The real reason and A reinterpretation for the GNU generation

When I first got onto the internet, I spent some time deciding on a name to use with my ISP. I was very much attached to the idea of using the Spanish language, and I was also influenced by my experiences of travelling solo (solito!) around Mexico when I was twenty or so. Eventually, I resorted to scanning the map of Mexico looking for likely names, and I found "Agua Azul", the name of some waterfalls in the jungle in the state of Chiapas. I had actually passed there on my travels, but I had not visited because it was some way from the road.

So, I was very happy with this name. Little did I know at the time that I chose the domain name that I would end up visiting Agua Azul falls some eight or nine years later to take part in a course "The Power of the Jungle" (photos) run by the AVP (a Toltec group lead by Victor Sanchez) -- little did I know that the place and name were sacred to other people too.

More recently, when I was looking for some independence from my original ISP, I decided to get my own domain name. After trying many possibilities, I settled on Uazú as a short form of aguazul. The second U is stressed, so it is pronounced "wa-ZU".

The logo started off as some ASCII-art for my .signature, and ended up as the colourful version you see on this site (thanks to MetaPost). In case you haven't worked it out, it is a Mexican pyramid, a bit like some of the many ruins you can find around Mexico, including those at Palenque, not too far from Agua Azul falls. These pyramids were originally highly coloured, I believe, although perhaps not quite like mine!

So that is the real story of the name Uazú ...

... but for the benefit of the GNU generation, I have invented a reinterpretation of the name that fits into the free-software passion for technical innovation in the use of acronyms and general cleverness. I hope that this will be the first overloaded tail-recursive nonsense acronym in the whole GNU world.

In a strange programming language I've invented specially for the purpose, I'm defining UAZU as follows:

def UAZU = Unleash a zebu, UAZU!
def UAZU = Unseat a zombie, UAZU!

Obviously '!' means 'expand the previous symbol', and the choice of which definition to use in the case of overloading is decided by the rule: "anything but the one we've just had". Applying these rules lazily, we end up with something close to poetry:

Unleash a zebu,
Unseat a zombie,
Unleash a zebu,
Unseat a zombie,
Unleash a zebu,
Unseat a zombie,
Unleash a zebu, UAZU!

The Z was the key to this nonsense definition, as there are so few words beginning with 'Z'. According to my dictionary, a zebu is "an oxlike domestic animal of Asia and Africa", so this fits in well with existing conventions in the use of acronyms in the GNU world.

As this is nonsense poetry, however, any meaning you see in this is purely a figment of your imagination!  ;-)

-- Jim

P.S. A quick quote from Fight Club to counter any cleverness overload: "How's it working out for you?   What?   Being clever.   Erm, great.   Well, keep it up, then ..." (this requires the rest of the movie to provide context, so go and see it if you haven't already)

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