Buckblog: SwitchTower C&D

How about * SwitchTrack * SwitchRail * BuckTower

topfunky
3 Mar 2006

I was looking for other possible names here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_switch Maybe "switchpoint" or "turnout"?

Jacob Fugal
3 Mar 2006

Switch Station (like a rail road switching station)

Mr. Kahn
3 Mar 2006

How about a free set of ruby books to the one whose name choice you use? my choices are: -BitchTower -RailsSetter -BabelTower -RubyTower -RailSpikeTower -WaterTwoer

[email protected]
3 Mar 2006

SignalBox AutoSwitch ChangeOver HomeSignal SmokeBox TwinTrack

Peter Cooper
3 Mar 2006

Conductor. He's the one that governs it all.

procreate
3 Mar 2006

Conductor is good, if you want to be safe maybe use RailsConductor instead.

Cody
3 Mar 2006

Howzabout:

conductor
whistle
stationmaster
junction
switchman

Luke Melia
3 Mar 2006

Of course in this day of legal madness it's no surprise that Jamis would receive a C&D from some company no one's really heard of and when you do get a letter like that you just want it to go away as quickly as possible. Legal bullying as practiced in America. Still the questions arise: How is Switchtower code a product? How is Jamis the responsible party for this code? Does Jamis own switchtower? Does this mean any developer who worked on the code should get a C&D as well? What if the name is changed and I still choose to call it Switchtower should I get a C&D as well? I say don't bow down to the IP Scumsuckers and takes this fight all the way to the Supreme Court. Let's make the new name: IpodWindowsVistaLordoftheRingsSwitchTower Oh and just in case anyone takes this advice I live on the North Pole in a small cabin, so just have the legal letters addressed to me c/o Santa Claus.

Tim Case
3 Mar 2006

Putting ruby or rails in the name loses the fact that it can be used for more general stuff. How about: * Krinkle * BackApp * Whiplash * Backlash * nst (not switchtower) * Boomerang * Stammer * stav (set to app version) * Commando * WatchTower * AppRiot * WhipBack * PickApp * SWARM (Simple Web App Reversion Master)

Tom Jordan
3 Mar 2006

I agree with TIm. There should be no need for you to change the name of Switchtower. Unless their switchtower product has anything todo with deployment and change management these are completely different products. IANAL but as far as I understand US trademark law does not allow you to keep others from using your name in some completely unrelated product. I say keep it Switchtower.

Pelle Braendgaard
3 Mar 2006

A quick tour of a railroad glossary of terms yields this utter gem: *Hump* - the highest point in the Marshalling Yard where cars are released to coast toward the correct track. :-)

Trevor Squires
3 Mar 2006

from my understanding (and I'm not a lawyer), it is when there's a reasonable belief that the two products could be confused. Unless you're a mega brand (e.g. Coke) and then anything is more or less "brand diultion" So as Pelle stated, you should be in the clear. Call the EFF :)

John Athayde
3 Mar 2006

This really stinks. You picked a great name. Maybe you can get some ideas from here: http://www.answers.com/train%20yard Good luck and thanks for such a great utility.

vinbarnes
3 Mar 2006

They're just mad, because the SwitchTower manual beats them in Google.

Bradley Taylor
3 Mar 2006

Hey Jamis, I suggest you check out http://www.chillingeffects.org/ and make sure that they actually have the right to force you to C & D. As John said, call the EFF. They can issue at least a counter letter. Sometimes companies go away once they get a nastygram back. Remeber that Trademarks only apply to specific uses of the application of that term, not all uses. Safari is both a web browser from apple and a tech book service accessed via web browers from O'Reily. Offer to put up a link to their website on the switchtower manual. I suspect they are mostly upset at their losing google rank. That said, it took them a long time to notice. -rabble

rabble
3 Mar 2006

IANAL either, but I think Pelle may be right. Consult with a lawyer or at least ask the people at groklaw or eff, if you want to keep the name. Looks like Raindance makes a suite of network appliances for web conferencing which when used together constitute what they call a SwitchTower network. This is not competition with a development tool (completely different markets) but since they're both "computer stuff" it would pay to check with a lawyer. This boils down to they aren't showing up on the first page of a google search for switchtower and that makes them mad. It's easy to send out a cease and desist letter and scare some open source developers into changing a name. I say stand your ground until it actually comes down to spending money to do so (e.g. paying a lawyer or going to court). Or just change the name. I never really liked it anyway (but don't change it on my account!).

Hans Fugal
3 Mar 2006

I hope whatever you choose you avoid the tired railroad metaphors. It getting really annoying. And the metaphor doesn't always work. If anything, ST has a cooking metaphor going with its "recipes". Maybe a kitchen/cooking/baking theme would work. How about "Baker" or "Chef" or "ActiveCook" or something? Hell, call it ActiveMicrowave since it takes the effort out of cooking up a production app :)

Kevin
3 Mar 2006

How about: On the train engineer theme: railseer funnyhat variations on switchtower: bittower switchcenter swhichtower switchpower iSwitch rSwitch (too javaesque) i'm done

spig
3 Mar 2006

Jamis--hope you can fight this. It smells of bullying, and that happens far too often in this country. If you are forced to back down, you could always do a recursive GNU-ish thing. I'm thinking SOWS, meaning "SOWS Once Was SwitchTower". The beauty of recursion means you can make the first letter anything you like if you think of something more fitting.

Phil
3 Mar 2006

Well that kinda sucks. What about Deploy? .. RubyDeploy?

Nola
3 Mar 2006

What about calling it TurnTable or TurnStile? Of course, you risk endless jokes about the Byrds "Turn, Turn, Turn" apropos though they may be.... ;-)

[email protected]
3 Mar 2006

I appreciate the moral support, all, but we have consulted a lawyer and their advice was that we not try to fight this. The point is that both the deployment software "SwitchTower", and Raindance's software, are both software, which is similar enough, apparently. So, we're definitely renaming. We'd like to choose a name unrelated to railroad terminology, simply because ST is not rails specific and we'd like to emphasize that a bit. Great suggestions so far, btw. Thanks, all!

Jamis
3 Mar 2006

From Chilling.org FAQ: If no income is solicited or earned by using someone else's mark, this use is not normally infringement. Trademark rights protect consumers from purchasing inferior goods because of false labeling. If no goods or services are being offered, or the goods would not be confused with those of the mark owner, or if the term is being used in a literary sense, but not to label or otherwise identify the origin of other goods or services, then the term is not being used commercially. Confusion between the names does not seem likely in the marketplace. To a non-techie the difference may not be obvious, however both 'products' are targeted at a technically savvy audiences. I appreciate you probably don't want the hastle, aggravation and worry but I'd always recommend getting legal advice before backing down. They may not have a strong case and relying on the fact that you'll buckle upon reciept of the C&D. I think it's a great name BTW.

Graham
3 Mar 2006

Kinda like what Nola said, except how about Reploy (Ruby + Deploy). Less then 1000 hits on google, reploy.org is available. :)

Tony
3 Mar 2006

* PuppetMaster * Marionette * Lobbyist ;-) * DeusExMachina

[email protected]
3 Mar 2006

Whats better than a tower? Its a bird, its a plane, no its a -----superstation-----.

vishi
3 Mar 2006

How about ControlTower. A search of the USPTO site for registered trademarks shows no matches for the one word version. There are a few that match on "Control Tower". Has similar connotations, but is aircraft oriented, rather then train. Ruby ControlTower (RCT) would probably differentiate enough to prevent further C&Ds. For that matter, wouldn't Ruby SwitchTower be enough to differentiate this from the other product? Link to USPTO TM search form: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=984bob.1.1

Jim
3 Mar 2006

Sorry about the link format. I created a tinyurl link intead since it wasn't obvious how to properly post a url with params in the comments. http://tinyurl.com/jnqln

Jim
3 Mar 2006

Buckshot

Jeremy P
3 Mar 2006

SwitchTover SwitcherooTm SwapTowers

Craig Davey
3 Mar 2006

Just make a minor change. Like the way Microsoft adds the word Microsoft (or MS) to their products (Microsoft Office, MS DOS). How about "J-switchtower" or "switchtowerJB" or "The Real Switchtower" or "Switchtower For Rails". None of those should be a legal problem, since you can't trademark a real word (to prevent others from using it). IANAL

chapter80
3 Mar 2006

How about naming it SwitchTowr and get rid of that useless e in there? ;-)

Kevin
3 Mar 2006

RoboBOFH ScriptMao (it lets a thousand flowers bloom..) Shepherd RubyVisor ScriptCaster NetSherpa Aerosol

Jay Levitt
3 Mar 2006

Ok, I've got it. * Switchyard http://www.thefreedictionary.com/switchyard

Tom Jordan
3 Mar 2006

Other switchyard examples: http://www.sas.usace.army.mil/pptour/yardpix.htm

Tom Jordan
3 Mar 2006

Conductor would be more appropriate as a replacement for ActiveRBAC.

Anonymous
3 Mar 2006

How about ActiveSwitcher? I believe that if you even name it ActiveSwitchTower you are not violating the trademark any longer, but i am not a lawyer.

Jeff Berg
3 Mar 2006

I think you should get a second opinion, preferably from the EFF. Barring that, call it ScrewYouRaindanceYouPettyBastards

Dan
3 Mar 2006

I'd like to see it called NetRunner It sounds official, implies a larger scope than just RoR, and the NetRunner's objective is to keep 'the Corp' from acheiving their evil world domination (always a good thing).

Jeff McDonald
3 Mar 2006

How about 'Raindance_Can_SuckIt!'

wahoo
3 Mar 2006

How about: CowCatcher (just for the heck of it hehehe)

Amr
3 Mar 2006

Following the cooking metaphor: Dispatula!

Joshua Sierles
3 Mar 2006

derailer rightofway crossover

Vince N.
3 Mar 2006

"Bob"

agile
3 Mar 2006

reverse it TowerSwitch

kirk
3 Mar 2006

I'm with Nola: Deploy or RubyDeploy DeployR

Daniel Morrison
3 Mar 2006

DisAdmin (distributed) BOFH-in-a-box RuBot

Jay Levitt
4 Mar 2006

SpreadTower TransmitTower ReachTower Circulate Just some thoughs :)

Ruben
4 Mar 2006

Gee.. I'm gonna have to be careful naming my Classes and Methods in future.

Chris
4 Mar 2006

Of course they have the legal right to defend their trademarked product name, but then we have the legal right to never use their products again. I sure won't be, and neither will anyone I work with.

Angry Customer
4 Mar 2006

How about just Ruby Switch?

Duarte Carrilho da Graça
4 Mar 2006

I agree that you should find out if they have any legal merit to send you a C&D. Besides, Raindance is just performing a marketing stunt so that thousands of angry SwitchTower users and Ruby-lovers go to the Raindance website and research their brand/technology. Afterwards it will trickle to other blog and news sites. Common ploy -- any news is good news type of thing.

Ryan
4 Mar 2006

IANAL, but remember the Firebird thing. Even though one was a database and the other a browser, and even though they were both open source, we now have Firefox. At the time I remember it having to do with both being in the tech/computer space. Dispatula is a good one though the name suggests it is disposable. Your project, however, is indispensable.

motobass
4 Mar 2006

How about something to dig in at them, should you not want to go through with challenging their claim. Something like 'RadiantTower' or the like.

Nathan Clayton
4 Mar 2006

If Jim Weirich doesn't mind, you could call it Distributed Rake/DRake/Drake. If you want to give raindance a bittersweet victory, you could do something like: Used To Be SwitchTower, and abbreviate it U2B SwitchTower. That would get past the naming issue (I assume) and still keep you at the top of google searches for SwitchTower.

Zachary Pinter
4 Mar 2006

Oops. I guess it helps to use textile to format a list, not just CRs.. * RoboBOFH * ScriptMao (it lets a thousand flowers bloom..) * Shepherd * RubyVisor * ScriptCaster * NetSherpa * BOFH-in-a-box * DisAdmin * RuBot

Jay Levitt
4 Mar 2006

How about "ControlTower" or "SwitchMaster"

Jamie Orchard-Hays
4 Mar 2006

how about "Switchr" ?

vivek
5 Mar 2006

How about : *"Aiguillage"* ? it's the french word for "railway points / switch" http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiguillage it's in french but there are some nice pictures...

Matthieu
5 Mar 2006

My votes: DeployTower Switch & Deploy QuickSwitcher Quicksilver (generic enough to avoid all issues I hope) Striving With Interesting Technology Creates Havoc Tower (S.W.I.T.C.H. Tower) JB & Company's SwitchTower X-SwitchTower Switched Tower (due to legal threats (tm)) My sympathies go out to you, just hope that you can include "formerly SwitchTower" if you go back and replace all recurring instances with a new name. I sure hope Amtrack doesn't come after Rails!!!

Labrat
5 Mar 2006

Turn-table? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turntable_%28railroad%29

Pavel
6 Mar 2006

Or "strelka" -- this is Russian for railway switch... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strelka more as well.

Pavel
6 Mar 2006

Host it outside the US and screw the trademark.

Dan
8 Mar 2006

Well, it is sad that you are being forced to change your name... IP laws are teh suck. But, you may as well make the most of it while you can. Since you aren't really going for a railroad related name, you can go for some similar terms. For instance, SwitchTower is all about coordinating releases, upgrades, and maintenance. So how about Conductor or Orchestrator? It makes sense since we use your program to guide all of the code into place and get everything ready. Now if you could just get it to direct in 3/4 time rather than in 4/4 time it might even be considered a SuperConductor!

Andrew Coleman
8 Mar 2006

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