Is it just random letters arrived to by keyboard mashing like a lot of federated websites seem, or is there any thought behind it?

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[–] 135 points 3 years ago* (3 children)

Here is the answer on the Polish instance directly from @ernest, kbin's creator. For reference, he was being accused of being a gun lover based on the name of the Polish instance "karab.in" and "magazines," as well as his Monty Python profile pic with a gun in it.

https://karab.in/m/fediverse/p/217281/The-reason-for-the-strange-naming-and-uncomfortable-images-on#post-comment-311421

Here are the relevant sections from Ernest on the origins of both kbin and magazine:

Hey, I'm the admin of kbin.social. The name "kbin" comes from the Linux "/sbin" directory - I've mentioned it multiple times before. The name of the Polish instance - karab.in - does indeed reference a rifle, but it's just a play on words, and it was actually chosen through a survey among other domains. It's simply easy to remember and sounds nice in Polish. There's no place for nazi bullshit on my instances.

On the other hand, the name "magazyn" refers to the virtual edition of a late 90s gaming newspaper :D

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  • [–] 8 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    We still don’t know what the K stands for though.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 years ago*

    So /sbin from Linux + k from karabin from the Polish word for rifle

    But the creator doesn't want it the instance to be seen as rifle-focused or otherwise militant and violent, so it just carries the "rifle-wielding polish linux user"-name without wanting to focus on militant Polish nerds.

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  • [–] 57 points 3 years ago* (2 children)

    I found this

    according to ernest it stems from /sbin. though one of the early instances was named karabin based on the karabine gun and thus shortened to kbin (or rather expanded from kbin).

    (Ernest WiΕ›niewski is the creator of kbin)

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  • [–] 34 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    It also explains "magazines".

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  • [–] 30 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (1 child)

    Ernest has actually said that the name "magazine" isn't gun related and that it's a reference "to the virtual edition of a late 90s gaming newspaper" (see this thread and my other comment for the full story)

    Someone in that thread also explains that in Polish the names are different:

    Polish word "magazyn" means storage or newspaper, but "magazynek " is a gun mag.

    EDIT: Didn't word good.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    Great. Now we gotta Google what a Karabin Gun is.

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  • [–] 8 points 3 years ago (1 child)
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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    so it's a "gun rifle"? why in the world would they name a platform after it?

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  • [+] 4 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (1 child)
  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    why tho? why is that the name of the platform then?

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  • [–] 14 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    probably a big bin for k's

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  • [–] 30 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    And we're gonna need all those different k's if ever want to find out how Kenya is spelled.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 years ago* (2 children)

    Wtf?

    Just tried this for myself and got the same result. That's bizarre.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    That's chatGPT. But be very afraid, it's totally gonna take your job!

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    ChatGPT won't be what takes your job, it's what comes after.

    I seriously don't understand the people who disregard it based on the state of ChatGPT. It will only get better over time. And by over time, I mean weeks to months; this tech is maturing faster and faster. The change from GPT3 to ChatGPT to GPT4 to GPT4 that can see images, has all come in the blink of an eye.

    Human labor is on borrowed time

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    Maybe historically. But the more I used or got exposed to chatGPT the more I realised how bad it still is. It certainly won't be coming for my job, even in the next 20 years, I'm sure of that. It's a bit like nuclear fusion. It's been ready for use in the next 25 years for like 75 years.

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  • If you're using ChatGPT, you're using an outdated model. GPT-4 is better than it and has been out for some time.

    ChatGPT is weaker and not something I'd use frequently. GPT-4 is much stronger and much more useful. And the next generation is coming soon, which will be better than GPT-4.

    It's not like fusion in its current state since LLM AIs are already ready for use. The only task is making it more effective. Using the fusion example, it would be like if we'd finally developed a reactor that generates more energy than it consumed, and now only sought to make it create more power

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  • [–] 9 points 3 years ago (2 children)
  • [–] 9 points 3 years ago

    Fun fact, Kbin is actually where all the big Ks from all the signs went when all the Kmarts shut down. Only, it turns out they were made of meat all along, so the refrigeration costs have been pretty significant... Kbin only runs the social media platform to earn enough money to pay for it all.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 years ago* (1 child)

    I'd read somewhere that there's some sort of Linux programming reference in the name, but I don't know anything about Linux so I can't quite remember. Don't quote me on that, though

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  • [–] 16 points 3 years ago

    Linux has directories (folders) that contain programs. The two major conventions are /bin (short for binary which is another name for an executable program) and sbin (system/super user binaries).

    Kbin seems like a play off of that, don’t know what the k implies tho.

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