this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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102
What does kbin mean? Why is kbin.social called that? (lemm.ee)
submitted 1 year ago by Comment105@lemm.ee to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
49 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

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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[โ€“] starman@programming.dev 57 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year 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 Wiล›niewski is the creator of kbin)

[โ€“] darq@kbin.social 34 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It also explains "magazines".

[โ€“] wrath-sedan@kbin.social 30 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

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.

[โ€“] nan@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 year ago

This just changed my whole worldview.

[โ€“] mp3@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 year ago

๐Ÿคฏ

[โ€“] ren@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

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

[โ€“] mp3@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[โ€“] ren@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

but like... why tho?

[โ€“] fiddlesticks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Because of the rapid fire content, I guess?

[โ€“] Comment105@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

It's such a bad domain name

[โ€“] Blizzard@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's Polish for "rifle".

[โ€“] ren@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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

[โ€“] antim0ny@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

It was a play on words, from /sbin. More info in the top thread.

[โ€“] Blizzard@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 year ago

Not sure, perhaps he liked the domain karab.in. But honestly, there's plenty of weirder names out there, even among the biggest brands.

[โ€“] superkret@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A short rifle

[โ€“] ren@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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

[โ€“] pgetsos@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

It isn't. It has nothing to do with a gun

[โ€“] superkret@feddit.de -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Because a carbine is your weapon of choice when you're part of a small group fighting Nazis and Capitalist imperialists, and the founder of kbin is a Polish communist.

The Fediverse wasn't started as reddit 2.0, it was a safe haven for tankies.

[โ€“] mrbubblesort@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[โ€“] Blizzard@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 year ago

This just happens to have the "karabin" in the name but it simply means a rifle.