Word origins (mnensia and mnemosyne)

[Bjarne Däcker]

Hi

> I'm curious about the origins of the words mnensia and
> mnemosyne. A search in web dictionaries gives no answers,
> so I assume the words are concocted by the creators of the
> mnensia and mnemosyne applications -- but on what basis?

Claes Wikström (known as "Klacke")called the prototype DBMS "Amnesia"
but he said that he had forgotten why!
When it was turned into a product
management didn't think it proper to
use such a name so we just removed
the initial "a-" which we believe is a
negation in old Greek. Then Hans
Nilsson selected the name Mnemosyne
which we think is some Greek god.
It also happens to be the name of
some species of butterflies.

Happy New Year

Bjarne