Introducing Our New Name
blog.minetest.net
After more than a year of public and internal discussions, we're ready to announce our new name!
  • Silverchase@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    871·
    23 days ago

    We decided to avoid using “free” or “libre” in the name because we don’t think it does the project justice.

    Extremely correct call.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      71·
      22 days ago

      Other FOSS devs, please pay attention to this. I don’t want to use apps called “Free<boring description>,” I want to use apps that have interesting names. Looking at you LibreOffice/OpenOffice. Whether something is gratis or FOSS is largely irrelevant, project names should stand on their own.

  • Lvxferre@mander.xyzEnglish
    44·
    23 days ago

    “Luanti” is a wordplay on the Finnish word luonti (“creation”) and the programming language Minetest Luanti employs for games and mods, Lua.

    In other words it’s the result of mashing Finnish and Portuguese words together. (Lua language is the word for “Moon”. Cue to the logo.)

    Intended pronunciation is probably around ['luɐ̯n.ti], although the diphthong doesn’t exist in Finnish. I think that you can get close enough of that in English by saying “Loo an tea”.

    Now, if you can only convince some Lemmy users to not say “play minetest luanti lol” once others ask something about Minecraft, even contextually unrelated… some at least have the decency to point out a specific Minetest→Luanti modpack. Plenty don’t even.

    Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Luanti, and I have quite a few things against Microsoft. My issue is exactly what the blog editors are highlighting - it is not a libre Minecraft clone dammit, it’s its own thing. And in certain aspects it might become an even bigger thing, as a platform for voxel games in general.

    And overall I think that it’s a good sign that the project is getting its own name instead of being named after something else.

  • theshatterstone54@feddit.ukEnglish
    181·
    23 days ago

    We decided to avoid using “free” or “libre” in the name because we don’t think it does the project justice.

    This is the best project naming decision you could make in the FOSS space.

    “Luanti” is a wordplay on the Finnish word luonti (“creation”) and the programming language Minetest Luanti employs for games and mods, Lua.

    And this is among the worst. I mean the programming language part. Even Rust projects strive to avoid this sort of naming, so focus on your project’s purpose and identity, cuz nobody that doesn’t actively do development cares, especially users. Roblox is a platform that involves playing and creating games, also uses Lua as its language of choice but you know what’s actively missing from it’s title? The name of the Lua language!

    TLDR: They avoided putting the FOSS-ness in the name but put the programming language. To-may-to, to-mah-to. They avoid one naming fallacy only to embrace another.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      9·
      22 days ago

      Idk, I think in this case it’s fine because the name “Lua” doesn’t call attention to itself. They could easily have just said “it’s an intentional mispelling of the Finnish word ‘luonti’ for stylistic reasons.”

    • Tattorack@lemmy.worldEnglish
      91·
      22 days ago

      Dude, “Luanti” sounds like a cool name even without knowing its origins.

      This argument is similar to hating on the name “Bionicle” because its origins stem from a combination of “Biological” and “Chronicle”.

  • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    181·
    23 days ago

    Good that they’re changing from Minetest, but this new name hardly rolls off the tongue. Maybe I’ll get used to it.

    • Faresh@lemmy.mlEnglish
      52·
      22 days ago

      I’m so confused when people say that. It’s a short name without any difficult consonant clusters. What in it doesn’t roll off the tongue?

      • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        22 days ago

        I think anything with an ambiguous pronunciation, where someone has to stop and think “wait… is it pronounced this way or this way?” isn’t the best name.

  • Meldrik@lemmy.wtfEnglish
    15·
    23 days ago

    Cool.

    Does anyone know how big the modding scene for Luanti is? Like does mods like Industrial Craft and Forestry exist for it?

    • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
      21·
      23 days ago

      from my limited experience with it, i think this is sort of the “wrong question”. Luanti is basically to Minecraft as Garry’s Mod is to Half-Life 2 (except not really, since it’s not the same engine). It’s basically a platform at this point, with the base mechanics of Minecraft available as components for you to build your own game with. there are many different games available, and many of those games have their own mods.

      there’s some automation-focused stuff in their browser but since mindshare is much smaller they are not as finished or polished. however, since there is an official modding API this time, you never know…

      • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
        71·
        23 days ago

        Actually no. Luanti is to Minecraft as Roblox is to… Interactive Physics? It’s a game engine, not a game. GMOD is still a game.

        • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
          5·
          23 days ago

          i didn’t want to use roblox as an example as luanti is more focused on a single typ of game, and is playable in and of itself. gmod’s sandbox is akin to the default sandbox in luanti, basically a creative mode.

          also i didn’t want to imply that luanti has child exploitation…

          • Aatube@kbin.melroy.org
            1·
            23 days ago

            Luanti isn’t playable in and of itself; you need Minetest Game, which is a different thing. Just like Roblox, the similarities between games are usually as little as character + movement + 3d-ing

            • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
              3·
              22 days ago

              oh yeah they separated it out didn’t they. last time i hacked on it, minetest game was partly implemented in the core in c++.

  • FQQD@lemmy.ohaa.xyzEnglish
    10·
    23 days ago

    That’s odd. Didn’t expect that change. To be honest, I don’t think the name will catch on

    • Faresh@lemmy.mlEnglish
      3·
      22 days ago

      I’m sure it will once the website has been changed and new players begin calling it that.

  • HEXN3T@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    101·
    22 days ago

    How dare they change their project name to one that would… *squint* …look good on a shelf! The project is dead to me.

    I use Arch btw

  • electricprism@lemmy.mlEnglish
    62·
    22 days ago

    Breaking News: Luanti has just been forked and is now Yudaddy

    The question must be asked who is yudaddy and what does he do.

    • style99@lemm.eeEnglish
      51·
      23 days ago

      It’s always been a Lua-powered game. They’re just making it more in-your-face.

      • DrDystopia@lemy.lolEnglish
        9·
        23 days ago

        Sure, but I think it’s better to make people think of Minecraft style gameplay than Lua programming when mentioning the name.

        • nintendiator@feddit.clEnglish
          3·
          23 days ago

          It makes snese they want to distance from the Minecraft name for that. Engendered annoying “but muh Minecraft” expectations, and there’s already the Mineclone2 aka Voxelibre “subgame” for grabbing that attention.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      3·
      22 days ago

      Eh, they could easily change the justification to “intentional modification of a Finnish word for stylistic reasons.”

      I think the name is decent, though not a fan of shoehorning Lua in there.