We have a pope

[prog]

After weeks of waffling, we have finally renamed Javolin. As of the next release (later this week), the official Volity client application will be called:

Volity Gamut

I think this is a great name for several reasons.

• It's short, distinctive, and meaningful.


• It's not so flashy/corny that it overpowers the "Volity" part of the name.


• It's a hat-tip to Sid Sackson's A Gamut of Games, of which Volity is a spiritual descendant of sorts.

Thanks to Phil Bordelon for noting that last insight, which sold me on it.

Why the rename? "Javolin" (coined by karlvonl in the elder days) was punny mashup of Java + Volity, pointing to the fact that it was a Volity client written in Java. But it's clearly been positioned since then to become the Volity client (at least until upstart third parties who think they can do better start making their own), so I wanted to deëmphasize the Java-ness and come up with a name that's more general, able to fit the template "Volity thus-and-such", and still interesting. I think we done good.

Comments

[karlvonl.livejournal.com]

I approve. :-)

I still think "volity player" would have been better

[taskboy3000.livejournal.com]

There is an advantage in choosing boring names for software. Volity Client or Volity Player would give users new to the system some idea of what the heck the software is. Gamut does not, although it's a cool enough name.

Re: I still think "volity player" would have been better

[prog.livejournal.com]

Those names are so sterile and dull they make me drop into partial catatonia, just looking at them.

No, Gamut is a completely awesome name.