Rename the project

[leouieda]

Right now, this project is called "GMT/Python". But that's not a valid package name so we import gmt. But we can't call our repository, PyPI and conda packages gmt so they'll have to be gmt-python. This is kind of crazy. Plus, import gmt confuses a lot of beginners.

Clearly we need a new name.

Both pygmt and gmtpy have been used before but they were never registered on PyPI so we can still use those names. I don't really like those two options much but they are certainly better than what we have right now.

Are there any other suggestions?

[leouieda]

Pinging @GenericMappingTools/gmt-python @liamtoney @weiji14 @akshmakov @mjziebarth

[weiji14]

Why not just go with GMT-Python? Use gmt-python as the PyPI package name just to be consistent with conda, and import gmtpython to import the package (no hyphen). This is about the same as scikit-image and scikit-learn which uses import skimage and import sklearn respectively (note no hyphen also).

Oh, and for reference on package naming, there's PEP8.

[leouieda]

That's a fair point but then we're not any better off. It's still confusing that you install one thing and import another. That's something I really dislike about scikit-learn and scikit-image. I'm sure they'd rename if they could but they've already been around for too long. We don't have an official release yet so it's the perfect time to do this right. I would prefer to have the repository, import, and PyPI package names be the same.

If we go with gmtpython then I'd prefer to never have the hyphen in there. We can always import gmtpython as gp or import gmtpython as gmt to keep things short. This isn't a bad idea actually and would be minimally disruptive.

[liamtoney]

This option would be shorter, and could allow for a repo name that is also consistent:

conda install pygmt

import pygmt

GenericMappingTools/PyGMT

PyGMT

A Python interface to the Generic Mapping Tools (GMT)

[liamtoney]

Or, taking @weiji14's idea above and making it entirely consistent, even with case. The title is less stylish, but then things are truly unambiguous, which is valuable in my opinion...

conda install gmtpython

import gmtpython as gmt

GenericMappingTools/gmtpython

gmtpython

A Python interface to the Generic Mapping Tools (GMT)

[leouieda]

@liamtoney that's my favorite between pygmt and gmtpy. I'm still hoping for some clever/funny name to come along, though 😉

I know @PaulWessel is a Monty Python fan so something related to that might be interesting. Are there any Monty Python jokes related to mapping?

[liamtoney]

@leouieda I think I've found the answer. For reference, see here. 😜

conda install airspeedvelocityofanunladenswallow

import airspeedvelocityofanunladenswallow as gmt

GenericMappingTools/airspeedvelocityofanunladenswallow

airspeedvelocityofanunladenswallow

A Python interface to the Generic Mapping Tools (GMT)

[leouieda]

@liamtoney actually, there is already an "airspeed velocity" Python package (https://github.com/airspeed-velocity/asv) :(

[liamtoney]

And that above comment was in jest, anyhow. :)

On a more serious note, while I like the idea of a "punny" name, isn't it important to have a short package name that gives some indication of the package topic?

[leouieda]

Yeah, having a clear and concise name would be optimal. Just putting it out there in case anyone has a good idea :)

[leouieda]

I'm leaning towards pygmt. Can I get a 👍 or 👎 on that?

[weiji14]

@liamtoney that's my favorite between pygmt and gmtpy. I'm still hoping for some clever/funny name to come along, though 😉

No idea why, but I had this dream this morning and woke up with this name "GMighTy". Since GMT is a powerful and awesome library, mighty seems like a good word for it 😄 And as you've all mentioned, we could do something like:

import gmighty as gmt

I did consider something like gmightpy or gmighpy, just to have the Py of Python in it, but they're hard to pronounce and Ty sounds enough like Py 🤷‍♂️.

[leouieda]

@weiji14 🤣 that was certainly very different from all other suggestions! +1 for creativity and thinking outside the box 🥇