Phew, we are almost there, we've reached the last phase of voting. The final list of names is:
All of the above names we have confirmed in at least *.net and *.org, and we even have a few *.com (where possible). There are some new names because the staff held a round to submit and vote also. The above list was created by using the top 5 from both staff and the community, and two extras due to possible copyright issues with two of the names (soylent and apt-get-news).
There were a few names that were nearly identical, the two pairs are listed as one entry (with the variation that got the most points listed first). Should one of these win there will be a runoff to determine which variation gets used. (This is done to keep from splitting the vote for very close names).
The final round of voting will go out within 24 hours after this post and last for one week. We would like to provide an opportunity to discuss the finalists, so here is your chance, discuss below. If you change your mind after seeing an insightful comment, remember you can always change your vote by sending it in again (only most recent will count). We collected a quick writeup from as many submissions as possible to allow for discussion. Some names have more than one advocate due to multiple submitters; conversely, some submitters didn't reply.
islisis writes:
The idea behind this was to highlight the cross-fertilisation and communication of expert community voices I have cherished over the years. I hoped that our site name could represent that value to outsiders. To me, the site is also a record of our experiences through tech events, and a valuable log and testament to the lives which dared to ride the wave.
cosurgi writes:
Our site is cross-logging events from around the world. The "cross" means that various different disciplines are inter weaved together.
gishzida writes:
"Sudo" is a pun on both a *nix shell command to "execute a command as if you are the system superuser" and on the word "Pseudo" i.e. not genuine... both of these things represent the kind of environment our site operates in--- we find news stories, we edit them then we expand upon them factually or contra-factually... laughing, flaming, learning, teaching, and hopefully building friendships and consensus.
gishzida writes:
The name is based on the shell command in some linux distributions [Debian, Ubuntu, etc]. Apt-get is used to reach out to a software repository to obtain and install software. "apt-get-news" reflects the idea that we reach out to get and install news in our community to discuss.
I have been surprised by this community and whatever the name ends up being I know it will be the starting point of something great.
cosurgi writes:
Our site has "natural tendency" to "get" the "news" from around the world. (second meaning of apt on http://www.thefreedictionary.com/apt is "natural tendency")
AudioGuy writes:
This name was interesting to me because it instantly provides knowledge of what the site does, and who it is targeted to, from the very name itself. Grep is a command line program that searches a mass of data for information matching a certain pattern. Our site searches a mass of data ('news') for information ('stories') that match a certain pattern ('would be of interest to our community of users')
Our users are mostly of a somewhat technical bent, and tend to use computers in a fairly sophisticated way, so would likely know what 'grep' means. So just from the name one might assume this was some sort of news aggregation site aimed at more technical users. In this respect, it has some similarity with another, similar sites name.
AudioGuy writes:
Another description of exactly what our site does - it looks for news that is salient to our community of users. It does not indicate a preference for purely technical news.
middlemen writes:
The name "techmatter" is derived from Breaking Bad's "Grey Matter" corporation of which Walter White used to be a part of. Since Soylent News is predominantly a technological oriented website, the name "techmatter" makes sense. It also is safe for work and is easy to market to other folks who are already into technology or who will be part of the community in the future.
Marketing is everything.
AudioGuy writes:
This is a very general name indicating a site that concerns itself with technical matters, that can easily expand its meaning to different uses. I was surprised it was still available.
geottie writes:
Well, pretty simple: our site (& community) is a fork of and has a similar ring to the site we came from and will serve us as a reminder of our effort as a community. The name represents the core values and principles of Free Software & Open Source, which, when followed truly, are always guided by the community. Our community is part of this larger culture/movement and this name will remind us and following generations to continue standing for Freedom and uphold our belief and ability to work towards and defend a genuine, Free Internet for the benefit and advancement of earth, humanity and our society. Huzzah^H^H^H^H^H^H Woot!
(Score: 2, Interesting) by mbadolato on Friday May 16 2014, @04:32PM
It's also a HORRENDOUS piece of code, reminiscent of the crappy PHP code from 5 to 10 years ago. Simply awful. I couldn't believe how outdated and poor that was, for something that's brand new. It is exactly the kind of code that gives PHP and PHP developers such a bad rap*
* Excluding the whole PHP language Fractal of Bad Design thing. PHP applications *can* be clean and free from most of PHP's stupidity.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 16 2014, @04:36PM
Um, you know, as someone who VISITS these sites rather than programs them, I kind of appreciate how it looks outside more than it does inside. Pipedot looks much better, it loads MUCH faster, and I don't have to get all click-happy and navigate down multiple pages to see everyone's replies to a single comment.
In my opinion Soylent's current design is broken to nearly the point of unusability.
(Score: 4, Informative) by drussell on Friday May 16 2014, @05:31PM
I take it you aren't browsing in 'Nested' mode.... Try that.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by fishybell on Friday May 16 2014, @06:06PM
Even with nested mode on, this site isn't as user-friendly as pipedot; simple javascripts (which are optional via preferences) allow inline expanding of nested comments and on-the-fly moderation. Also, blue more pleasing than red. This isn't just about aesthetics, but a real usability problem; there is a reason they use red for errors, stop lights, stop signs, etc.
(Score: 1) by CyprusBlue on Friday May 16 2014, @07:29PM
Javascript comment management is actually built on dev, just not ready yet.
I personally can't wait. This current ui sucks.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday May 16 2014, @07:43PM
So its the colors then, in spite of your denial about it not "just about aesthetics".
The engine stays. Pipedot is crap code, and the usability is not any better than what we have here. It hasn't withstood the test of time or scale.
Your opinion wasn't asked about the engine, only the name.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Informative) by NCommander on Friday May 16 2014, @08:11PM
A revised discussion system (essentially D1.5) is implemented on dev, and will be rolled out in two weeks time with the 06.14 code release (production running slashcode 14.04.6 I think).
Still always moving
(Score: 1) by eliphas_levy on Friday May 16 2014, @11:37PM
Pretty please. I hate slash 2.0 and beta, but 1.0 is holding me down on all things besides reading, some sparing js for comments and replies are a must. Copy some design from pipe, too. Missing slash 1.5 on both slashcode sites, pipe is nicer to read, moderate and reply than both :-)
This is a sigh.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 20 2014, @04:24PM
Bless you! This busier thread in particular was a nightmare to try to read in the DEFAULT INTERFACE PRESENTED BY THIS WEB SITE.
But Nested helps a lot. Thank you!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by tangomargarine on Friday May 16 2014, @06:11PM
Eminently a matter of opinion. I feel very comfortable on SN with the familiar layout and a bit of actual color. Pipedot being all blah and steel gray/extremely faded blue puts me to sleep.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Friday May 16 2014, @06:13PM
Not to mention that they have about 5% of SN's comment count...which is itself like 25% of /.'s. When I'm on the front page and none of the articles have >5 comments, that's a bad sign.
#rampantlypullingnumbersoutofmyass
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by buswolley on Friday May 16 2014, @10:58PM
|. isn't even a useful command.
subicular junctures
(Score: 2) by egcagrac0 on Saturday May 17 2014, @08:09AM
That depends entirely on the arguments.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bradley13 on Friday May 16 2014, @06:54PM
Pipedot does look nice, but the admin's here already explained why they aren't moving over: The code is not structured to be as scaleable as slashcode. That's not a criticism of the Pipedot developer - the site was built in a short period of time, and really does look and work great.
So which is easier: Adding niceness to Slashcode, or adding scaleability to Pipedot code. It's hard to say, and the Soylent admins are already familiar with Slashcode, so that's where we are...
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.