
Show HN: How software projects and companies got their name - amitmerchant
https://github.com/amitmerchant1990/how-products-got-their-name
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kadfak
A small addition to Git from its README file[1]:

    
    
      The name "git" was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very first version. He described the tool as "the stupid content tracker" and the name as (depending on your mood):
    
      * random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a mispronunciation of "get" may or may not be relevant.
    
      * stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the dictionary of slang.
    
      * "global information tracker": you're in a good mood, and it actually works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
    
      * "goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t": when it breaks
    

[1]
[https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/README.md](https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/README.md)

~~~
amitmerchant
I'll add this reference to the list. Or you can raise a pull request as well
if you want.

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jaclaz
Nice.

I think you need to add somewhere that C# is called C Sharp, and the idea -
besides the connection to musical notation is that the character # ("sharp",
though improperly as in ASCII it is "Number sign") is made out of four +'s,
increasing from the two in C++, your sentence:

>C# as the '#' symbol looks like two '++' stacked on one another, indicating
that C# is an increment of C++. though at the end of the day means the same,
is IMHO less clear than the original from the source you cited:

[https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/261958/a-z_programm...](https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/261958/a-z_programming_languages_c_/?pp=2)

>So the naming committee had to get to work and we sort of liked the notion of
having an inherent reference to C in there, and a little word play on C++, as
you can sort of view the sharp sign as four pluses, so it’s C++++. And the
musical aspect was interesting too. So C# it was, and I’ve actually been
really happy with that name. It’s served us well.

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tqkxzugoaupvwqr
Really interesting to read about the birth of names. Gives some names a
certain charm and some a certain triviality, e.g. Debian (Debra + Ian).

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theandrewbailey
When Java switched hands to the Eclipse foundation last year, I learned that
the foundation wasn't named after their goal of "eclipse the Sun
Microsystems". That would have been awesome if true.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_(software)#Name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_\(software\)#Name)

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FrederikET
I really like this. Especially because I'm bad at finding names for my
projects, but I can see I'm not the only one. (Python and Laravel is my
favorites)

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rb808
> one of his daughter's name is My(after whom MySQL was named).

Mind blown

~~~
rootlocus
You didn't honestly think it was your sql, right?

~~~
theandrewbailey
I thought it was a tutorial on steroids. You know programming tutorials that
prefix almost every variable with "my"? MyFoo, MyBar, MyNumber, MyString,
MyDatabase, MySQL...

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spatulon
In browser circles, 'chrome' refers to the bits of the browser UI that aren't
the renderer.

It's hard for me to believe that Chrome's name didn't just originate from
Google talking about taking WebKit and building their own chrome around it.

~~~
richev
The use of "chrome" in this context isn't limited only to browsers[0].

My recollection is that Google Chrome was so-named because one of their design
goals was to _minimize_ the amount of GUI chrome, so that the maximum amount
of screen space was available for displaying web page content.

[0] [https://www.nngroup.com/articles/browser-and-gui-
chrome/](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/browser-and-gui-chrome/)

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jwilk
[https://wiki.debian.org/WhyTheName](https://wiki.debian.org/WhyTheName)

