a name change of some sort.

I don't think so ... we changed the name 4+ years ago, and, quite frankly,
have worked for 4+ years at building an identity around that ... ppl know
what PostgreSQL is, and what it represents ... could you imagine someone
changing Apache, or Linux, or Oracle? I really don't see what is so hard
about pronouncing Post-Gres-QL ... *shrug*

The Hermit Hacker <scrappy(at)hub(dot)org> writes:
> I don't think so ... we changed the name 4+ years ago, and, quite frankly,
> have worked for 4+ years at building an identity around that ... ppl know
> what PostgreSQL is, and what it represents ... could you imagine someone
> changing Apache, or Linux, or Oracle? I really don't see what is so hard
> about pronouncing Post-Gres-QL ... *shrug*

The name is certainly ugly, but it's got history behind it: it gives
appropriate credit to those who went before us. (Don't forget that
the roots of this project go back twenty-odd years.) There's unlikely
to be much support around here for changing the name, no matter what
alternative is offered.

FWIW, I say "post-gres-cue-ell", same as Marc.

regards, tom lane

On Mon, 21 Aug 2000, Tom Lane wrote:

> The Hermit Hacker <scrappy(at)hub(dot)org> writes:
> > I don't think so ... we changed the name 4+ years ago, and, quite frankly,
> > have worked for 4+ years at building an identity around that ... ppl know
> > what PostgreSQL is, and what it represents ... could you imagine someone
> > changing Apache, or Linux, or Oracle? I really don't see what is so hard
> > about pronouncing Post-Gres-QL ... *shrug*
>
> The name is certainly ugly, but it's got history behind it: it gives
> appropriate credit to those who went before us. (Don't forget that
> the roots of this project go back twenty-odd years.) There's unlikely
> to be much support around here for changing the name, no matter what
> alternative is offered.
>
> FWIW, I say "post-gres-cue-ell", same as Marc.

I think we need to get this put up on the main page in big bold letters as
one of those "dictionary pronounciation" sort of things so that it the
first thing that ppl learn when they hit our site :)

On Tue, 22 Aug 2000, The Hermit Hacker wrote:

> On Mon, 21 Aug 2000, Tom Lane wrote:
>
> > The Hermit Hacker <scrappy(at)hub(dot)org> writes:
> > > I don't think so ... we changed the name 4+ years ago, and, quite frankly,
> > > have worked for 4+ years at building an identity around that ... ppl know
> > > what PostgreSQL is, and what it represents ... could you imagine someone
> > > changing Apache, or Linux, or Oracle? I really don't see what is so hard
> > > about pronouncing Post-Gres-QL ... *shrug*
> >
> > The name is certainly ugly, but it's got history behind it: it gives
> > appropriate credit to those who went before us. (Don't forget that
> > the roots of this project go back twenty-odd years.) There's unlikely
> > to be much support around here for changing the name, no matter what
> > alternative is offered.
> >
> > FWIW, I say "post-gres-cue-ell", same as Marc.
>
> I think we need to get this put up on the main page in big bold letters as
> one of those "dictionary pronounciation" sort of things so that it the
> first thing that ppl learn when they hit our site :)

Or an embedded audio file? :)

Vince.
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The Hermit Hacker wrote:
>
> On Mon, 21 Aug 2000, Tom Lane wrote:
>
> > The Hermit Hacker <scrappy(at)hub(dot)org> writes:
> > > I don't think so ... we changed the name 4+ years ago, and, quite frankly,
> > > have worked for 4+ years at building an identity around that ... ppl know
> > > what PostgreSQL is, and what it represents ... could you imagine someone
> > > changing Apache, or Linux, or Oracle? I really don't see what is so hard
> > > about pronouncing Post-Gres-QL ... *shrug*
> >
> > The name is certainly ugly, but it's got history behind it: it gives
> > appropriate credit to those who went before us. (Don't forget that
> > the roots of this project go back twenty-odd years.) There's unlikely
> > to be much support around here for changing the name, no matter what
> > alternative is offered.
> >
> > FWIW, I say "post-gres-cue-ell", same as Marc.
>
> I think we need to get this put up on the main page in big bold letters as
> one of those "dictionary pronounciation" sort of things so that it the
> first thing that ppl learn when they hit our site :)

We in spanish speaking areas, are clueless most of the times when pronouncing
english names when speaking to non-english speakers, or when mixing english
words with spanish words. As to PostgreSQL, I pronounce it (in spanish)
"postgres" "s" "q" "l" inevitably doubling the "s", and hardly saying the "t".
Alternatively, I'd just say "postgres" as most of the people hasn't ever heard
about Berkeley's ages old project. Pronouncing it "postgre" "s" "q" "l" is hard
in spanish as the "name" of the letter "s" is "ese", and so saying "postgre"
"ese" "q" "l" is harder (and uglier) to pronounce than "postgres" "s" "q" "l".

Regards,
Haroldo.

> I would go further and say that in the near future when some
> milestone is reached (say, the addition of outer joins?) it
> might be a good idea to mark the occasion with a name change
> of some sort.

In my personal experience, out in the real world, people refer to it as
"Postgres". The QL being a mouthful, and contrary to the common practice
of pronouncing SQL as SEQUEL. While Marc points out that technically
Postgres died when it left Berkeley, that discontinuity is really only
something we choose to acknowledge. As Henry points out, SQL is only one
feature that happened to be added. Apart from not owning the domain
name, why shouldn't it just be "Postgres"?

On Wed, 23 Aug 2000, Chris Bitmead wrote:

>
> > I would go further and say that in the near future when some
> > milestone is reached (say, the addition of outer joins?) it
> > might be a good idea to mark the occasion with a name change
> > of some sort.
>
> In my personal experience, out in the real world, people refer to it
> as "Postgres". The QL being a mouthful, and contrary to the common
> practice of pronouncing SQL as SEQUEL. While Marc points out that
> technically Postgres died when it left Berkeley, that discontinuity is
> really only something we choose to acknowledge. As Henry points out,
> SQL is only one feature that happened to be added. Apart from not
> owning the domain name, why shouldn't it just be "Postgres"?

4 years ago we discussed what to rename the project, since Postgres95
wasn't considerd a very "long term name" (kinda like Windows2000), and
PostgreSQL was choosen, as it both represented our roots as well as what
we've grown into ... we've spent 4 years now building up a market presence
with that name, getting it known so that ppl know what it is ... changing
it now is not an option. If PostgreSQL were considered a bad name, maybe
... look at MySQL with their new "MaxSQL" product ... but it isn't, and is
growing stronger ...

The Hermit Hacker wrote:

> 4 years ago we discussed what to rename the project, since Postgres95
> wasn't considerd a very "long term name" (kinda like Windows2000), and
> PostgreSQL was choosen, as it both represented our roots as well as what
> we've grown into ... we've spent 4 years now building up a market presence
> with that name,

Question: Did it work? Or are people really calling it Postgres instead?
Kind of like Coca Cola. At some point in time they realised people
weren't calling it Coca Cola anymore, they were calling it Coke. So
instead of resisting the inevitable - trying to educate people to ask
for a "Coca Cola", they accepted it, trademarked the name "Coke", and
started putting "Coke" on all their products.

> getting it known so that ppl know what it is ... changing
> it now is not an option. If PostgreSQL were considered a bad name, maybe
> ... look at MySQL with their new "MaxSQL" product ... but it isn't, and is
> growing stronger ...

When someone asks me what RDBMS our company uses for most projects and I say
post-gray 'Es Queue El' everyone always says "Huh? Post-what?"

I love the product but the name is a bitch of a tongue twister. It's strange
to say and doesn't roll off the tongue very well. Still, after I repeat
myself a few times they generally end up calling it "Postgres" all on their
own -- I guess there is some natural inclination for people to move from
post-gray 'Es Queue El' to plain old "Postgres"...

It's becoming more and more known even if it is a bit of a strange name at
first so I think it will all work out just fine..

-Mitch

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Bitmead" <chrisb(at)nimrod(dot)itg(dot)telstra(dot)com(dot)au>
To: "PostgreSQL HACKERS" <pgsql-hackers(at)postgreSQL(dot)org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2000 5:42 PM
Subject: Re: [HACKERS] How Do You Pronounce "PostgreSQL"?

> The Hermit Hacker wrote:
>
> > 4 years ago we discussed what to rename the project, since Postgres95
> > wasn't considerd a very "long term name" (kinda like Windows2000), and
> > PostgreSQL was choosen, as it both represented our roots as well as what
> > we've grown into ... we've spent 4 years now building up a market
presence
> > with that name,
>
> Question: Did it work? Or are people really calling it Postgres instead?
> Kind of like Coca Cola. At some point in time they realised people
> weren't calling it Coca Cola anymore, they were calling it Coke. So
> instead of resisting the inevitable - trying to educate people to ask
> for a "Coca Cola", they accepted it, trademarked the name "Coke", and
> started putting "Coke" on all their products.
>
> > getting it known so that ppl know what it is ... changing
> > it now is not an option. If PostgreSQL were considered a bad name,
maybe
> > ... look at MySQL with their new "MaxSQL" product ... but it isn't, and
is
> > growing stronger ...
>

From: "Mitch Vincent" <mitch(at)venux(dot)net>

> When someone asks me what RDBMS our company uses for most projects and I
say
> post-gray 'Es Queue El' everyone always says "Huh? Post-what?"
>
> I love the product but the name is a bitch of a tongue twister. It's
strange
> to say and doesn't roll off the tongue very well.

Just a small detail for evvybuddy: "Postgres," -- dot-com, dot-net, and I
stopped checking after that -- have belonged to some company called, uh,
Great Bridge, in Norfolk Virginia, since April 20th.

I don't make these strange and wonderful stories up...

-dlj.

On Mon, Aug 21, 2000 at 07:55:00PM -0700, Joe Brenner wrote:
...
> And I have to say that "postgresql" has one of the worst
> names of any software I've ever encountered. I'm entirely
> in sympathy with the "suit" who suggested calling it "PG".

Like the tea-bags ;-)