[Haskell-cafe] Time for a new logo?

[Niklas Broberg]

> And who knows category theory? Almost nobody. If you insist on naming stuff
> after things that nobody will have heard of and which sound highly
> technical, you're going to seriously limit your potential audience.

If you insist on naming stuff ad hoc, you're going to seriously limit
the appeal of the language for those who care about correctness and
mathematical concepts. No matter which way you go, there'll be someone
who isn't quite content. But there are already a plethora of languages
out there that don't care about correctness. Haskell is one of few
languages that cater to the scientific community primarily, and it has
come where it is today because of that, of staying true to theory
instead of taking the pragmatic approach. That's just one reason I
prefer Haskell over all the mainstream languages.

Also, you're picking examples that make it sound far worse than it
really is. I don't have the least clue about category theory, but
knowing what a hylomorphism is (which I don't) is hardly something you
need to be a proficient Haskell programmer (which I am). Existential
quantification on the other hand, that's really something every
programmer should know what it is.

Programming is an engineering art, and I wouldn't want my programs to
be written by someone uneducated in such matters anymore than I would
like my lines fixed by a self-taught electrician. We can and should
expect something of the practitioners of our discipline. And we should
set the bar accordingly, to induce the will to learn rather than a
feeling that you don't need to know. That's not elitism, it's
pragmatism, for the improvement of programs and programming.

Oh, and I really like the \\= logo, very neat! :-)

Cheers,

/Niklas