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Phew, we are almost there, we've reached the last phase of voting. The final list of names is:
- apt-get-news
- crosslog
- dailybacon
- forkdot
- grepnews OR newsgrep
- salientnews OR salientnoise
- soylentnews
- sudonews
- techmatter
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.
Site Name: crosslog
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.
Site Name: sudonews
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.
Site Name: apt-get-news
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")
Site Name: grepnews, newsgrep
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.
Site Name: salientnews or salientnoise
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.
Site Name: techmatter
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.
Site name: forkdot
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: 4, Interesting) by stderr on Friday May 16 2014, @10:33PM
But won't that screw with the voting?
Let's say "salientnews" gets 2 votes, "salientnoise" also gets 2 votes and "soylentnews" gets 3. Because "salientnews" and "salientnoise" are listed as one option, that option gets a total a 4 votes and a runoff will take place between "salientnews" and "salientnoise", even though "soylentnews" got more votes that either of them alone. That doesn't sound like a fair vote at all.
alias sudo="echo make it yourself #" #
(Score: 2) by NCommander on Friday May 16 2014, @11:30PM
THey're one option together on the ballot; one vote. If one of the split options wins, it will either be one final round of voting, or I'll just pick one of the two.
Still always moving
(Score: 3, Insightful) by stderr on Saturday May 17 2014, @01:26AM
You didn't get the point at all. If 2 voters like "salientnews", 2 others like "salientnoise" and 3 (that's MORE that 2, hint hint!) voters like "soylentnews", the combined "salientnews or salientnoise"-option will get more votes (2+2=4) than "soylentnews" (3) and "soylentnews" will be out of the race.
Please explain why either "salientnews" or "salientnoise" should win the election when "soylentnews" would have gotten more votes that either of them, if they hadn't been combined as one option? How is that fair at all?
What if I like the "salientnews" option, but really, really hate the "salientnoise" option? Why should my vote for "salientnews" also help "salientnoise" in the election?
If you really don't think it matters if options are combined or not, I suggest a new ballot with two options:
Do you still think your choice has a chance to win?
alias sudo="echo make it yourself #" #
(Score: 2) by AudioGuy on Sunday May 18 2014, @06:08AM
I do understand your point but you need to take into account the following:
1. There is not a perfect solution to this. You point out a theoretical problem. This decision was actually made in response to a real, specific problem: in one of these cases, newsgrep/grepnews, one got into the finals of the community vote and the OTHER got into the finals of the staff vote. But there is more: that particular name was deliberately submitted as an example of how a name might be modified in case a very popular name was taken, by making relatively minor changes to the name (changing the word order in this case). I know this with 100 percent certainty because it was I who submitted it, for exactly that reason. :-)
The other name was also exhibiting a similar problem, but not to quite as high a degree. What was also clear in -that- case was that if EITHER of those variations were chosen, we would want to have both those names available to us. So that was the factor that tipped the decision over in that case.
2. The problem you describe is in reference to 'votes' implying a first past the post single vote system, but this is not such a system. This is a scoring system, so it is perfectly possible for a single user to vote their specific preference for BOTH names at the same time.
What a single user must decide is the same as what the group must decide. I do not have to choose -exclusively- between
soylentnews
-OR-
salientnews or salientnoise
I can rank them according to my real preferences, and so can everyone else.
So if I like soylentnews best, but also think salientnews would be pretty good, but maybe not so much salientnoise, I can modify my rankings to reflect this. Let's say that I think both salientnews and salientnoise have a roughly equal chance in a runoff, I can rank with that in mind, like this:
[9] soylentnews
[4] salientnews or salientnoise
which reflects my knowlege that a runoff between salientnews or salientnoise might not go my way. So I am downgrading my support for the second option a bit - by about 50%.
If I liked both but slightly preferred soylentnews, I might vote like this:
[9] soylentnews
[8] salientnews or salientnoise
I am not suggesting that this -completely- eliminates the problem with combining names, simply that it mitigates it.
If people actually vote their real preferences, this should work out in the end just fine. So far I have been very pleasantly surprised at the ability of this voting method to provide results that seem to genuinely trend toward consensus, especially with the larger group.
In the end, a choice had to be made, and there was a clear and present problem the other way.
After the final votes are over all the numbers will be posted and perhaps some statistics specialist can tell me if I (and the others involved) made bad decisions, and why. :-)
Many things are odd about this situation, having some of your choices removed due to lack of ability to get control of some domain names is not really a situation encountered in most votes, for example.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by stderr on Sunday May 18 2014, @06:36AM
I can tell you two bad decisions right now:
alias sudo="echo make it yourself #" #
(Score: 2) by mrcoolbp on Sunday May 18 2014, @04:18PM
We didn't decide to take that long. We were busy securing domains from users, like we've said, this is by definition a long and more complicated process then any other kind of "vote" I can imagine. As for your other point, there are many advantages and disadvantages to any kind of voting system. We could allow only one choice for example. Still I appreciate the feedback.
(Score:1^½, Radical)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by stderr on Monday May 19 2014, @10:34PM
Why did it take so long to secure the domains? Transferring or buying a domain doesn't normally take that long.
alias sudo="echo make it yourself #" #
(Score: 2) by mrcoolbp on Tuesday May 20 2014, @03:24AM
Finding out which were registered, contacting users, Waiting for users to respond, verifying, etc.
(Score:1^½, Radical)