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It’s time to free JavaScript (2024)

javascript.tm

41–50 of 393 posts

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

#41
Oh, this reminds me of the horror days when Oracle deliberately rolled out spyware (Ask Toolbar) in the JRE (Java Runtime Environment) installer, that corporate admins and developers/testers inadvertently installed on millions of PCs.

Oracle never apologised for this sudden hijack (of an executable that was trusted and used by millions of IT people) and malicious behavior (no prior information given by Oracle for this malpractice), if I recall right.

I am sure that disaster was a wake up call for many developers and corporations to move away from Java dependency.

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

#42
post #24

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.

The irony is I belive the JavaScript creator wtnted to latch to Java's popularity to called it JavaScript and now both Java and JavaScript are owned by Oracle and they want the name but not want to change is to ECMAScript, it's real official name.

> and now both Java and JavaScript are owned by

"Now" makes it sound like this is a recent acquisition of the JavaScript trademark. Oracle obtained it in 2009 as a result of the Sun purchase and if I remember correctly, Sun initially was issued the trademark back in the 90s sometimes.

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

#43
post #29
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

> But ultimately it is up to a judge to decide. Right? I think we are getting a rude awakening about what is legal versus what is actually right are not always the same thing. There are some the horrible, horrible things here and the laws need updating, as opposed to us simply saying this is for a judge to decide and there is nothing else we can do. I am ok with ditching the JavaScript name. I understand this cuts th…

> I think we are getting a rude awakening about what is legal versus what is actually right are not always the same thing.

I'm not sure who "we" are here (Americans perhaps?), but humanity as a whole have known this for a long time, and acted accordingly. This is why presidents in some countries have the right to pardon people, as just one very evident example. That the USA exists as a country today is another example, which at the time when they were trying to create it, was clearly illegal, but since winners write history, still a "good" action.

The the laws aren't 100% unambiguous and strict is also another example, so there is room for interpretation, as something can be "by the book legal" but because of the clear evil motivations and "ignoring the spirit of the law", still be illegal. Of course, highly dependent on the country and lots of counter-examples.

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

#44

Imagine if this effort was spent on solving more pressing problems, like the recent yet another security kerfuffle, or the overloaded maintainers whom everyone depends on but reliably fails to support. Call the language JS, everyone already understands it, it's used on all the logos because it's short, we already another popular language with a very compact name (Go, which is harder to look up without mangling its na…

> Go, which is harder to look up without mangling its name

don't get me started on typescript. Until recently I had to use its full name when googling something

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

#45
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But everyone already calls it JS. I think the transition would have been so much easier if the official name started with "J".

Like JunoScript or JangoScript? JavaScript is just very outdated ECMAScript.

soulJaboy Script

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

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It is pronounced like that, typically

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

#47
post #24

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.

The irony is I belive the JavaScript creator wtnted to latch to Java's popularity to called it JavaScript and now both Java and JavaScript are owned by Oracle and they want the name but not want to change is to ECMAScript, it's real official name.

Exactly, I remember how it was renamed just before "launch" to JavaScript from something else I don't remember

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

#48
Important to remember Oracle is one of the most evil tech companies, and Larry Ellison is your prototypical evil villain. Oracle CEO Catz recently said "We are not flexible regarding our mission, and our commitment to Israel is second to none" and "if they don't agree with our mission to support the State of Israel, then maybe we aren't the right company for them".

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

#49

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.

But everyone already calls it JS. I think the transition would have been so much easier if the official name started with "J".

JECMAScript

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

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I've only ever heard it pronounced as "EcmaScript" not E-C-M-A Script"
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