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Comment by dangoldin | Hacker News Reader

The old discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1007750

That discussion seemed to be about server names? b^)

Naming servers something cute, witty or clever is a gold standard of freedom among engineers. When engineer perks (server naming, or free sodas/snacks/food, lax daily start-times, etc) are taken away, the good engineers will quit.

I know this used to be the case, and makes a certain amount of sense when each box is physically accessible, but it seems unsustainable in the Cloud Age. Perhaps each online service we provide can be whimsically named, but that seems impractical for the constellation of DB servers, caches, app servers, load balancers, etc. that support a typical service.

I'm not sure about that. If management won't let you name the servers after characters in your favorite sci-fi movie, then that is an indication that names matter (ns1 for DNS rather than gandolf or papa_smurf or whatever) and that management is playing the role of the adult while you are acting like a child.

If you want to name servers after fairy tale characters and you will have a tantrum if management won't let you, then you are not mature enough to work for a company. It's called growing-up and being responsible.

Engineers are the ones who will have to use the server names. When management starts insisting things be done a certain way that's called micromanagement and it's the biggest sign your company is about to fail.

And good engineers understand the value of memorable names, as well as the less tangible value of good corporate culture.

It's the difference between being a hacker shop or a corporate drone shop. Both are somewhat viable strategies, but don't expect people to stay around for the transition. (also, it tends to be irreversible)

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