Comment by onlytime
2 years ago
Could you change the name? Since there hasn't been a release yet, it would break nothing, and there's already a project (that you also started, but that is used by more people, since it is released software) that was named Freenet, that would probably like its name back.
I like this new project though. It seems cool.
Seconding this.
Reusing the name of a longstanding software project for a similar but distinct project with wildly different security guarantees is hazardous; it means that existing documentation which directs people to use "Freenet" in a specific way may expose them to unexpected risks. Please reconsider.
The name belongs to the non-profit and not a specific codebase, the previous codebase had itself a number of fundamental rewrites (eg. with the 0.7 release) and retained the name Freenet through them - this is no different.
The name change decision was made over a year ago after a long debate and very careful consideration. There is risk but risk is inevitable if you want to make progress.
> The name change decision was made over a year ago after a long debate and very careful consideration.
There was no "careful consideration" whatsoever.
What you did was the opposite of careful in fact:
Without ANY prior discussion with the maintainers of the existing Freenet project you came to the mailing list and DICTATED your decision of reusing the name "Freenet".
It's all publicly documented in the mailing list archive, see the thread "Important Announcement: Freenet naming change" of Ian Clarke (Ian Clarke is the user "sanity" I am replying to here):
https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/
When you dictated this, the team said they're against it - and you did it anyway.
Yes, you claimed you discussed it with the "board" of the project!
But the "board" only contains people who haven't talked to the team in over a decade. Of course they shrugged off your decision because the only way they are in contact with the project is through what you say, so you can shape their opinion however you please by selectively deciding what you tell them.
It was a very sad act of disgracing the effort of volunteer contributors.
And it isn't even in the best interest of your new project either, because it seems to haunt every discussion about it.
How about thinking about whether you made a mistake?
Mistakes happen and aren't bad. What's bad is never admitting one.
3 replies →
tribbling this.
'freenet' is an isp in my country, and if this does not hint at it enough, too generic of a term
Thanks re: liking the project.
I'm not going to change the name again. I carefully weighed up the pros and cons over the course of a year - debating the issue with those that disagreed. Eventually I made a call as the architect of Freenet. It's not without risk, but risks are sometimes necessary.
People are entitled to disagree but I'm not going to relitigate it at this point.