Show HN: How software projects and companies got their name

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

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...

>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.

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).

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

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)

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

Mind blown

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.