Why are we so bad at naming things
GNU isn't a bad name, it's a cool self-referential acronym which also describes what it is really well (GNU's Not UNIX).
The only problem is that those two names exist in the same cultural context.
Google now tells me that's wrong.
I guess Gary Gnu on the Great Space Coaster led me wrong in my formative years.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/En-gnu.o...
..Unless you mean "gnu" as in the animal, then it's like "new" (which I didn't know before).
Google is not an authoritative source on pronouncing words in English. In fact, there are no authoritative sources on pronouncing words in English.
There are references for common usages, but anything that is mutually intellegable is not wrong, even if it's not common usage or listed in the references.
Plenty of people pronounce the g, and plenty of people would know what you mean if you said I graphed this with g'new plot, and not if you said you graphed it with new plot. So, I for one, would prefer if you countinue to voice the g.
Sibling comment to yours helpfully points out the "new" pronunciation is only for the animal, not the open source initiative.
Either way, I blame Gary Gnu. Or maybe I thank him, for getting me ahead of the curve on pronouncing GNU.
Looking at it from the other side: Why are we so hung up on names? It’s not that we shouldn’t, but it’s an interesting topic. A computer doesn’t care as long as a name is syntactically unambiguous and fits the lengths constraints.