Company Takes Over Well-Known OSS Developer's Name Because the Domain Was Free

New submitter Fatalis writes: Substack is a venture capital funded startup for subscription-based newsletters, and it admittedly chose its name following the advice from a Paul Graham (co-founder of Y Combinator) article to prefer names not registered in the .com zone. The same name has also been the user handle for a prolific open-source developer who now finds themselves competing for recognition in the tech space with a capital backed company. The lesson seems to be for developers to protect their personal brand by registering a domain name with the .com extension due to it being perceived as the default.

Comments

In Other News . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

The Internet is a Big Place, and just because you think you are important in your little niche, you really aren't.

"Well-known OSS developer"? Yeah, right. That and $8 will get you a coffee at Starbucks.

Re:Use your real name, not a handle

[nitehawk214]

Except they can and did.