[Foundation-l] Renaming "Flagged Protections"

[Michael Snow]

David Levy wrote:
> William Pietri wrote:
>   
>> I know that these names have been worked over extensively by Jay and
>> Moka, who have a lot of experience dealing with reporters and the
>> general public. They were pretty happy with the two names that were part
>> of the initial proposal from Rob, so I am willing to trust their
>> professional judgment as far as reaction from the press and the person
>> on the street. More, in fact, than I trust my own, as I know that I'm
>> tainted by long years as a programmer and as a participant here and in
>> Ward's wiki.
>>     
> Rob has explicitly asked us to comment on these names and set up a
> forum in which to do so (and propose alternatives).  You've vigorously
> defended the name drawing the most opposition and declined to comment
> on the name drawing the most support, and that's fine.  But please
> don't suggest that we're wasting our time by doing what Rob asked of
> us.
>   
He isn't. You edited out the text William was replying to, but in 
expressing his trust that the public relations professionals have the 
greatest expertise as to how the general public will receive the 
terminology, he was responding directly to speculation about how the 
general public would receive it. There's nothing in that comment to 
suggest that the community should not be involved or is wasting its time.

When dealing with multiple intended audiences (in this case, editors, 
readers, and the media), there is inevitably a balancing act in 
targeting your choice of words. It is unlikely that any name will be 
absolutely perfect for all use cases. Some degree of editorial judgment 
and discretion will have to be applied, and that's exactly the purpose 
of this discussion.

--Michael Snow