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I would advise finding another name for the tool. 'mac' is an obvious trademark infringement and it's only a matter of time before Apple lawyers come knocking o
by shykes 10y ago
I would advise finding another name for the tool. 'mac' is an obvious trademark infringement and it's only a matter of time before Apple lawyers come knocking on your door. Honestly I find it uncool to piggyback on someone else's brand in this way. The protagonists are different but it's the same fundamental issue as the "Ubuntu vs OVH" and "Let's Encrypt vs Comodo" stories we've seen recently.
- compassios 10y agoThanks for your advice! Do you have any suggestion regarding the name? I'd love to hear some ideas.
- shykes 10y agoI don't have any suggestions, but will be happy to send them if I think of anything. The sooner you change, the better. Otherwise that is wasted brand equity for you. If you're going to work hard to build a great tool, the recognition for that should flow to a name of your own.
- compassios 10y agoThanks for advice, and if you think of anything about the name just let me know!
- rahkiin 10y agoI just thought of CLImax. Might be to sexually loaded though :(
- shykes 10y agoYeah... How about "mcl", "A Mac Command-Line tool"?
- compassios 10y agoFunny name, but interesting for sure :D
- shykes 10y agoOff the top of my head, I think "MacFoo" and "WinBar" are well-accepted conventions for tools built for the mac and windows respectively. Maybe look for something short and sweet in that vein? Or just something short and easy to memorize. I'm really terrible at choosing names, so I'm sorry for criticizing more than I'm suggesting. I wish you lots of success, the world needs more easy to use development tools. Don't let armchair quarterbacks like me demotivate you :)
- rahkiin 10y agoI do love 'Docker' though.
- shykes 10y agoI do too, but I didn't choose it :) It was an internal codename picked by one of the early engineers on the project. In fact I firmly intended to change the name before launch - but we accidentally launched ahead of schedule and people loved it. The rest is history. A good example of my ineptitude at identifying good names.
- compassios 10y agoThat is why asking is always a good idea. I've met entrepreneurs that have the mindset that everything has to be an idea of themselves. I think that ego is a big player on their mindset. The great thing about open-source is that everything is created through collaborarion. The best of everyone is contributed to a project in benefit of the entire community.
- emmelaich 10y agoIf MacFoo and WinBar are OK, then surely "Mac Cli" is OK. Or shorten it to MacCli if you must. The actual command doesn't have to change.
- compassios 10y agoI agree with you, plus the command name is really easy to remember.
- wornohaulus 10y agoApple_$eed
- nestlequ1k 10y agoAs an open source library, don't worry about it. If Apple causes a big stink about it (unlikely), then you can rename it. What you have is a great, simple, direct name for a utility script. Better to ignore the trademark / brand FUD.
- compassios 10y agoI think that the name is not a problem but it's great to receive suggestions since a good idea could be suggested by someone from the community. Thanks for your comment!
- godzillabrennus 10y agoIf in doubt click on this sites generate button a bunch and see if anything manifests that you like. https://www.dotomator.com/web20.html https://www.dotomator.com/web20.html
- nicerobot 10y agoCall it `morc`.
- syngrog66 10y agoMackly -- sounds like "Mac CLI", and has personality. tho have not googled for collisions
- tacone 10y agoCall it PC, and nobody will complain.
- compassios 10y agoPCL - Personal Command Line ;)
- retreatguru 10y agoWhat about max?
- compassios 10y agoThat is an interesting alternative. Thanks for suggestion!
- Razengan 10y agoYou way want to change all occurrences of "OS X" to "macOS" :)
- vonklaus 10y agoi think the difference is that this is an open source command line utility for mac, so the naming convention is essentially mac command line utility. I think you are correct that it could cause issues, but nowhere near the same thing as Commodo wherein they intentionally are trying to undermine a competitors offering by intimidation and coercion. Not sure what a better name would be, but it may need to be changed. I should add though, I had no illusions this wasn't an official apple offering.
- compassios 10y agoIf you have any suggestion regarding the name, just let me know! I am open to receive suggestions about that. Thanks!
- vonklaus 10y agoI think you should name it Mac CLI. If you really think it is an issue just call it MaCLI.
- shykes 10y agoWhat about "macly"? :)
- givinguflac 10y agoI was going to suggest the same name.
- compassios 10y agoAnd that is definetely a good suggestion! Thanks
- shykes 10y agoI agree the circumstances are very different, and obviously don't think there was any nefarious intentions. But the underlying fundamental issue - brand recognition and the value of having your work recognized under a name you control - is still the same. In this case, I think the author of this tool has the most to lose, because he is building brand equity for someone else. If next year his tool takes off and he is forced to rename, he has to start over. But let's assume this tool becomes so successful that he gets away with the "name hack", then it sets the wrong example for other aspiring toolmakers: "don't bother picking your own name, surf on on someone else's and if you succeed fast enough, you might get away with it". That is the same calculation which leads less scrupulous people like Comodo and OVH to "ask for forgiveness rather than permission". I think that is dangerous for innovation because it makes it less rewarding to try something new under your own name. Why bother if someone else will reap the rewards in the end?
- Razengan 10y agoThere is other non-Apple software that has been happily using "mac" in its name for a long time, no? Everybody knows MacPorts, and there's Mactracker and MacCleanse on the App Store itself, and the infamous Mackeeper (which may very well be malware; Apple should go after them first) and companies: MacPhun and MacPaw. But I guess people may confuse "Mac CLI" as being an official part of macOS.
- Waterluvian 10y agoWithout reading the article I assumed this would be some tutorial on official Mac OS tools. Once I read it, it was obviously not the case. Just anecdotal evidence.
- Alphasite_ 10y agoApple provides support and funding to Mac ports when I last checked.