Is it just random letters arrived to by keyboard mashing like a lot of federated websites seem, or is there any thought behind it?
Here is the answer on the Polish instance directly from @ernest, kbin’s creator. For reference, he was being accused of being a gun lover based on the name of the Polish instance “karab.in” and “magazines,” as well as his Monty Python profile pic with a gun in it.
Here are the relevant sections from Ernest on the origins of both kbin and magazine:
Hey, I’m the admin of kbin.social. The name “kbin” comes from the Linux “/sbin” directory - I’ve mentioned it multiple times before. The name of the Polish instance - karab.in - does indeed reference a rifle, but it’s just a play on words, and it was actually chosen through a survey among other domains. It’s simply easy to remember and sounds nice in Polish. There’s no place for nazi bullshit on my instances.
On the other hand, the name “magazyn” refers to the virtual edition of a late 90s gaming newspaper :D
I found this
according to ernest it stems from /sbin. though one of the early instances was named karabin based on the karabine gun and thus shortened to kbin (or rather expanded from kbin).
(Ernest Wiśniewski is the creator of kbin)
It also explains “magazines”.
Ernest has actually said that the name “magazine” isn’t gun related and that it’s a reference “to the virtual edition of a late 90s gaming newspaper” (see this thread and my other comment for the full story)
Someone in that thread also explains that in Polish the names are different:
Polish word “magazyn” means storage or newspaper, but "magazynek " is a gun mag.
EDIT: Didn’t word good.
🤯
