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earthstar-project / willowprotocol.org

The Willow Protocol website.
https://willowprotocol.org
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Clarify 'protocol' adjacent terminology #59

Open sgwilym opened 6 months ago

sgwilym commented 6 months ago

No I think you are right, this isn't a protocol. Its a protocol generator...

"higher order" is some nonsense, and would make me shy away from using it...

We should be very precise around terminology like "specification", "protocol", "data type". That particular quote is by a person who should be complaining about calling the data model a "protocol", not about calling it "higher-order" instead of the more accurate (and arcane) "higher-kinded".

sgwilym commented 6 months ago

My position on this:

For the vast majority of people, it's easier to start from the (incorrect) terminology of "Willow protocol" and explain your way to what it actually is, than to use correct yet completely befuddling language that disorients people from the moment they start reading.

For example, a sidenote explicitly acknowledging that no, so-and-so is not strictly a protocol.

Also on an extremely practical note, our (now established) domain is willowprotocol.org.