It is hard to guess the behavior of the yank subcommand of the publish command for non-native speakers

[chikoski]

The name of the yank subcommand of the publish command is confusing enough for me to make my interface package yanked unintentionally. The names of commands should be clear so that non-native English speakers can guess their behavior with less effort.

I understand yank means "making it unavailable for use" in this context, but I need 5 English-Japanese dictionaries and 15mins
to find the meaning.

[calvinrp]

Thanks for pointing this out as confusing. Do you think it should be renamed? Or just requires clearer description and messaging in the CLI?

[lann]

This terminology is borrowed from Rust's cargo yank. I don't know that there is a single better word for the operation (suggestions welcome!) but it is quite likely that documentation and UX around the operation could be improved. I suspect that it should probably be gated by a confirmation prompt that describes the consequences.

edit: tracking confirmation in #289

[chikoski]

Thanks for sharing the context.

Do you think it should be renamed? Or just requires clearer description and messaging in the CLI?

I believe the subcommand requires more clearer description in the help messages, at least.

As for the changing name, the following words popped up in my mind:

• revoke
• disable
• drop
• deactivate

[dfoxfranke]

I hate to introduce yet another new term rather than just use the same one as other languages' registries, even if it's imperfect. But if we must, then how about "retract"?

[calvinrp]

In #290 PR, added a confirmation message that defaults to no

`Yank` revokes a version, making it unavailable. It is permanent and cannot be reversed.
Yank `{version}` of `{package}`?

Not sure that this fully resolves this issue, but hopefully an improvement.

[lann]

Another reference: https://pypi.org/help/#yanked