The name of the software

[marrus-sh]

Right now the software is called Kibicat Mastodon, because it is being developed by the Kibicat Organization (here on GitHub) and it is a Mastodon‐compatible fediverse server. However, the name “Mastodon” has strong associations with Mastodon gGmbH (the legal entity which controls upstream Mastodon development), and while I don’t anticipate problems, giving ourselves a name which is perhaps not‐so‐blatantly‐associated might be a good thing should this fork ever acquire adoption beyond simply the glitch.cat.family server (aka if we ever develop useful new features which people might want).

So this thread exists to bikeshed alternative names! (Or to vouch support for the existing one.)

[aescling]

i don’t have any ideas, but i much support bikeshedding for a new name

[marrus-sh]

I mean the name “glitch” is problematic for “being an extremely common word that programmers love” reasons, but if we wanted to, I don’t think anybody could stop us from laying claim to GlitchSoc or a derivative.

The main reasons I don’t like GlitchSoc as a name are:—

1. There is an instance also called GlitchSoc. This gets confusing fast and is one of the reasons why I insisted on not calling the software GlitchCat in the README.

2. GlitchSoc commonly refers to Mastodon Glitch Edition, which is a separate fork.

3. If the name is too long, people will clip it, shortening “Kibicat GlitchSoc” to something like “KibiGlitch” (dropping cat). That’s not ideal, so we should have a software name which is unambiguous without the “Kibicat” designation.

On the other hand:—

1. Kibicat Mastodon is technically a fork of GlitchSoc, not Mastodon.

2. Kibicat Mastodon and GlitchSoc share a notable developer (me).

3. (minor note) I’m not sure how prevalent the spelling GlitchSoc actually is, compared to “Glitch” or “Glitch Social”.

4. (awkward circumstance) The name GlitchCat makes a lot less sense if we get rid of the Glitch branding entirely.

So we might want to consider a Glitch name which is not GlitchSoc (or GlitchCat). Like NewGlitch, (MewGlitch,) GlitchTwo, (GlitchU,)…

Just some ideas!

[marrus-sh]

(I actually really like MewGlitch, except for the fact that literally everyone who sees it won’t think “sound a cat makes which rhymes with new” + “glitch social”, but instead think it is a meaningless nerdy reference to https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Mew_glitch. We could maybe get away with a more “nya” spelling of new, like “nyu”?)

[aescling]

as an aside, one slightly unfortunate thing about having called our instance GlitchCat is there is a twitch streamer (with a patreon, no less!) going by that name already lol

i like the name too much (and find it too sensible) to really want to change it; but we might want to prepare to have to bikeshed new names for the instance itself if it comes to that

[marrus-sh]

(I'm mostly okay with instance names not being particularly unique; GlitchCat in particular is probably a very common name because like. Glitch + Cat. But it's usually obvious in context when you mean the instance.

Donphan is the name of a pokémon but there's never been any problem also calling the instance Donphan. The only reason I would think to change it would be if someone else using the name GlitchCat became famous enough that people might think we were a fan-instance. Don't think that's a concern right now.)

[marrus-sh]

Meow‐variations of NewGlitch which might be acceptable :—

• MiuGlitch
  • Jyutping for 喵
  • Basically a spelling of “mew” which people won’t associate with the pokémon
• NyuGlitch
  • Literally Japanese for “new”: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ニュー#Japanese
  • Also Korean: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/뉴#Korean
  • Some languages associate it with “gnu” instead though
• NyewGlitch
  • Basic Latin spelling of “ñew”: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ñew#Spanish
  • But this is a more cumbersome spelling for English speakers