who knew there could so much drama, involving colonial history no less, behind something so simple and seemingly benign as a TLD? more than meets the .io!
who knew there could so much drama, involving colonial history no less, behind something so simple and seemingly benign as a TLD? more than meets the .io!
Off-topic but it's extremely funny to me that this is a highly voted comment on Tildes while on lobste.rs somebody immediately took use with colonialism being used as an argument at all.
Off-topic but it's extremely funny to me that this is a highly voted comment on Tildes while on lobste.rs somebody immediately took use with colonialism being used as an argument at all.
I don't think it's as questionable overall as .io, but .tv is another interesting case that's used by a lot of companies (mostly video/streaming ones, for obvious reasons). It's owned by the...
I don't think it's as questionable overall as .io, but .tv is another interesting case that's used by a lot of companies (mostly video/streaming ones, for obvious reasons). It's owned by the country of Tuvalu, and revenue from the TLD makes up a major chunk of the country's GDP now.
Personally, I mostly just think it's bizarre for companies to make their primary domain name and web presence reliant on these tiny countries. It seems extremely risky to tie so much to a domain name that's completely controlled by a random country. They probably don't know anything about who administers the relevant infrastructure, or even the country's government.
Twitch's employee count is higher than half of Tuvalu's population. It would cause such a huge mess to have every twitch.tv link on the internet stop working if the country decided to stop letting them use the domain/TLD for any reason, and there's probably no legal recourse against a random small country like that. They even own twitch.com but just redirect it to twitch.tv.
It just feels like such a weird blind spot in tech companies to me, that it's somehow become normal to attach an essential part of your company to some little island with a name that vaguely resembles the TLD you use.
I think the cost part is a little inverted. I think the relatively high cost of io is part of its success: it makes it look premium...however much a tld can looks so. I've definitely seen xyz on...
I think the cost part is a little inverted. I think the relatively high cost of io is part of its success: it makes it look premium...however much a tld can looks so.
I've definitely seen xyz on some, uh, janky ad spam websites, probably because it's on the cheaper side.
Tld prices don't really matter as decision makers for most people, because unless your tlds are getting blacklisted commonly you'll probably not going to make a bunch of them. My io cost 34/yr, which is not a lot, albeit like 3-4x the cost a xyz and 2x the cost a com
I remmeber there was another small island nation that had its own TLD, and they just gave it out for free. Which was really cool, but very hard to use because spammers used it it so much that domains with that tld automatically got marked.
That would be .tk, belonging to Tokelau, a New Zealand territory. Their free domains came with ads though (your site was basically delivered in an iframe on their ad server), and low-traffic sites...
That would be .tk, belonging to Tokelau, a New Zealand territory. Their free domains came with ads though (your site was basically delivered in an iframe on their ad server), and low-traffic sites got deleted fairly quickly. Apparently it’s still one of the most popular domains in the world despite its crappy reputation.
I hosted a .tk site for several years, no ads were ever wrapped into my site. However, last year, they did not send me any renewal reminders, and immediately locked down the domain when my year...
I hosted a .tk site for several years, no ads were ever wrapped into my site.
However, last year, they did not send me any renewal reminders, and immediately locked down the domain when my year expired, then tried to rent it to me to restore access.
Didn't know that it existed till I read your comment. Honestly, as much as I like the plethora of domain options that we have now, do we really need a .blue? or a .ooo for that matter? There are...
.blue
Didn't know that it existed till I read your comment. Honestly, as much as I like the plethora of domain options that we have now, do we really need a .blue? or a .ooo for that matter? There are so many domains, I feel as if there may be too many.
There are too many, but isn't that nice? To some degree, the extension doesn't matter. If I dislike the color blue, I obviously wouldn't call my domain blue. But if don't mind blue, and my website...
charge foreign entities twice the price
There are too many, but isn't that nice? To some degree, the extension doesn't matter. If I dislike the color blue, I obviously wouldn't call my domain blue. But if don't mind blue, and my website was yarmo.blue, would that be a reason to not visit? It's a little personal touch, a little "fun" we miss on the internet nowadays
I like the colour blue, and I don't think I would ever boycott a site based solely on its domain. However, I just don't get the point? I guess it's fun, but I think .xyz fills that spot (hence I...
I like the colour blue, and I don't think I would ever boycott a site based solely on its domain. However, I just don't get the point? I guess it's fun, but I think .xyz fills that spot (hence I use personally (freddym.xyz)).
Personally I'd recommend using .me.uk for any low stakes domain, since the UK government subsidizes the cost officially and the requirements for ownership are pretty sparse, whereas .io is far...
Personally I'd recommend using .me.uk for any low stakes domain, since the UK government subsidizes the cost officially and the requirements for ownership are pretty sparse, whereas .io is far more costly, as the article mentions. I'm also a big fan of .us, and I've always found it weird that the US is just about the least regionalist nation on the internet (and instead operate almost solely in the generic tld space, such as .com, .org, .net, etc).
I wouldn't use a .uk domain if I'm not based in the UK, or .us if I'm not in the US. Just don't want to give off that impression. .io and other TLDs belonging to small territories or countries are...
I wouldn't use a .uk domain if I'm not based in the UK, or .us if I'm not in the US. Just don't want to give off that impression. .io and other TLDs belonging to small territories or countries are kind of an exception in that their geographic origin is so obscure that they've been appropriated en masse by businesses and individuals outside of those regions. No one would assume I'm in the British Indian Ocean Territory if I use .io, but plenty of people will assume I'm in the UK if I get a .me.uk domain, or the US with a .us domain (unless it's part of some trendy startup-esque name like glorio.us or whatever).
Also, this might just be me, but I have a bit of an aesthetic aversion to non-TLDs if I'm paying for a domain. Exceptions can be made for when a TLD is or has traditionally been unavailable (.co.uk is a standard alternative because the bare .uk TLD wasn't opened to the general public until recently).
I also dislike odd TLDs. I honestly wish we could get rid of them entirely, but I know that would open several cans of worms. But I always low-key disliked using the .io TLD because it seemed that...
I also dislike odd TLDs. I honestly wish we could get rid of them entirely, but I know that would open several cans of worms.
But I always low-key disliked using the .io TLD because it seemed that everyone was using it for fashion. Using it for something data-centric makes sense, but then there are so many games and unrelated things using it as well. And I just have no idea why people are using .xyz. It has zero meaning. I get that it's fashionable, but I wonder how long you can follow a fashion before suffering for it.
I originally got a .xyz because it was cheap and 'meaningless', but there is something of a mission behind it [1]: Not sure if the "Generations X, Y, and Z" motivated the choice of .xyz or if it...
I originally got a .xyz because it was cheap and 'meaningless', but there is something of a mission behind it [1]:
We created .xyz to connect Generations X, Y, and Z and to provide choice to internet users around the world. Our goal is to foster entrepeneurship and innovation on the internet to allow internet users around the world to spread their message. As an open and unrestricted namespace, .xyz has hit the reset button on the internet.
Not sure if the "Generations X, Y, and Z" motivated the choice of .xyz or if it is post hoc justification, but cool nonetheless. :)
[1] https://nic.xyz/
I'm very much the opposite, and I think the explosion in ICANN recognized TLDs is super cool. There are two reasons for this: web "real-estate" shouldn't be a finite resource, and the only thing...
I'm very much the opposite, and I think the explosion in ICANN recognized TLDs is super cool. There are two reasons for this:
web "real-estate" shouldn't be a finite resource, and the only thing that causes it to behave like staked land is the limited TLD model.
More small, niche TLDs allow for smaller entrants into the registrar business, as well as more competing business models. So long as we have non arbitrary, ICANN defined TLDs, I think this is a good thing.
Yeah, I get that. I just have this strange desire to have a bunch of my applications I've built live on a proper domain name on their own, so that suggestion is in the context of the cheapest...
Yeah, I get that. I just have this strange desire to have a bunch of my applications I've built live on a proper domain name on their own, so that suggestion is in the context of the cheapest possible choice. The websites I actually care about traffic for, my personal website and my non-profit's website, use .us and .org respectively. I did actually consider a .tt domain for my personal website since it works with my name, but Trinidad and Tobago charge foreign entities twice the price.
The historical argument seems very weak, I don’t think it’s reasonable to get offended about such a remote acronym. I kinda wish the author hadn’t employed it since it weakens his point and makes...
The historical argument seems very weak, I don’t think it’s reasonable to get offended about such a remote acronym. I kinda wish the author hadn’t employed it since it weakens his point and makes it vulnerable to lazy criticism.
The economical argument is much stronger, but without further action merely changing domains will probably do nothing for those that should be receiving those resources.
But you’ll at least be funding whoever gets the money for the xyz domain, and I assume that’s a good thing.
Thanks for the comment :) Lazy criticism I got, I learned my lesson. I do think the historical argument is weak to some, strong to others. It is strong to me, knowing my money goes to an...
Thanks for the comment :) Lazy criticism I got, I learned my lesson.
I do think the historical argument is weak to some, strong to others. It is strong to me, knowing my money goes to an oppressor. But again, others (many others!) seem to ignore such historical events, so be it!
With regards to .xyz, I put too much emphasis on it instead of gTLDs in general, which hopefully I somewhat mitigated with update 2.
Yeah I moved from
.spaceto.xyzeventually and I've actually grown to kind of like it. It has it's own irreverent charms about it.who knew there could so much drama, involving colonial history no less, behind something so simple and seemingly benign as a TLD? more than meets the .io!
Off-topic but it's extremely funny to me that this is a highly voted comment on Tildes while on lobste.rs somebody immediately took use with colonialism being used as an argument at all.
I don't think it's as questionable overall as .io, but .tv is another interesting case that's used by a lot of companies (mostly video/streaming ones, for obvious reasons). It's owned by the country of Tuvalu, and revenue from the TLD makes up a major chunk of the country's GDP now.
Personally, I mostly just think it's bizarre for companies to make their primary domain name and web presence reliant on these tiny countries. It seems extremely risky to tie so much to a domain name that's completely controlled by a random country. They probably don't know anything about who administers the relevant infrastructure, or even the country's government.
Twitch's employee count is higher than half of Tuvalu's population. It would cause such a huge mess to have every twitch.tv link on the internet stop working if the country decided to stop letting them use the domain/TLD for any reason, and there's probably no legal recourse against a random small country like that. They even own twitch.com but just redirect it to twitch.tv.
It just feels like such a weird blind spot in tech companies to me, that it's somehow become normal to attach an essential part of your company to some little island with a name that vaguely resembles the TLD you use.
I think the cost part is a little inverted. I think the relatively high cost of io is part of its success: it makes it look premium...however much a tld can looks so.
I've definitely seen xyz on some, uh, janky ad spam websites, probably because it's on the cheaper side.
Tld prices don't really matter as decision makers for most people, because unless your tlds are getting blacklisted commonly you'll probably not going to make a bunch of them. My io cost 34/yr, which is not a lot, albeit like 3-4x the cost a xyz and 2x the cost a com
I remmeber there was another small island nation that had its own TLD, and they just gave it out for free. Which was really cool, but very hard to use because spammers used it it so much that domains with that tld automatically got marked.
.ml and .tk were used like that I think
you can get .tk, .ml, .ga, .cf, and .gq at freenom.com for free. You need to renew it every year or else you'll lose it for a year.
cc @stu2b50
Huh.
.ml could be useful for all those maChiNe leArnIng services
That would be .tk, belonging to Tokelau, a New Zealand territory. Their free domains came with ads though (your site was basically delivered in an iframe on their ad server), and low-traffic sites got deleted fairly quickly. Apparently it’s still one of the most popular domains in the world despite its crappy reputation.
I hosted a .tk site for several years, no ads were ever wrapped into my site.
However, last year, they did not send me any renewal reminders, and immediately locked down the domain when my year expired, then tried to rent it to me to restore access.
I moved the site, ironically, to an .xyz domain.
When I used them many years ago there were definitely ads, but maybe they changed their policy.
What are people’s thoughts on domains like .blue?
Didn't know that it existed till I read your comment. Honestly, as much as I like the plethora of domain options that we have now, do we really need a .blue? or a .ooo for that matter? There are so many domains, I feel as if there may be too many.
There are too many, but isn't that nice? To some degree, the extension doesn't matter. If I dislike the color blue, I obviously wouldn't call my domain blue. But if don't mind blue, and my website was yarmo.blue, would that be a reason to not visit? It's a little personal touch, a little "fun" we miss on the internet nowadays
I like the colour blue, and I don't think I would ever boycott a site based solely on its domain. However, I just don't get the point? I guess it's fun, but I think .xyz fills that spot (hence I use personally (freddym.xyz)).
Why would there be such a thing as too many domains?
Just a personal thing, I don't see the need for any more, there are already so many...
Personally I'd recommend using .me.uk for any low stakes domain, since the UK government subsidizes the cost officially and the requirements for ownership are pretty sparse, whereas .io is far more costly, as the article mentions. I'm also a big fan of .us, and I've always found it weird that the US is just about the least regionalist nation on the internet (and instead operate almost solely in the generic tld space, such as .com, .org, .net, etc).
I wouldn't use a .uk domain if I'm not based in the UK, or .us if I'm not in the US. Just don't want to give off that impression. .io and other TLDs belonging to small territories or countries are kind of an exception in that their geographic origin is so obscure that they've been appropriated en masse by businesses and individuals outside of those regions. No one would assume I'm in the British Indian Ocean Territory if I use .io, but plenty of people will assume I'm in the UK if I get a .me.uk domain, or the US with a .us domain (unless it's part of some trendy startup-esque name like glorio.us or whatever).
Also, this might just be me, but I have a bit of an aesthetic aversion to non-TLDs if I'm paying for a domain. Exceptions can be made for when a TLD is or has traditionally been unavailable (.co.uk is a standard alternative because the bare .uk TLD wasn't opened to the general public until recently).
I also dislike odd TLDs. I honestly wish we could get rid of them entirely, but I know that would open several cans of worms.
But I always low-key disliked using the .io TLD because it seemed that everyone was using it for fashion. Using it for something data-centric makes sense, but then there are so many games and unrelated things using it as well. And I just have no idea why people are using .xyz. It has zero meaning. I get that it's fashionable, but I wonder how long you can follow a fashion before suffering for it.
Perhaps, the fact .xyz has no meaning is the exact reason why people use it :)
Hi, indeed I am, just got an invite today :) Thanks for sharing my post, means a lot to me!
I originally got a .xyz because it was cheap and 'meaningless', but there is something of a mission behind it [1]:
Not sure if the "Generations X, Y, and Z" motivated the choice of .xyz or if it is post hoc justification, but cool nonetheless. :)
[1] https://nic.xyz/
Really sounds post hoc ^_^ but indeed, a cool mission!
I'm very much the opposite, and I think the explosion in ICANN recognized TLDs is super cool. There are two reasons for this:
Yeah, I get that. I just have this strange desire to have a bunch of my applications I've built live on a proper domain name on their own, so that suggestion is in the context of the cheapest possible choice. The websites I actually care about traffic for, my personal website and my non-profit's website, use .us and .org respectively. I did actually consider a .tt domain for my personal website since it works with my name, but Trinidad and Tobago charge foreign entities twice the price.
The historical argument seems very weak, I don’t think it’s reasonable to get offended about such a remote acronym. I kinda wish the author hadn’t employed it since it weakens his point and makes it vulnerable to lazy criticism.
The economical argument is much stronger, but without further action merely changing domains will probably do nothing for those that should be receiving those resources.
But you’ll at least be funding whoever gets the money for the
xyzdomain, and I assume that’s a good thing.Thanks for the comment :) Lazy criticism I got, I learned my lesson.
I do think the historical argument is weak to some, strong to others. It is strong to me, knowing my money goes to an oppressor. But again, others (many others!) seem to ignore such historical events, so be it!
With regards to .xyz, I put too much emphasis on it instead of gTLDs in general, which hopefully I somewhat mitigated with update 2.