So I've made a new release of sift, the IMAP client/toy.
I think I named this one after looking up synonyms of "sieve", or "filter". Can't recall now.
The next time I release a toy application, tool, or hack, I will take the time to sit down and write namecheck. (Update: Too easy. Done.)
Here's what it looks like / how it should work:
skx@gold:~$ namecheck namecheck Testing freshmeat.net - Available Testing sourceforge.net - Available Testing alioth.debian.org - Available Testing code.google.com - Available Testing savannah.gnu.org - Available Name is currently not claimed
I guess it just comes down to having a list of URLs and patterns to test for:
http://freshmeat.net/projects/%s | We encounted an error http://sourceforge.net/projects/%s | Invalid Project http://alioth.debian.org/projects/%s | Invalid Project
A tool like that would be useful if you're bad at picking names for projects and want a reasonable chance of uniqueness. Looking up sites by hand is just fiddly and repetitive.
Of course "namecheck" is a provisional title; until it may be used to test that its own name is not in use ;)
Today I shall be mostly smoking, drinking, and trying to fix a dying steam engine. Good times.
ObQuote: Brief Encounter
Update: Quick hack: namecheck | future home in ~/bin/.
