Hacker Neue

Preferences
spicyj parent
Kiln is already a well-known software development tool from Fog Creek: http://www.fogcreek.com/kiln/. I wonder if the author knows.
shawn-butler
Sounds like an opportunity. Maybe a name/brand search tool dedicated to software projects that gives a report on conflicts that costs a few bucks or is ad-supported.
colinta
nope, never heard of it.
psycr
Changing its name would be an appreciated gesture, I think. I'm sure others will agree. I confused it initially thinking it would be related to Fog Creek.
SkyMarshal
Same. Title made me wonder if Github and FogCreek had entered into some kind cross-compatibility deal or something.
InclinedPlane
It is literally the first google result when you search for "kiln", even above the original definition of the term.
ry0ohki
Think you are getting personalized search, it's #2 if not logged in to Google.
InclinedPlane
Hrm. Might be regional? Or tied to user agent? If I search in incognito mode it's still #1 but it's #2 via lynx from two different VPSes.
barrkel
It's geo-based, it seems. It's #1 when not logged in, in the UK; it's #2 (with Wikipedia #1) when coming from the US.
SkyMarshal
It's also the first result in DDG, fwiw.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=kiln

raverbashing
Tip for naming your projects: google it first

I'm not blaming anyone or saying anyone is wrong.

But I almost named a project I was involved "beaver" something. (No, I am not a native speaker)

w1ntermute
Clearly not that well-known, then. I've never heard of it either. The Fog Creek Kiln project doesn't have its own Wikipedia page (which I consider a rough threshold for notability).
gecko
We've been on HN a half dozen times, been featured in some trade magazines, have been a gold Mercurial sponsor, and have built-in support in competitor's products (e.g. SourceTree). We're also the second link if you google for "Kiln". I think that qualifies as relatively notable.

We also have a trademark on the name Kiln in the context of developer tools.

Edit: That last line sounds like a threat, which it absolutely isn't. Just, due to how these things work, picking another name probably makes sense.

alexgartrell
My first reaction when I saw this submission was "Holy shit, who leaked kiln?"
mpyne
Mine was similar, if a little less cynical: "Holy shit, Fog Creek is open-sourcing Kiln? On April Fool's Day?"
3 More Comments →
pnathan
Yeah, that was my reaction as well. Kiln == Fog Creek's hg server in my head.
manojlds
It is now a git and hg server all at the same time.
colinta
do you want me to change the name?

Edit: I'm brainstorming names on the rubymotion google group. F-ing naming, it's so annoying. I'll try and get it renamed soon.

jacques_chester
Google and whois are the minimum threshold for picking names these days. If you intend to start a business, add a trademark search to that.

There's also no law against picking descriptive names.

Did you develop an egg smashing simulator? Where's the harm in calling it "Egg Smash Simulator Kit" instead of "Humpty" or some other confusing bloody puntastic name?

4 More Comments →
neglected_dba
> do you want me to change the name?

You're joking, right? Yes. You need to pick a name for your product that doesn't clash with a well established product in the same field.

I only clicked this article because I thought Joel had gone open-source. I suspect most everyone reading this thread thought the same thing.

rdl
Developer tools for iOS, on iOS. You probably don't really care about the domain name, so there are a lot of possibilities.

Kiln is kind of a shitty name to begin with, so I'm sure you'll think of something better. I'd focus on how it's self-hosted, handheld, mobile, lightweight, and portable.

"Phone Self Exam" is one bad idea, with the obvious non-Ada Initiative approved branding concept...

colanderman
If someone told me they had a registered trademark on the name I chose for my product, I'd be a fool not to change the name. That's a huge liability.
watershawl
How about Layer, Ply, Stratum, Flag, Stage, Platter, Plate, Lamina, Pellicle, Film, Leaf, Slice, Shive, Rasher, Eschar, or Nest?
SkyMarshal
Try Anvil. Similar blacksmith-y name, nothing majorly confusing or conflicting on the first page of a google or ddg search.
MartinCron
You should change the name because "kiln" is an uncomfortable and awkward word to pronounce.
wallflower
iOS Easy Bake(tm)
tortilla
How about "kilt"
speg
iKiln?
bntly
Oven? Smith?
Moto7451
iSpector, Forge, Layers
objclxt
I suspect most software developers worth their salt have heard of Joel Spolsky, and by extension Fog Creek. Aside from them actually having their own pages on Wikipedia (which someone else has linked to), Kiln is a trademark of Fog Creek, so not an ideal choice of name for an OSS project.
w1ntermute
> I suspect most software developers worth their salt have heard of Joel Spolsky, and by extension Fog Creek.

Having heard of Joel or Fog Creek is one thing. Having heard of their Kiln project is another.

watershawl
I've heard of both Joel and Fog Creek, but not Kiln. So, yes.
ams6110
Agreed, I haven't really paid attention to what he or Fog Creek has been doing since this site killed off the "Joel on Software" site.
NickLarsen
I had honestly never heard of Joel until I did my research when applying at Stack Overflow. Didn't affect the outcome.
pilgrim689
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog_creek

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Spolsky

w1ntermute
I was referring to the Kiln project by Fog Creek. Obviously, Fog Creek has its own Wiki page.
neglected_dba
Your original post said "Fog Creek doesn't have it's own Wikipedia page". Then you edited it to say Kiln project after you saw these links. How about some integrity?
w1ntermute
> Your original post said "Fog Creek doesn't have it's own Wikipedia page". Then you edited it to say Kiln project after you saw these links.

Wrong, my post originally said "The Fog Creek project" (as opposed to the OP's project). The only word I added was "Kiln", to make it clearer.

> How about some integrity?

How about stopping to think before making accusations about other people's integrity, rather than shooting from the hip? I see you're new to HN. Why don't you learn some etiquette by reading the HN guidelines, it'll help you to avoid the banhammer: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

coolsunglasses
There's a Kiln for Ring app context management in the Clojure world too.

This item has no comments currently.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Story Lists

j
Next story
k
Previous story
Shift+j
Last story
Shift+k
First story
o Enter
Go to story URL
c
Go to comments
u
Go to author

Navigation

Shift+t
Go to top stories
Shift+n
Go to new stories
Shift+b
Go to best stories
Shift+a
Go to Ask HN
Shift+s
Go to Show HN

Miscellaneous

?
Show this modal