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Semi related: Are other people also annoyed by how many projects are using names of completely unrelated famous things? I expected to read some wild association

Semi related: Are other people also annoyed by how many projects are using names of completely unrelated famous things? I expected to read some wild association between a game and Franz Kafka, but no, it's about a streaming platform which happens to be named "Kafka". This is getting seriously annoying when you google for some, e.g. historical, term and then your search results are littered by some completely unrelated software/IT project which reuses the name for no reason in particular. "Factorio" is actually an example of how to do better: Just make up your own word!

the_af 3y ago
Even worse, Kafka and Apache Kafka have almost no meaningful connection. According to Wikipedia, the author was reading (Franz) Kafka, who was a writer, and the software system is "optimized for writing". (Franz) Kafka wasn't "optimized" for anything, so this is just whimsical naming. It could just as well have been named Apache Hemingway, or Apache Tolstoy. Whimsical naming is ok, but can also be confusing and annoying.
- cubefox 3y ago
  I think many such names are mostly chosen because they kind of sound nice and they have a prestigious association.
- titanomachy 3y ago
  Wow, that's so unrelated. I think I'd tacitly assumed that it was named that because adopting an event-driven architecture results in byzantine and overly complicated software, like the bureaucracies in Kafka's novels.
  - bee_rider 3y ago
    I’d be shocked if your explanation wasn’t the real one. “Optimized for writing” sounds like the sort of justification you give when your project with a sarcastic self-deprecating name becomes surprisingly successful. If they wanted to name it after a fast, efficient famous writer it would be Apache Hemingway. Kafka died before most of his writing was published and most of it was destroyed, which doesn’t seem like something the software would want to be associated with, right?
    - the_af 3y ago
      Your comment is on point. However... ... if you read Jay Krep's introduction to logs [1] (in the Kafka sense of logs) you can see that while he has a nice sense of humor [2], he felt pretty good about the Log abstraction and about Kafka. In no sense do I get the feeling he thought he was creating a kludge or something bad -- or "kafkaesque". Judging by the article, it might as well been named Apache Tolstoy! [1] https://engineering.linkedin.com/distributed-systems/log-what-every-software-engineer-should-know-about-real-time-datas-unifying https://engineering.linkedin.com/distributed-systems/log-wha... [2] "'Each working data pipeline is designed like a log; each broken data pipeline is broken in its own way.' — Count Leo Tolstoy (translation by the author)"
  - Pamar 3y ago
    Or maybe you wake up one morning and discover it turned into a giant bug...
- lbarrett 3y ago
  "Kafkaesque" suggests people standing in very long queues. It doesn't seem unreasonable as a name for very long queue software.
- lionkor 3y ago
  I was at one point thinking of making a Kafka (the software) competitor called Tuberculosis, but maybe that was only funny in my head.
radiator 3y ago
Yes, it should have been Apache Kafka in this case.
thomastjeffery 3y ago
It would help tremendously if the title was changed to "Understanding Apache Kafka with Factorio".
AceJohnny2 3y ago
On the one hand, Apache Kafka is a pretty well-known topic on this hacker/web/computing-centric message board, so for most people it doesn't need elucidating. On the other hand, Factorio arguably has some Kafka-esque aspects!
CptFribble 3y ago
Isn't it because of the beneficial SEO? I'm sure we all well understand the benefits of landing a product on the first results page of a well-known historical figure.
ooterness 3y ago
I've read a few of Franz Kafka's short stories, but most of them went over my head. As someone who loves Factorio, I was legitimately excited to get more insight. Now: My disappointment is immeassurable and my day is ruined.
- lionkor 3y ago
  I never thought how weird it would be to read Kafka in anything but German - I bet it's like reading Dostojewski in anything but Russian, but somehow worse?

the_af 3y ago

Even worse, Kafka and Apache Kafka have almost no meaningful connection. According to Wikipedia, the author was reading (Franz) Kafka, who was a writer, and the software system is "optimized for writing". (Franz) Kafka wasn't "optimized" for anything, so this is just whimsical naming. It could just as well have been named Apache Hemingway, or Apache Tolstoy. Whimsical naming is ok, but can also be confusing and annoying.

cubefox 3y ago
I think many such names are mostly chosen because they kind of sound nice and they have a prestigious association.
titanomachy 3y ago
Wow, that's so unrelated. I think I'd tacitly assumed that it was named that because adopting an event-driven architecture results in byzantine and overly complicated software, like the bureaucracies in Kafka's novels.
- bee_rider 3y ago
  I’d be shocked if your explanation wasn’t the real one. “Optimized for writing” sounds like the sort of justification you give when your project with a sarcastic self-deprecating name becomes surprisingly successful. If they wanted to name it after a fast, efficient famous writer it would be Apache Hemingway. Kafka died before most of his writing was published and most of it was destroyed, which doesn’t seem like something the software would want to be associated with, right?
  - the_af 3y ago
    Your comment is on point. However... ... if you read Jay Krep's introduction to logs [1] (in the Kafka sense of logs) you can see that while he has a nice sense of humor [2], he felt pretty good about the Log abstraction and about Kafka. In no sense do I get the feeling he thought he was creating a kludge or something bad -- or "kafkaesque". Judging by the article, it might as well been named Apache Tolstoy! [1] https://engineering.linkedin.com/distributed-systems/log-what-every-software-engineer-should-know-about-real-time-datas-unifying https://engineering.linkedin.com/distributed-systems/log-wha... [2] "'Each working data pipeline is designed like a log; each broken data pipeline is broken in its own way.' — Count Leo Tolstoy (translation by the author)"
- Pamar 3y ago
  Or maybe you wake up one morning and discover it turned into a giant bug...
lbarrett 3y ago
"Kafkaesque" suggests people standing in very long queues. It doesn't seem unreasonable as a name for very long queue software.
lionkor 3y ago
I was at one point thinking of making a Kafka (the software) competitor called Tuberculosis, but maybe that was only funny in my head.

radiator 3y ago

Yes, it should have been Apache Kafka in this case.

thomastjeffery 3y ago

It would help tremendously if the title was changed to "Understanding Apache Kafka with Factorio".

AceJohnny2 3y ago

On the one hand, Apache Kafka is a pretty well-known topic on this hacker/web/computing-centric message board, so for most people it doesn't need elucidating. On the other hand, Factorio arguably has some Kafka-esque aspects!

CptFribble 3y ago

Isn't it because of the beneficial SEO? I'm sure we all well understand the benefits of landing a product on the first results page of a well-known historical figure.

ooterness 3y ago

I've read a few of Franz Kafka's short stories, but most of them went over my head. As someone who loves Factorio, I was legitimately excited to get more insight. Now: My disappointment is immeassurable and my day is ruined.

lionkor 3y ago
I never thought how weird it would be to read Kafka in anything but German - I bet it's like reading Dostojewski in anything but Russian, but somehow worse?