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Are we intentionally reusing project names now? Lynx [1] is a fairly popular tui browser. I guess it doesn’t support ssl or tls, so is now obsolete? W3M [2] is

Are we intentionally reusing project names now? Lynx [1] is a fairly popular tui browser. I guess it doesn’t support ssl or tls, so is now obsolete? W3M [2] is a decent tui alternative that does. Or if you use kitty, awrit [3] is nice, with images and mouse support (it renders chromium in a terminal window) [1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser) [2] https://w3m.sourceforge.net/ https://w3m.sourceforge.net/ [3] https://github.com/chase/awrit https://github.com/chase/awrit

classichasclass 2y ago
Lynx absolutely supports TLS (2.8 and later, possibly earlier).
- zimpenfish 2y ago
  > Lynx absolutely supports TLS And has done (in various forms) since at least 2001!
Klonoar 2y ago
Project name reuse has been a thing since the dawn of projects.
jakereps 2y ago
I can't tell if this is satire or a hidden advertisement for various tui browsers? A project that is a "popular tui browser" (for the literally dozens of people that use tui browsers?) does not have ownership claim to the name of a big cat genus which has 4k+ other results on GitHub with the same name.
- mftrhu 2y ago
  Lynx is a well-known project which has been around for far longer than Github even existed - since 1992, in fact - which is in any case irrelevant, since it's not developed on GitHub: the commits for ThomasDickey/lynx-snapshots are snapshots of the code from the website proper.
  - jakereps 2y ago
    Removed the star count as any sort of “evidence” to popularity - the point still stands though. It feels absurd to claim a name being “reused,” or implied stolen, when the name is a generic animal name.
    - whstl 2y ago
      Bikeshedding about names, article titles and tangential annoyances is HN’s favorite pastime, and an easy way to get karma. As old as the hills.
      - v9v 2y ago
        I believe it's spelled as "pastime" :)
        janderson215 2y ago
        ^art
- woleium 2y ago
  i am not affiliated with any of the projects, its just what i use.
- jjmarr 2y ago
  It's not even the only TUI browser pronounced that way. See: links https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Links_(web_browser) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Links_(web_browser)
- FuriouslyAdrift 2y ago
  Lynx pre-dates Mosaic... "As of 2025, it is the oldest web browser still being maintained" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser)
tpoacher 2y ago
It's not even a good name for a cross platform tiktok network. I would have stolen a name like Transmission, or Bing instead.
huxpro 2y ago
The Lynx project was originally named independently without thinking this far ahead. Since so much code and so many users already rely on it, we decided to stick with the name rather than change it just for open-sourcing.
- DannyPage 2y ago
  Open-sourcing is/was the perfect time to change it. Otherwise it might be even more painful if a name change is needed later.
  - bangaladore 2y ago
    And why exactly would a name change be needed later? Names are just names, many people have the same names, and projects can too.
    - michaelmior 2y ago
      Generally agreed. I think unique names for projects are nice, but unless the projects have very similar goals, I think having the same name isn't really a big deal.
    - aaplok 2y ago
      Plenty of people have the same name, but if you call your child Brad Pitt, it will be interpreted as a reference to the famous guy bearing that name, and nobody will believe it is a coincidence. Lynx doesn't have a large user base (I think) but it is installed by default on many linux distros. Having to install two programs with the same name is a pain which is only resolved by renaming one of them (at the distro or the user level).
      - bangaladore 2y ago
        Bit misleading. The analogy is closer to naming your child "Genevieve" when another Genevieve exists in the school. Lynx is a fairly common and well understood word. > Lynx doesn't have a large user base (I think) but it is installed by default on many linux distros. Having to install two programs with the same name is a pain which is only resolved by renaming one of them (at the distro or the user level). This is a fault of the distros. At some point keeping niche software will cause issues and conflicts.
nemothekid 2y ago
>Are we intentionally reusing project names now? Lynx [1] is a fairly popular tui browser. The kids who built this are probably younger than the Lynx project and likely don't know it exists.
Apocryphon 2y ago
Indeed, they should rename it to Jaguar.
jamespo 2y ago
Just tried to browse the web on my Atari Lynx.
fngjdflmdflg 2y ago
>Please don't complain about tangential annoyances—e.g. article or website formats, name collisions, or back-button breakage. They're too common to be interesting. Name collisions are so common that the guidelines tell us not to talk about them. Why would you assume that this is intentional? And then the rest of your post is just about different tui browsers? How is this the top comment?
- woleium 2y ago
  oops, sorry!
  - fngjdflmdflg 2y ago
    Likewise sorry for writing what was on re-reading a rude comment.
Creator44 2y ago
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classichasclass 2y ago

Lynx absolutely supports TLS (2.8 and later, possibly earlier).

zimpenfish 2y ago
> Lynx absolutely supports TLS And has done (in various forms) since at least 2001!

Klonoar 2y ago

Project name reuse has been a thing since the dawn of projects.

jakereps 2y ago

I can't tell if this is satire or a hidden advertisement for various tui browsers? A project that is a "popular tui browser" (for the literally dozens of people that use tui browsers?) does not have ownership claim to the name of a big cat genus which has 4k+ other results on GitHub with the same name.

mftrhu 2y ago
Lynx is a well-known project which has been around for far longer than Github even existed - since 1992, in fact - which is in any case irrelevant, since it's not developed on GitHub: the commits for ThomasDickey/lynx-snapshots are snapshots of the code from the website proper.
- jakereps 2y ago
  Removed the star count as any sort of “evidence” to popularity - the point still stands though. It feels absurd to claim a name being “reused,” or implied stolen, when the name is a generic animal name.
  - whstl 2y ago
    Bikeshedding about names, article titles and tangential annoyances is HN’s favorite pastime, and an easy way to get karma. As old as the hills.
    - v9v 2y ago
      I believe it's spelled as "pastime" :)
      - janderson215 2y ago
        ^art
woleium 2y ago
i am not affiliated with any of the projects, its just what i use.
jjmarr 2y ago
It's not even the only TUI browser pronounced that way. See: links https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Links_(web_browser) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Links_(web_browser)
FuriouslyAdrift 2y ago
Lynx pre-dates Mosaic... "As of 2025, it is the oldest web browser still being maintained" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx_(web_browser)

tpoacher 2y ago

It's not even a good name for a cross platform tiktok network. I would have stolen a name like Transmission, or Bing instead.

huxpro 2y ago

The Lynx project was originally named independently without thinking this far ahead. Since so much code and so many users already rely on it, we decided to stick with the name rather than change it just for open-sourcing.

DannyPage 2y ago
Open-sourcing is/was the perfect time to change it. Otherwise it might be even more painful if a name change is needed later.
- bangaladore 2y ago
  And why exactly would a name change be needed later? Names are just names, many people have the same names, and projects can too.
  - michaelmior 2y ago
    Generally agreed. I think unique names for projects are nice, but unless the projects have very similar goals, I think having the same name isn't really a big deal.
  - aaplok 2y ago
    Plenty of people have the same name, but if you call your child Brad Pitt, it will be interpreted as a reference to the famous guy bearing that name, and nobody will believe it is a coincidence. Lynx doesn't have a large user base (I think) but it is installed by default on many linux distros. Having to install two programs with the same name is a pain which is only resolved by renaming one of them (at the distro or the user level).
    - bangaladore 2y ago
      Bit misleading. The analogy is closer to naming your child "Genevieve" when another Genevieve exists in the school. Lynx is a fairly common and well understood word. > Lynx doesn't have a large user base (I think) but it is installed by default on many linux distros. Having to install two programs with the same name is a pain which is only resolved by renaming one of them (at the distro or the user level). This is a fault of the distros. At some point keeping niche software will cause issues and conflicts.

nemothekid 2y ago

>Are we intentionally reusing project names now? Lynx [1] is a fairly popular tui browser. The kids who built this are probably younger than the Lynx project and likely don't know it exists.

Apocryphon 2y ago

Indeed, they should rename it to Jaguar.

jamespo 2y ago

Just tried to browse the web on my Atari Lynx.

fngjdflmdflg 2y ago

>Please don't complain about tangential annoyances—e.g. article or website formats, name collisions, or back-button breakage. They're too common to be interesting. Name collisions are so common that the guidelines tell us not to talk about them. Why would you assume that this is intentional? And then the rest of your post is just about different tui browsers? How is this the top comment?

woleium 2y ago
oops, sorry!
- fngjdflmdflg 2y ago
  Likewise sorry for writing what was on re-reading a rude comment.

Creator44 2y ago

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