
Kickstarter for a JavaScript top level domain (.js TLD)  - jpsirois
https://github.com/ozten/TLD.js
======
skrebbel
Why do we even think about this? Custom TLDs are a farce, a way to shake
companies and nonprofits out of money without any added value, neither
technologically, nor in terms of marketing/communication. Everybody knows
that, right? Didn't we all conclude that when the ICANN announced it? Aren't
"we", the hacker crowd, supposed to be above this?

~~~
ilikepi
I agree. Further, regarding this bit from the "Why?" section of the README:

> Okay, this is kind of a vanity TLD, but we freaking build the web every
> day... Shouldn't we have a TLD that JS hackers control?

Why are "JS hackers" being targeted specifically? Why not also Ruby, Python,
PHP, .NET, and Perl hackers? Why not also HTML and CSS hackers? Why not also
designers (.psd perhaps)? Why not dozens of new TLDs so that everyone could
have a domain with the file extension of their choosing?

I'll tell you why: because arbitrarily polluting the top-level namespace is
something we learn not to do.

~~~
ojr
javascript is more of the lingua franca of the web

~~~
podperson
That's why I find it so helpful that I can translate javascript to English
using Google translate!

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jensnockert
I tried doing this before the rules were public, the reasons why I stopped

1\. Two-letter TLDs are reserved for countries.

2\. The $200k isn't the actual cost, it is only what you need to pay for an
initial review, you won't get the money back if something is found to be wrong
with your application or if they dislike your TLD.

~~~
alexis-d
1\. Except the .eu I guess (otherwise I agree).

~~~
LaRakel
Also .aq and a few islands that are part of bigger countries.

Those little exceptions don't invalidate the rule, and the request won't get
accepted.

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blubbar
This is extremely stupid. would it be mongodb.js? or mongodb.c++ mongodb.oss
mongodb.foss mongodb.nosql or mongodb.webtwozeroishstuff ? We don't need more
fragmentation.

I guess the next thing they want after .biz is .cool .startup .awesome and
.hip . This is not how TLDs (should) work!

~~~
jack-r-abbit
I guess it would be mongo.db. But it really should be none of those. How would
anyone create/enforce rules that would accurately limit the usage to what they
are proposing? What is the validation for whether a project is or is not a
JavaScript or NodeJS project?

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debacle
While it would be cool to have a .js TLD, that 200k would be better spent
developing a system that doesn't revolve around a centralized entity to manage
DNS.

~~~
techiferous
Good point. Or that 200k would be better spent in an X Prize style contest for
a better JavaScript web framework.

~~~
kellishaver
That was my first thought, too - $200k could fund the writing of a lot of
really good JavaScript, which would benefit the JS community (and the web at
large) a lot more than a vanity TLD.

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Camillo
I don't know why people are so eager to shoot this down. I think it's
perfectly feasible. So what if two-letter TLDs are reserved for countries?
JavaScript has already made the jump from the browser to the server (and,
soon, to the kernel): the world map is the logical next step. Yes, I am
talking about a real-world JavaScript nation, whose banner shall unite web 2.0
ninjas, wizards and pirates (not the rockstars, though, those use Ruby) from
all over the world. And the children of this new utopia shall be taught
JavaScript as their native language, fulfilling mankind's age-old ideal of
JavaScript Everywhere.

~~~
namidark
Where on earth do you see JS jumping to the kernel? If C++ wasn't cut for it
what makes you think JS is?

~~~
olalonde
Yea I was thinking the same. The JavaScript nation thing was a bit far fetched
but JavaScript in the kernel is simply absurd.

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ozten
There are two blockers:

<https://github.com/ozten/TLD.js/issues/23>

<https://github.com/ozten/TLD.js/issues/8>

This isn't viable for submission as a Kickstarter w/o resolving those issues.

As @jensnockert and @LaRakei have pointed out here.

Creative solution? Please comment on the issues :)

~~~
jpsirois
I know about both issues but what I would like to mention is more the
initiative of a Kickstarter campaign for this kind of developer’s common
concerns.

I really love the idea to ask everyone to solve everyone’s problems.

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webXL
I think this would only be worthwhile if you could do this:

    
    
      <script src="http://jquery.js"></script>

~~~
ozten
Very cool. You could also do:

    
    
        <script src="http://jquery.js/latest"></script>
    

And keep / as an informative website.

~~~
slig
I can't tell if your you're joking or not. Linking to the latest version is a
very nice way to break your app automatically.

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Gravityloss
One more reason it's not a good idea: For example if .html was a top level
domain, it would be harder to know if you're looking at a domain or a file.
You could still deduce it from the surrounding strings, but why do you want to
complicate what's working perfectly as it is?

How about .exe, .app, .txt, .htm... maybe ultimately petition to allow
punctuation and forward slash in domain names.

~~~
icebraining
The concept of files in URLs is an illusion. A bare '/' may serve JS content
and a /test.css may serve a JPG image. The path is just a string with no
special meaning.

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bdg
Can anyone else hear that? The sound of Tim Berners-Lee crying to himself,
"What have they done to you? You were once so clean and pure."

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Nay, it is not Berners-Lee that is crying, it's Paul Mockapetris.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mockapetris>

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LaRakel
Aren't two letter domains reserved for countries?

~~~
kaerast
So the fix for this then is to start our own country. I hear there's some
unclaimed land in Africa which would do nicely -
[http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/05/earths-last-frontier-
the...](http://www.neatorama.com/2010/02/05/earths-last-frontier-the-last-
unclaimed-land-on-earth/)

~~~
saraid216
Maybe micronations count as countries?

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mikeryan
Every day I send Chrome on a mystery tour looking for a domain called
_something_.js - which it never finds.

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lambda
As many others have pointed out, two character gTLDs are not allowed, as they
are reserved for countries and super-national entities like .eu.

Also, Kickstarter is a terrible model for something like this. Kickstarter is
for funding a single creative project. People are giving money to someone they
trust to be able to execute a project, for that specific project. A gTLD needs
to be run, constantly, for the forseeable future; and thus needs to be a real
business, with real investment, not a one-shot project like Kickstarter is
designed to fund.

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opendomain
Getting a TLD up and running would cost a LOT more than $200k - you have to
create a SRS registrar, billing, email systems, security, Who Is, etc.

You may be able to subcontract these to SrsPlus (like I do) or OpenSRS, but
you would still have to go through $50k bond and testing.

I have been thinking of this for quite some time and have some great ideas of
how a dot JS should work. Please contact me Ric @ my account dot org

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david_shaw
Not totally sure how the fundraising process for a TLD works. Can you buy
whatever TLD you want? Can I get david.shaw? That would be awesome.

The problem is that even if you get 'jsfounder' status with your donation,
there's no guarantee you'll actually _get_ anything other than your name on a
petition.

It's a cool idea, and I support lots and lots of TLDs (as they allow creative
domain names other than .com et al), but this seems like it might be a sneaky
way to raise some capital without having to do anything.

edit: furthermore, do these passionate individuals plan to _not_ organize the
petition if they aren't funded?

~~~
gfosco
It costs ~200k to buy a TLD, so if they are not funded they will obviously not
be applying for the TLD.

~~~
jessedhillon
The fee is only to apply -- the application would still need approval before
this becomes a TLD. The fee is not refunded in the case of denial.

~~~
digitalsushi
Crimony. For 200,000 dollars you can get the finest silks and fanciest hats
and the blackest boots for a moment with the king.

Or you can buy 200,000 dollars worth of attention from already-upset people
and start your own peer based DNS resolution service.

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TazeTSchnitzel
You know what would be cooler? Someone registering .onion, and make .onion
URLs bring up a message telling people to use a Tor client.

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jarek-foksa
What happened with .app TLD initiative? I remember they were collecting funds
and even offered domain pre-registration, but now their website is down:
<http://dotappapp.com/>

~~~
shellox
Duckduckgo showed me their twitter account and the website linked there is
<http://www.appextension.com/> ;)

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ta12121
200K for what is essentially a custom domain name? Absolutely not worth it.

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mindcrime
While we're adding new TLD's, how about a _.yc_ domain? Or maybe it should be
_.hn_?

~~~
songrabbit
Actually .hn already exists as the TLD for honduras:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.hn>

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SeoxyS
So, what exactly is wrong with nodejs.com? xyzjs.com?

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mlinksva
How about .startup and .hacker? .innovation for biggies. .tldr would add
something. .lolnotreally

~~~
robwgibbons
Those are all way too long

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blrblr
I develop extensively in JavaScript, and this is fucking retarded.

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shellox
A .js domain would more confusing, than helpful in my eyes. Also, the
resistence against domain seizure is more important than 'coolness' today. The
tld's .ch and .is are good picks for this purpose.

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opendomain
I have a better idea - if they do not let use get a 2-letter TLD, then how
about we get .json ? If you want, my twitter handle is @json and I own json
dot com , so we could do this for FREE by using subdomain.json.com to start

