I also liked EdgeDB (I'm biased, I coined that name myself). But at every conference we had the same conversation with developers:
"EdgeDB? Huh, must be an edge-computing database. Are you running SQLite?"
There are other minor reasons for the rename, but this annoyance persisted for a number of years and we decided to pull the plug on it.
> I've been a true evangelist for EdgeDB over the last two years
Thank you. This means a lot.
The argument of "some developers don't look past name and think that it's an edge-computing database" is superficial at best. I can get how it can be annoying, personally, but unless it was backed up with data showing that it hurts adoption, I wouldn't take it as a serious problem worth forcing thousands of users to switch to a new name/commands.
Following this logic, these developers could also ask "MySQL? Huh, you must be running it only on your own servers" or "Gel? Huh, is it some toy database for kids?".
I wish more people realized the enormous cognitive costs and debt created by such renamings. :/
I wonder if this will really go away or just be replaced with something else. Is it really the name "specifically" or how a lot of people work?
(i.e. going by first impressions, connotations, memes, etc)
> "EdgeDB? Huh, must be an edge-computing database. Are you running SQLite?"
"Gel? Huh, must be for cosmetics. Is this for retail?"
p.s. had no issues with EdgeDB.
Gel doesn't have any really strong existing computing connotations, so maybe people might make a stretch that it's about some non-computing-related domain and maybe we miss reaching them. But that just seems far less likely than trying to continue to push against the overwhelming feeling that "Edge" just has too much baggage and was working against us.
Personally, I think it's fine if people find the name confounding or just personally dislike it. I think products like Supabase, Neon, Drizzle, CockroachDB, Django, Flask, Express, etc etc kind of prove that if your name is general enough, you'll overcome that reaction eventually via recognition for the value of the product itself.
Personally I think EdgeDB was a much better and descriptive name than Gel. I haven't used EdgeDB/Gel yet, but have been looking at it with excitement for years now waiting for the opportunity to use it.
I am worried that the rename will work against you since you've built such an excellent brand around EdgeDB with so many glowing testimonials.