What was the reason that the name Adblock Plus was kept?

Jheriko · Post by **Jheriko** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:03 am

I mean, seeing as it is a rewrite, shouldn't it have a new name, as it would usually in most cases?

One thing's for sure though, if it bore a new name, there wouldn't have been so much controversy and criticism.

Consider the Mozilla Application Suite and Firefox (or at the time, Phoenix).

Could you imagine the absolute outrage that would've ensued if Phoenix 0.1 was announced as Mozilla 1.3 (if that was the ver. at that moment, if I remember correctly)?

People would download the next version, expecting it to be the same thing as what they previously had, only with bugfixes and added features, not a completely different program.

note: Yes I realize this is not a perfect comparison to Adblock Plus; many details don't match, but you get my picture.

What were the reasons for which the same name for kept for a completely different and new extension?

Was it the name recognition of Adblock Plus?

Was it to avoid confusion between the 3 different extensions? (if this was the reason, then the current decision only brought forth MORE confusion)

Wladimir Palant · Post by **Wladimir Palant** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:04 am

I've replied to this question here: http://mozdev.org/pipermail/adblockplus ... 00002.html

Jheriko · Post by **Jheriko** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:09 am

How about putting that (or more reasonably, a shorter, more concise version) on the Adblock Plus page, akin to your "Not So Short History of Adblock" page?

I do not think I am the only one with this question in mind.

Jheriko · Post by **Jheriko** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:12 am

Addendum:

And well: I simply didn't want to invent
yet-another-name-for-an-Adblock-fork, there are already too many.

As I said, I believe this has caused more confusion than prevented...

It is also a very strange and unorthodox move too, if you think about it. (same cover, different book)

Paulfox · Post by **Paulfox** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:14 am

I think the name of AdBlock original should be changed . . . perhaps AdBlock Medieval, since no one heard anything about developments for months on end, nothing ever seemed to get released, and mcm (God Bless Him) had to step in to make the thing even functional.

Wladimir Palant · Post by **Wladimir Palant** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:16 am

Hm, "same cover, different book"? Think Netscape. And this by far not the only example. It happens that a new release is built from scratch.

Jheriko · Post by **Jheriko** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:24 am

Yes, I am aware of the Netscape example, but I am not particularly fond of that one either...

It just confuses people, I believe.

But anyway, I'll stop with this question, further replies will probably be very repetitive anyway.

A somewhat related question then:

Why did you not release your Adblock before?

I mean, it does not take a genius to see that for more than a year now, Original Adblock has been [you know what, etc. etc.].

Why was it only after mcm created and stopped development of Adblock Plus that you decided to come out with your own Adblock?

From what I read on your site, it seems that your Adblock has existed or at least has been in development for quite a while now. (since 2003 or something, was it not?)

Was it just a coincidence that mcm decided to stop developing Adblock Plus, and your Adblock just got ready to be released?

Paulfox · Post by **Paulfox** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:27 am

Jheriko: Your questions are certainly valid, and this should explain things . . . it's from mcm himself:
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... &start=945

Wladimir Palant · Post by **Wladimir Palant** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 2:40 am

No, what I've developed in 2003 was an entirely different thing (17kB - Paulfox would be happy :). rue took over parts of it and that's where it all ended. I had other things to do and no time for Adblock.

I started working on the current rewrite in the middle of December when I got a promise from rue that he would publish it. My intension was never to create a fork, is a pretty useless thing to do, I rather tried to make rue accept improvements. Well, and here I am now...