this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2024
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Cron. They didn't shut it down though, they just suddenly transitioned it. I'd just started using Cron when they did it and it was very unexpected for me.
I mean that sounds pretty reasonable, could they just not think of a name that wasn't already in prevalent use? Was the goal to be unsearchable for anyone trying to find it?
That's like creating a reminders app and naming it task manager.
They renamed it Notion calendar, but Cron had pretty solid SEO. I much preferred its old name and theme.
Well that's great for them, but that also means that people searching for the cron that has had that name for 50 years are going to get irrelevant results for a calendar app.
I seriously doubt people looking for cron are going to be confused by a calendar app.
Help guys, every time I go to look up the mail command, the fucking USPS shows up.
The command line cron is used for scheduling tasks, so it seems reasonable that the search results could get muddled.
The command line mail is used for checking local system mail that crontab outputs to by default, so it seems reasonable that results could get muddled. Luckily I know how to use a search engine so that's unlikely.
Or a spreadsheet program and calling it Excel.
Or outlook, access...
The name doesn't matter if you can establish it.
Their point isn't that it's a weird name that isn't descriptive of what the product does, their point is that cron is an already existing bit of software that does something else.
It'd be like if MS made a notes app called Steam, Google called a new camera app iTunes, or Apple rebranded Apple Music to PowerShell.
Minus the trademark infringement I guess. I doubt Cron has that.
Even worse is that it’s close enough.
Like “recur by specific days but not by months cron”
Is a valid search for both things. Only one came out in 1975 and has had that name forever, and one decided it would be cool to hijack it
That's the one, and you're right, it is currently a rebrand but ultimately the same product.
I think having separate apps is the wrong way to go for their "integrate everything in one place" philosophy, over the longer term. I'm eager to see what they do with it next.