MATE... why the caps?

[Moem]

Does anyone know why Mate is so often spelled MATE? After all, it's the name of a herb, not an acronym like KDE, as far as I know. And we don't spell CINNAMON. Any ideas?

[Lucap]

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3052

Clem uses all uppercase.

[Moem]

So he does, but the question is why. Was that unclear?

[Lucap]

Maybe it would have been better if i posted " I blame Clem for starting the trend "

[Fred Barclay]

I can't tell you why, but actually Clem didn't start this trend. The MATE developers use all-caps:
http://www.mate-desktop.com/

So...
I blame the upstream devs.

[BenTrabetere]

I think it goes back to the beginning.
See viewtopic.php?f=206&t=86481

MATE Desktop Environment, a non-intuitive and unattractive desktop for users, using traditional computing desktop metaphor. Also known as the GNOME2 fork.

He deserves two votes for that.

[Pjotr]

My guess is: it's a fork of GNOME 2, which is all caps. So perhaps the caps have been "inherited", in order to hint at the GNOME it has been forked from...

[Cosmo.]

The name was originally all capital letters to follow the nomenclature of other Free Software desktop environments like KDE and LXDE.

[Moem]

Thank you, Cosmo, you've come through for me again.
I should have looked on Wikipedia myself. I feel a bit silly that I didn't think of that.

Nevertheless, I'll keep writing 'Mate'. I don't think the reason is very compelling, and 'MATE' just feels like you're shouting.

Yerba mate is a pretty interesting herb by the way. I've had it in hot 'tea' form and also in the cold soft drink variant (many people are familiar with Club Mate, but there are many other brands/flavours, I've tried at least ten or so.) It wakes you up, but doesn't make you nervous and doesn't make your hands shake. It just seems to keep you sharp/alert.

[pdhunter1987]

Hi MOEM!

Not sure why, maybe MATE is actually Australian and it isn't "may Tay" like everyone says, but Mate like, "how ya going MATE".

Maybe the author wanted to stress that "yelling" MATE will get people's attention.

My 50c...

[Tech Freak]

Hi MOEM!

Not sure why, maybe MATE is actually Australian and it isn't "may Tay" like everyone says, but Mate like, "how ya going MATE".

Maybe the author wanted to stress that "yelling" MATE will get people's attention.

My 50c...

Nope, Cosmo's reply suits the question of the TS. Has got nothing to do with the Australian mate or shouting/yelling. IF it is about shouting/yelling, then KDE, GNOME, LXDE, etc is also shouting/yelling or trying to get attention.

MATE (acc. the MATE website):

The name “MATE”, pronounced Ma-Tay, comes from yerba maté, a species of holly native to subtropical South America. Its leaves contain caffeine and are used to make infusions and a beverage called mate.

Oh yes.. it is pronounced Ma-Tay.. and yes, has got nothing to do with Aussies.

[pdhunter1987]

Hi MOEM!

Not sure why, maybe MATE is actually Australian and it isn't "may Tay" like everyone says, but Mate like, "how ya going MATE".

Maybe the author wanted to stress that "yelling" MATE will get people's attention.

My 50c...

Nope, Cosmo's reply suits the question of the TS. Has got nothing to do with the Australian mate or shouting/yelling. IF it is about shouting/yelling, then KDE, GNOME, LXDE, etc is also shouting/yelling or trying to get attention.

MATE (acc. the MATE website):

The name “MATE”, pronounced Ma-Tay, comes from yerba maté, a species of holly native to subtropical South America. Its leaves contain caffeine and are used to make infusions and a beverage called mate.

Oh yes.. it is pronounced Ma-Tay.. and yes, has got nothing to do with Aussies.

Haha! Sorry Tech Freak! I must of forgot to use my "sarcastic" font.

Depends what part of the planet you live is how you pronounce things. (See: Australian: Tomatoes, American: ToMATEoes)

Ma-Tay, Mah Tay, matteh, Mate.
Like GNOME, Guhnome, Gnomey.

Oh and another thing, if it really is "MATE" why isn't the mate website URL "www.MATE-desktop.com" ??

Quite funny watching YouTube videos with these different pronunciations!
But yes, you are quite right with your answer.
True Story.

[BG405]

In my opinion, "Maté" should be the correct spelling as that is how we are meant to pronounce it.

[all41]

I suppose the pronunciation is determined regionally

[Doug B]

In my opinion, "Maté" should be the correct spelling as that is how we are meant to pronounce it.

Yes, IF there is an accent mark over the 'e' ; but it's usually just MATE or Mate.

[Kilwillie]

Xfce's developers changed its capitalization once they determined it didn't stand for anything.

From Wikipedia:

Olivier Fourdan started the project in 1996 as a Linux version of the Common Desktop Environment (CDE),[6][7] a Unix desktop environment that was initially proprietary and later released as free software.[8] However, after a dozen years of development and several major versions, Xfce has diverged from CDE and stands on its own. The name "Xfce" originally stood for "XForms Common Environment", but since that time Xfce has been rewritten twice and no longer uses the XForms toolkit. The name survived, but it is no longer capitalized as "XFCE", but rather as "Xfce". The developers' current stance is that the initialism no longer stands for anything specific. It has been nicknamed "Cholesterol Free Desktop Environment".[citation needed] Another possibility X Freakin' Cool Environment is suggested at Xfce Wiki. As a result, Xfce is currently an acronym that doesn't stand for anything.