On 11/16/2005 05:43 AM, James Knott wrote:
Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 11/15/2005 08:14 PM, Philipp Thomas wrote:
On Tue, 15 Nov 2005 20:16:29 -0500, Steven T. Hatton wrote:
If you don't know what SuSE means, look it up.
Wrong, it's SUSE. The special meaning it once had is purely historical.
Do you mean that SUSE is no longer a "Gesellschaft für Software und System Entwicklung"?
It's not uncommon for companies to register an acronym as a trade name. One example would be IBM. IIRC, "IBM" is a registered trademark. Hardly anyone says "International Business Machines" these days. Apparently you missed the devious grin I added many lines further down (intentionally so), below the bottom of most peoples' screens. But since you mention this, the company was originally named "Gesellschaft für Software und System Entwicklung mbH" -- S.u.S.E GmbH -- which translates (quite literally) to "Company for Software and System Development, having limited liability." On this side of the Big Pond, that becomes S.u.S.E. Co., Ltd.
I really don't know why so many at suse refer to this as having once been some "special meaning" as if it originates in some ancient and obscure dead language, or represents some long-forgotten druidic ritual. The periods doubtless confused the blazes out of most non-German speakers, but that is hardly any reason for even the slightest hint of embarrassment over the origins of the corporate name, nor even for slipping in the uppercase "u".