There has been a fair bit of back and forth on the subject of what and how we call the network, the broader community, etc. This can seem picky, but it has a lot of ramifications which we should be aware of as we go forward, trying to form a cohesive community. This conversation has happened on a number of channels here and elsewhere, over an extended period of time, so I want to re-up the conversation here with my input.
@frabrunelle made the following input on a separate conversation:
basically the way I see it is that Project SAFE means the community (e.g. meetups, podcasts, blogs, app developers, etc.) and also the fact that it’s a big project and we are all working towards the goal of privacy, security and freedom for everyone in our own ways. I think it’s valuable to have term that can gather people from many projects (e.g. SAFE Network, SAFE OS, SAFEpress, SAFE Laptop, SAFE Phone, SAFE mesh, etc.) instead of having everything under the term SAFE Network. for me the distinction is very clear. this is why my newsletter is called Project SAFE News, because it posts updates from not only SAFE Network but also other projects that are related. while in the case of a forum (for example), it makes sense to have one forum per project.
but I can understand that people have a different definition or find it confusing. I think for consumers we will only talk about SAFE Network. Project SAFE is more for advanced users and curious people. the site that consumers would go to would be something like safenetwork.org or safenetwork.io (I think .org is more user-friendly though, I imagine .io would be to target geeks or devs).
as for SAFE Network vs safenet, I think I prefer SAFE Network because it makes it clear that it’s an acronym. SAFE (Secure Access For Everyone) Network. and I imagine the shorthand would probably simply be SAFE. safenet is fine but I am not convinced it’s necessarily better just because it’s shorter.
there is also the question of SAFE Network vs Safe Network. I think the latter one looks cleaner but again it’s nice to have the emphasis on the acronym from the former. it also makes it even more unambiguous what we are referring to.
On these points, as @frabrunelle laid out above, I agree completely. There is one point I’d like to clarify, though. There needs to be consistency on a publications, “authoritative” level as to style points. That’s why I consistently use SAFE Network in my conversations, because I’m geeky when it comes to editorial style. However, what these things are called in the wild, and how they’re written is not something we can prescribe, only guide by example. But there is not necessarily a homogenous “we”.
I’ve claimed the loose position of senior editor for style, etc., for the project and so far nobody has objected. All input from Nick Lambert and others has been positive. So FYI, here are the Project SAFE Editorial Style Sheet and Project SAFE Glossary project links:
As laid out in these docs, these are community projects. Input is welcome and encouraged. How we talk to each other or others is whatever we chose to do. That will evolve with time. But for consistency, I’ve laid out guidelines that we can use to not confuse people on a publications/outward-facing level. Where the lines surrounding “publications/outward-facing level” would fall is also not definite, so I tend default by sticking to a consistent style which already has been debated with some measure of consensus reached. Some of the style decisions are arbitrary, just because it helps to decide. Everything is open to debate, but hopefully not too much.
There isn’t necessarily a “right” way to do it, but some consistency will help the community get on the same page, especially as it grows.
That’s my input. What do y’all think? (check out the docs, if you haven’t.)
