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Comment by detaro | Hacker News Reader

It'd be funny if they went back to its original name, "vector", which IMHO wasn't too bad.

So, we're not going to go back to Vector (although it has a very special place in our hearts :). It was a great name for a techie-focused comms client (and I'm not surprised HN likes the name :D), but feedback was pretty unanimous that it was too techie for a more general-purpose audience.

Also, heads up that we consciously did not optimise for a made-up name like WhatsApp or similar. Just as Matrix (and Riot, for that matter) has ended up with high search engine scores, we believe the project is strong enough to support us borrowing an existing dictionary word. If nothing else, it'd be consistent with Matrix ;P

So, apologies in advance to anyone who's hoping Riot will end up being called Sporkle or Vroomio or Flibblr... :)

Sporkle 2.0: Glitter Edition

What about 'Eigen'? There only seems to be a C++ library of that name yet, so not too much overlap. And I like its nerdy implication of 'yes, we are only one Matrix client, but we strive to be an important one' ;)

Eigen is a cool name, but very geeky, and we actually know the folks at https://eigentech.com who might object a little if we borrowed the name ;)

I for one will be immediately renaming my local nuRiot icon as Flibblr

I for one don't think the name Vector is any more "techie" than Signal.

Yeah it was an excellent name. Strong link with the "matrix" network and no weird associations with violence like Riot.

I always assumed it was some trademark crap that made them drop the name Vector but I don't think they ever communicated the reason. It's very hard to find some name that's not trademarked by someone somewhere, or even a close resemblance to it.

Consider the eelo Android distribution, they had to change because one tiny consulting company had a trademark for something resembling it (not even the same name, and not the same industry at all!)

ITT: people who disagree because searches for "vector" and "matrix" is going to be overly encumbered with mathematical references because they don't understand how SEO works.

Only a single search engine hit on the first page resolves in the mathematical definition of matrix. The others include the movie franchise, a hair products company, several dictionary pages, a computer warehouse, a vehicle tracking device, and several other non-math refrences to the word matrix. On google, riot.im shows up at #26 for me.

then just add messenger, same as Signal does it - Vector messenger or Neo messenger

No, both Vector and Matrix are terms too widely used in computing to be considered good names, makes it harder to search for without getting results about linear algebra. A better name would be something unique (or at the very least orthogonal to anything directly computer-related) in some way.

https://vector.im/

Vector.im already seems to be the parent organization of Riot.im, so it might be confusing.

Ah right, they took the "vector" brand for the company after they renamed the client, forgot about that.

That's actually a good name

Please no. It's not unique enough for a Google search. There's a reason all the major brands are unusual or made up names.

Apple.

Ring.

Amazon.

The irony is that a google search for Vector first comes up with Vector Marketing, which sells Cutco Knives.

> Cutco Knives

God I remember that shitty company. They recruit University students to sell their knives to their friends and family. They're not really good knives either, just slightly better than most store knives and sold at a markup near that of really high end commercial knives.

That's an awfull name as it is used all over the place in technical documentation. As soon as you'll look for help in a search engine you'd get bazillion of unrelated results.

If you founded you company in the 1980's for sure you can choose any good sounding name, even a very common fruit and it willl be alright.

But in 2020 please don't hurt the community of devellopers that deal with graphical element by reverting to such a generic random name...

I mentioned in another comment, Vector Marketing firmly holds the top spot in a google search for "vector".

Even if the Deciders called it Vector.im or Vector Messenger, and did some SEO, it wouldn't be that hard to find.

In fact Riot.im shows up at #8 on DDG and #6 on Google (for me) when "riot" is searched, even when "riot" is a very hyped up search term. (https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=riot)

And that is still awful but for other people. Vector is a commonly used term in tech. If you lookup for help about using (mathematical) vector you'll now have to narrow the search using other tag otherwise you gonna get spammed with marketing crap about that technology.

Another definition for vector is "an organism that transmits a disease". Perhaps this is not the best choice of name during a worldwide pandemic.

Ironically that was the pun we were making back in 2015 when Riot used to be called Vector. Not only is a Matrix made up of Vectors, but also Vector would be the vehicle for virally spreading Matrix throughout the internet :D

Agreed it's not the best parallel to draw these days, though...

I still think Vector was a great name for a Matrix client. I don't think it would put off non-techies really, but I'm looking forward to seeing what you're coming up with!

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