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It’s time to free JavaScript (2024)

javascript.tm

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Re: It’s time to free JavaScript (2024)

#11

I actually think that people should rather use EcmaScript name instead of JavaScript, because it's a way better name (much less confusing, given that this lang doesn't have anything to do with Java anyway). I wish Oracle started suing people to force everyone to use the better name.

Apart from anything else, ECMAScript is a mouthful! Eeh-cee-emm-ay-script. Five syllables.

Don't most people just pronounce it Eck-ma?

Re: It’s time to free JavaScript (2024)

#12

I actually think that people should rather use EcmaScript name instead of JavaScript, because it's a way better name (much less confusing, given that this lang doesn't have anything to do with Java anyway). I wish Oracle started suing people to force everyone to use the better name.

Apart from anything else, ECMAScript is a mouthful! Eeh-cee-emm-ay-script. Five syllables.

Since the association renamed itself to “Ecma International” in 1994, I believe we can just call it Eck-mah-script.

Re: It’s time to free JavaScript (2024)

#13

I actually think that people should rather use EcmaScript name instead of JavaScript, because it's a way better name (much less confusing, given that this lang doesn't have anything to do with Java anyway). I wish Oracle started suing people to force everyone to use the better name.

Apart from anything else, ECMAScript is a mouthful! Eeh-cee-emm-ay-script. Five syllables.

It's a genuinely terrible name.

Maybe it should just be pronounced eck-ma-script so it's got the same number of syllables as ja-va-script.

Re: It’s time to free JavaScript (2024)

#15

I actually think that people should rather use EcmaScript name instead of JavaScript, because it's a way better name (much less confusing, given that this lang doesn't have anything to do with Java anyway). I wish Oracle started suing people to force everyone to use the better name.

Apart from anything else, ECMAScript is a mouthful! Eeh-cee-emm-ay-script. Five syllables.

And it sounds like a skin condition.

Re: It’s time to free JavaScript (2024)

#16

I actually think that people should rather use EcmaScript name instead of JavaScript, because it's a way better name (much less confusing, given that this lang doesn't have anything to do with Java anyway). I wish Oracle started suing people to force everyone to use the better name.

Who are "people"? How would all of this start?

In terms of standard, the specs already use "ECMAScript" and don't even mention JavaScript (https://github.com/tc39/ecma262/), although TC39 website does use it frequently. I guess they could officially recommend people stop using "JavaScript", but I doubt they care.

Otherwise, the petitioner Deno here is only a small part of the ecosystem and barely controls anything (and really nobody other than TC39 controls anything, which is good). They (or anyone else) can't just shout "stop saying JavaScript!" and expect people to follow.

Not to mention JavaScript is a simple, easy to pronounce word compared to ECMAScript despite the baggage, which is probably why they chose it in the first place.

Let's say the "JavaScript" name is officially deprecated somehow. People will continue to use the name for as long as it exists.

So Deno's petition tackles these problems, addresses the root cause and appears to be legally viable. That is the "right thing to do" here. Avoiding the name does not solve the problem. It never does.

Re: It’s time to free JavaScript (2024)

#17

I actually think that people should rather use EcmaScript name instead of JavaScript, because it's a way better name (much less confusing, given that this lang doesn't have anything to do with Java anyway). I wish Oracle started suing people to force everyone to use the better name.

> because it's a way better name (much less confusing, given that this lang doesn't have anything to do with Java anyway).

Probably if we were in the early 2000s this could have been a battle worth fighting. But considering we're in 2025 and probably more people are aware of JavaScript than Java at this point, even when you're deep in enterprise-land, I'm not sure it'd be less confusing.

Anyways, you're about two decades too late to this discussion :/

Re: It’s time to free JavaScript (2024)

#18

I actually think that people should rather use EcmaScript name instead of JavaScript, because it's a way better name (much less confusing, given that this lang doesn't have anything to do with Java anyway). I wish Oracle started suing people to force everyone to use the better name.

> people should rather use EcmaScript name instead of JavaScript

Or go back to calling it “LiveScript”

Re: It’s time to free JavaScript (2024)

#19

I actually think that people should rather use EcmaScript name instead of JavaScript, because it's a way better name (much less confusing, given that this lang doesn't have anything to do with Java anyway). I wish Oracle started suing people to force everyone to use the better name.

That boat sailed soooo many years ago tho. Oracle has no business claiming javascript as a trademark.

Oracle is in the business of bullying others using their big legal dept.

We all know this.

> Oracle has no business claiming javascript as a trademark.

You think so. That's okay. But ultimately it is up to a judge to decide. Right?

I agree with the EcmaScript. Just ditch the stupid name. Get all the petition signers to agree an move on. Fuck Oracle. Fuck JavaScript (it's nothing like Java anyway).

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