Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The story of .io

citizen-ex.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 80 posts

Re: The story of .io

#21

Post by michaelwww »

I'm a Navy veteran and a liberal. The tone of this article really makes me cringe because not only is it anti-military, it thinks our hearts should bleed for the so-called "Chagossian people." These types of attitudes give liberals a really bad name. I'll bet a sizeable percentage of Chagossians were very happy to get off that god forsaken patch of land in the middle of a vast ocean and cursed the day their ancestors were ever brought there. The Navy, and it's sailors, welcome such a place, and given modern realities, it only makes sense for the U.S. and Britain to make use of this strategic asset.

Any Chagossians complaining now are most likely looking for some sort of reparations, which most likely does not include being returned to live in the middle of nowhere on an island prison. It's unfortunate they are living in poverty in their new home. Giving them some sort of compensation would be best, but in the history of displaced peoples, that rarely happens.

Re: The story of .io

#22

Post by quadrangle »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #11
quadrangle wrote: post #10

Fascinating story. I personally wish the article had gone a little further into being snarky, perhaps subtly, in recognizing how stupid, meaningless, unfunny, and unclever the idea of .io for "in/out" is for domains. Most websites and all computers do input/output and there's nothing interesting about that fact. I think it's a dumb trend, and I have an irrational, emotional dislike of the suggestion that it is good i…

Wut? .com is supposed to be for commercial sites only. I see it everywhere, regardless of if someone is selling something or not. .net is for network infrastructure, I see it used all the time. Other than strict TLDs like .gov, they're used for things other than their intended use all the time. .io is a good way to get a name that would otherwise be taken up by a squatter while still having some technological tie. Th…

Yeah, and people don't use .com well either. But "commercial" actually is a reasonable class of site.

Um, strict TLDs like .gov are misused?? What's a .gov site that isn't a government site? That is actually regulated…

.io is a stupid TLD name (except for actual Indian Ocean sites). I think what bugs me is "some technological tie" — wut? It's not anything. Input/Output isn't a nifty technological idea even.

Re: squatters: they could squat on any TLD. The only reason they squat on .com or .net is because you want it. Now, they will start squatting on .io because people want that. I don't see the difference.

Re: The story of .io

#23

Post by baudehlo »

mynameisvlad wrote: post #11
quadrangle wrote: post #10

Fascinating story. I personally wish the article had gone a little further into being snarky, perhaps subtly, in recognizing how stupid, meaningless, unfunny, and unclever the idea of .io for "in/out" is for domains. Most websites and all computers do input/output and there's nothing interesting about that fact. I think it's a dumb trend, and I have an irrational, emotional dislike of the suggestion that it is good i…

Wut? .com is supposed to be for commercial sites only. I see it everywhere, regardless of if someone is selling something or not. .net is for network infrastructure, I see it used all the time. Other than strict TLDs like .gov, they're used for things other than their intended use all the time. .io is a good way to get a name that would otherwise be taken up by a squatter while still having some technological tie. Th…

But getting a .io domain already taken by a .com is also kind of stupid. It's only useful if the .com is being squatted on and you hope some day to make enough money to buy the .com too (see e.g segment).

Re: The story of .io

#24

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

michaelwww wrote: post #21

I'm a Navy veteran and a liberal. The tone of this article really makes me cringe because not only is it anti-military, it thinks our hearts should bleed for the so-called "Chagossian people." These types of attitudes give liberals a really bad name. I'll bet a sizeable percentage of Chagossians were very happy to get off that god forsaken patch of land in the middle of a vast ocean and cursed the day their ancestors…

> I'm a Navy veteran and a liberal.

Are you a liberal? You seem to be incredibly supportive of the United States military establishment, which isn't a very liberal position to take.

(Though I suppose it might be by US standards.)

> The tone of this article really makes me cringe because not only is it anti-military,

What's wrong with being anti-military? Ignoring absolute pacifism (which has obvious problems), opposition to the military (and the military-industrial complex) is a valid political position to hold.

The article isn't "anti-military", anyway. It's not against the US Military, it's against these specific actions of the US Military. Criticism of something and opposition to it are different things.

> it thinks our hearts should bleed for the so-called "Chagossian people."

Basic human empathy, is it not? If 2000 people next door to me were kicked out of their homes, I'd be sad for them too.

> These types of attitudes give liberals a really bad name.

What attitude? Non-unquestioning support of institutions which can and do have flaws, and having human empathy?

Usually, these are valued attributes in people.

> I'll bet a sizeable percentage of Chagossians were very happy to get off that god forsaken patch of land in the middle of a vast ocean

Do you have any reason to actually believe this? Why would they enjoy being kicked out of their home? After all, this "god forsaken patch of land" is probably not all that different from the "god forsaken patch of land" they were moving to: Mauritius.

> The Navy, and it's sailors, welcome such a place,

Which has no bearing on how the occupants feel.

> and given modern realities, it only makes sense for the U.S. and Britain to make use of this strategic asset.

Well yes, it makes sense from a strategic perspective: the US wishes to remain a global superpower with control of all the world's oceans. The BIOT is of strategic importance.

That being said, it has no real bearing on the morality of the action,

> Any Chagossians complaining now are most likely looking for some sort of reparations

That's rather cynical of you. People don't forget injustices, they're right to continue complaining.

> which most likely does not include being returned to live in the middle of nowhere on an island prison.

Island prison? I don't think they would have called their old home that.

> It's unfortunate they are living in poverty in their new home.

It's unfortunate. It's also a direct consequence of how the British treated them when they were evicted.

Re: The story of .io

#25

Post by pki »

quadrangle wrote: post #22
mynameisvlad wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wut? .com is supposed to be for commercial sites only. I see it everywhere, regardless of if someone is selling something or not. .net is for network infrastructure, I see it used all the time. Other than strict TLDs like .gov, they're used for things other than their intended use all the time. .io is a good way to get a name that would otherwise be taken up by a squatter while still having some technological tie. Th…

Yeah, and people don't use .com well either. But "commercial" actually is a reasonable class of site. Um, strict TLDs like .gov are misused?? What's a .gov site that isn't a government site? That is actually regulated… .io is a stupid TLD name (except for actual Indian Ocean sites). I think what bugs me is "some technological tie" — wut? It's not anything. Input/Output isn't a nifty technological idea even. Re: squat…

I'd argue that maybe things like http://davisut4health.gov/ and http://bart.gov might not properly belong under .gov?

Re: The story of .io

#26

Post by michaelwww »

TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #24
michaelwww wrote: post #21

I'm a Navy veteran and a liberal. The tone of this article really makes me cringe because not only is it anti-military, it thinks our hearts should bleed for the so-called "Chagossian people." These types of attitudes give liberals a really bad name. I'll bet a sizeable percentage of Chagossians were very happy to get off that god forsaken patch of land in the middle of a vast ocean and cursed the day their ancestors…

> I'm a Navy veteran and a liberal. Are you a liberal? You seem to be incredibly supportive of the United States military establishment, which isn't a very liberal position to take. (Though I suppose it might be by US standards.) > The tone of this article really makes me cringe because not only is it anti-military, What's wrong with being anti-military? Ignoring absolute pacifism (which has obvious problems), opposi…

I'm suggesting that liberals who don't temper their empathy with practical realities risked being dismissed as holier-than-thou dreamers. I looked up the word temper to make sure I it was the right word, because I'm not sure you are from my culture, and Google suggests it means "their idealism is tempered with realism." I know it probably feels good to author an article like this one, but battles must be chosen and this one is kind of ridiculous in the larger picture of things wrong with the world.

Re: The story of .io

#27

Post by zyxley »

stvswn wrote: post #18

Some additional context from wikipedia: the island was originally 100% uninhabited in the 19th century when the French brought slaves there. Over the course of the next century, it was mostly privately owned, and the majority of residents were employees of plantations who were under temporary contracts and would return to Mauritania or the Seychelles after the contract was over. Ever since the slave days, there was a…

> whether they were really permanent residents

I think it's pretty strange not to think of somebody as a permanent resident of the place they've lived since birth.

Re: The story of .io

#28

Post by [deleted] »

quadrangle wrote: post #10

Fascinating story. I personally wish the article had gone a little further into being snarky, perhaps subtly, in recognizing how stupid, meaningless, unfunny, and unclever the idea of .io for "in/out" is for domains. Most websites and all computers do input/output and there's nothing interesting about that fact. I think it's a dumb trend, and I have an irrational, emotional dislike of the suggestion that it is good i…

[deleted]

Re: The story of .io

#29

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

michaelwww wrote: post #26
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm a Navy veteran and a liberal. Are you a liberal? You seem to be incredibly supportive of the United States military establishment, which isn't a very liberal position to take. (Though I suppose it might be by US standards.) > The tone of this article really makes me cringe because not only is it anti-military, What's wrong with being anti-military? Ignoring absolute pacifism (which has obvious problems), opposi…

I'm suggesting that liberals who don't temper their empathy with practical realities risked being dismissed as holier-than-thou dreamers. I looked up the word temper to make sure I it was the right word, because I'm not sure you are from my culture, and Google suggests it means "their idealism is tempered with realism." I know it probably feels good to author an article like this one, but battles must be chosen and t…

> I'm suggesting that liberals who don't temper their empathy with practical realities risked being dismissed as holier-than-thou dreamers.

Okay, but why should they here? Does the US really need to maintain global dominance for any reason beyond the pursuit of power?

Re: The story of .io

#30

Post by [deleted] »

nickysielicki wrote: post #14

I lack an ability to put into words just how much I hate the tone of this article and the tone of this author. Particularly this last line. > As we build new worlds with our technologies, knitted from fiber-optic light and lines of code, it is incumbent on us to ensure it does not reproduce the erasures and abuses of the old, but properly accounts for the rights and liberties of every one of us. Why has every Silicon…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN