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- By the end of 2026, how useful do you think agentic/multi-agent AI systems will actually be in your daily work or personal projects? Posted on March 11th, 2026 | 5962 votes
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- By the end of 2026, how useful do you think agentic/multi-agent AI systems will actually be in your daily work or personal projects? Posted on March 11th, 2026 | 34 comments
Other Categories? (Score:4)
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Not to mention that a couple of the options they do have are pretty bad ideas. If you work in any remotely large company, you're gonna run out of pets before you run out of servers. And I never, ever want to risk reaching a point in my life where I have to come to grips with knowing more computers than people.
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When has being a "bad idea" ever kept something out of a business environment? With 3 major employers over the course of 17 or 18 years in IT (God, am I that old???), only one division of one company used descriptive names for their servers. It was the only time I walked into a company and knew instantly which machine did what without needing some sort of reference sheet (which was always several years out of date). Of course, virtualization and "cloud" designs make that rather difficult these days.
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Yeah, because "bad ideas" never get implemented in a business environment. :)
I encountered functional names once in nearly two decades of IT work. Everything else was Greek gods, superheroes, cartoon shows, cars, animals, etc. Of course, with virtualization and "cloud" designs that all the kids are into these days, it's difficult to have functional names.
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I used to go with functional names at home but then I realised that Fucking Hangs at Boot, Crashes Sundays, and Shits Itself on Lan Access aren't useful to anyone else so I went with whatever sounded cool at the time.
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Here's how I might name some of mine according to your system:
Gaming PC: PowerGuzzler / Electrons2Heat / DustTurbine
Mom's awful POS work laptop (a massive "desktop replacement" that is somehow slower than shit): TrashBarge
Sister's netbook: Glutton4Punishment / DieHard (it runs Linux, has passive cooling and the only moving parts are in the hard drive, BRING IT ON!)
Home server (contains beat up, ancient parts and is built to survive failures and stay running): ZombieApocalypseServer (a play on ZAV, a car guy
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Functional names aren't really a good idea for the home. They are interesting when you have more than a dozen servers to name, and those servers don't do many things at once. None of that applies to a home environment.
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Of course, with virtualization and "cloud" designs that all the kids are into these days, it's difficult to have functional names.
Why? When a whoppin big sun server was $25K we needed to put multiple things on it for justification. Or when a winders license is $500 or whatever, it costs too much to put only one service on it. A blizzard of paperwork and meetings are required all the way up to the CEO, all just to start using that brand new "subversion" VCS thing.
But now a days if I want a GIT VCS server, I just copy and light up another virtual Debian image, edit its hostname and static ip addrs, apt-get install git-core gitolite g
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you're gonna run out of pets before you run out of servers.
I guess, then it is time to get a couple of pet rabbits...
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Never mind Servers, what about all the other devices littering our personal LAN's? Is it going to be called the kitchen computer, the study computer? Personally I found this idea to be a bit dull, so the functional name thing seems to lack appeal. I went with Cities or Countries I had visited in the main. Stockholm, Norway, Finland.. er and I cant actually remember what they are all called and certainly have trouble figuring out which one is which. So maybe the functional name would have been a better idea
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I use the names of songs by one of my favourite musicians. Since he's got several bands, I use one band per CPU architecture. This is a functional system, so I voted 'functional names', even though it's clearly bullshit.
(Oh, and all these are personal computers, so it's not like I'll run out of songs.)
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- Dick
- Penis
- Wang
- Dong
- US Representative
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A friendly note to our farm guests: when done with your sausage, throw it into the bin (...or eat it, if you're into that kind of thing...). But for heaven's sake don't hide it on top of cupboards, in pots or elsewhere, as after a month the smell will just be awful...
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Radio alphabet - alpha - zulu
Too long. My personal computers all have two-letter names.
Ig: desktop
Zo: server
Ty: netbook
Ph: android phone
Rh: offline backup server
(Ka: old laptop)
Ph was for phone, Ty was for tiny, but apart from that it's whatever syllable I felt like at the time. The names are carried forward when a machine is replaced; I couldn't care less about naming particular bits of hardware.
Re:I assumed that was deliberate, + ObXKCD (Score:5, Funny)
Spacecraft (Score:5, Interesting)
Linux Boxes: American spacecraft
Mobile Devices: Space probes
Wonky Mac: Odyssey (Apollo 13 CM)
Wonky Print Server: Ariane5 (French rocket which blew up)
I used to use the phonetic alphabet, but it was too boring.
Space Nerds (Score:2)
At home, all my machines and networks are named after constellations, Lyra, Eridani, Andromeda, Vulpecula and so forth
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Wonky Print Server: Ariane5 (French rocket which blew up)
54 sucessful launches, two failures (and two partial failures) is "blowing up" now? Hm. :-P
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After ancient gods ofc ... (Score:3)
... in case it is a Server/Desktop.
After Goddesses if it is a Laptop. My mobiles are called Tricorder and get a number ;D Next will likely be an iPhone called Tricorder III.
Greek Mythology (Score:3)
Naming conventions (Score:2)
At my current job, its domain/sitecode/type/### (e.g DKLWNAVMH200). The three digit number corresponds to what its purpose is - e.g. servers in the 100 range are email servers, 200 = file/print, 300 = citrix, etc. Its nice having a decent convention
Previous places of employments used sitecode/windowsedition/###. It was pain in the ass when they switched to 2k3 and 2k8 but didnt update the naming convention to cope (it was written when 2000 server was king). The windows edition was specified as '2K', which c
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Not any issue at all any more as long as you are willing to use exoplanet names.
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At my current job, its domain/sitecode/type/### (e.g DKLWNAVMH200).
BORING :)
But in a large environment this makes a lot of sense.
Female greek mythological figures (Score:3)
For a while it was the Muses (Terpsichore, Thalia, Melpomene, etc.). Ran out of those and used the Fates (Ariadne, Atropos, Klotho). Now it's on to others in the pantheon (Pandora, Psyche, Hestia...).
If I have to name a windows server I'll probably start on the Furies. :)
Breeds of penguin (Score:2)
Any of my personal Linux boxen (server or desktop) have been named after breeds of penguin, for what should be fairly obvious reasons. So far, I've used macaroni, emperor, humboldt, and littleblue, with rockhopper next up. Ignore the fact that emperor was a FreeBSD box.
Although I got disillusioned with them after only one, I decided that all Macs I had would be named after fruits that are NOT apples. Hence, my (only) MacBook was named pamplemousse, French for pineapple. Er, grapefruit. I mean grapefrui
Shakespeare (Score:2)
I've never bothered to name my Windows installs.
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I always name my Windows installs, but I have to think of something else to call them so that the boss doesn't yell at me for cursing.
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Living under the name "Saunders" (Score:2)
StarCraft (Score:2)
Here are our colocated server names:
archon
broodling
colossus
darktemplar
evochamber
fenix
The pattern will continue as we expand, though some letters will be tougher than others =/
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ghost/goliath
hydralisk/hive/hightemplar
interceptor/infestedterran
jimraynor
khaydarin
lurker/larva/lair
medic/mutalisk/machineshop/missileturret
nyduscanal/nexus
overlord/observer/observatory
pylon/probe/photoncannon
queen
reaver
templar
ultralisk
vulture/valyrie
wraith
xelnaga
zealot/zergling
Wasn't so tough.
Cartoon Characters (Score:2)
I guess they're all "fictional people" - Bugs (Bunny), Daffy (Duck), Marvin (the Martian) ... Taz (oh, that's a Tasmanian Devil). OK so they're not people.
Wait! I forgot Elmer (Fudd). HE'S people!
Options (Score:2)
Really pathetic options there, guys.
I name my machines (servers or otherwise) after people, but I really don't think I am ever likely to know Alan or Grace, what with them being dead and all, and even getting to know Ken, Dennis, or Brian seems fairly unlikely even if they are still alive.
Themes - Circles and Forces of Nature (Score:2)
So we get: Quake, Quake2, Jitter, Shudder, Tremble, Fibrillate, Oscillate .. ..
along with:
Whirlwind, Tornado, Hurricane, Tempest
I seriously believe that the first midrange server 'quake' was named that for the.. ahh.. alternative.. application running on it.. apparently the joke continued when the second midrange server came in.. but went downhill when 5 servers later general managers were getting upset with reports stating that "Jitter and Shudder had to come down and there is a concern that Fibrillate w
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Now they are all named after where they actually physically are... except that causes interesting problems when servers are moved between datacenters...
That's what CNAME records are for.
Sure, the server's real name might be picard, aristotle or sagan but there's also a CNAME record pointing service01-city.yourcompany.com (or something like that) at the A/AAAA record(s). When other machines talk to it you'll generally want them to know it by its CNAME, so when picard moves to a new datacenter and sisko takes over the role of primary DNS for the head office you just change the CNAME record for dns01-hq.yourcompany.com to point at sisko.
This means you'll spen
English Mythology (Score:2)
Multiple themes (Score:2)
Before they imploded, the main theme my employers used was names of cars. My first workstation was model-t (yes, an editorial comment there... :-), but when I got a new faster box I named it twingo. When I started playing with
Linux I cleared tatra with a formerly Czech colleague. Our powerful new server was the fastest car the sysadmin could think
of, veyron. My main development box is crude and simple, but powerful. The obvious choice was monaro.
...laura
Ant Species Names (Score:2)
Since I love ants, I use ant species names. Mostly common names and not scientific names. :)
It's complicated (Score:2)
I started off with waste, fraud and abuse since my first job was with a DoD contractor. I then added more boxes with names of bend, fold, spindle and mutilate. When I boot my laptop to Windoze, it takes the name fubar, the normal CentOS boot takes spindle (see above) and when I boot from the external hard disk to Backtrack, it takes the name petard.. I recently set up a six core box for running multiple virtual machines and christened it snafu. The VMs get named by the OS since I just use the collection
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My desktop boots as either jekyll (Linux partition) or hyde (Windows partition).
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Your posts reminds me of a computer lab at CMU where the machines were all named for blender functions. Mix, stir, blend, whip, crush...
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A. A. Milne/100 acre wood (Score:2)
Owl
Roo
Kanga and
Piglet
I'm not responsible for naming servers at work, there are a few systems with girls names but most new servers now have nice functional names that encode geographic location and purpose. Much easier to know what each machine is/does. The one issue with this, I find, is that there's a need to use trailing numbers wherever there is more than one type of server in one location. E.g. It's a lot har
Missing options (Score:5, Funny)
Myst nerd (Score:2)
After I purchase them (Score:2)
nope - for me, each machine gets its own name based on the personality it exudes as it gets configured and loaded...
major IBM server for a customer ended up as "rock" - it was big, fast, solid.
another customer simply wanted huge storage and didn't need fast - theirs ended up as "behemoth"
my workstation is the first of many to ha
TV shows (Score:2)
I've tended to name all my machines after characters in television shows that I like. Unfortunately these shows tend to get cancelled rather quickly, so people don't usually get the references.
Pokemon (Score:2)
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I count them as fictional people.
Nice thing about Pokemon is that as your servers evolve, so can the hostnames. Upgrading Caterpie with faster CPU? It's now Metapod. Add a few terabytes and it becomes Butterfree.
Transformers (Score:2)
I name my machines *mostly* according to their function, although some are now dual or triple boot, I name them according to the OS they were first used with.
-Network is TRANSFORMERS
-Windows machines are Decepticons (Main rig is STARSCREAM, Media Center 2k5 is SOUNDWAVE, file server is DEVASTATOR (multiple drives), The PC running my security cameras is called REFLECTOR, Win98SE PC is SKYWARP)
-USB keys are LASERBEAK, RUMBLE, FRENZY & RAVAGE (Soundwave's cassettes), although formatted in NTFS.
-Macs are Au
I figure my mood counts as "functional"... (Score:2)
karma, misery, and serious are all found on my network. And at one time or another, each had a role in my life :)
The Correct Answer: (Score:2)
*reboots Crushinator*
Mountains (Score:2)
I used to name servers after Australian mountains. But i'm pleased to say i don't have to name servers any more.
I name them after religious characters (Score:2)
...such as buddha, jesus, muhammed.
Fictional people in other words ;)
Show your inner nerd (Score:2)
Server = Howard (from the Mighty Boosh days)
Laptop = Bollo (again, Mighty Boosh)
New server = Leonard (The Big Bang Theory)
New PC = Sheldon (same)
Originally I had all surnames from The Simpsons but got sick of trying to spell Nahasapeemapetilon.
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MoO (Score:2)
I don't have any server to name, but if I did I would start with the planet and ship names from Master of Orion.
Wine names (Score:2)
Some of the server installed in my network:
Now I just bought a new network printer, and I have to find a new wine for naming it. For sure it will be easier than selecting the printer to buy...
Very functional (Score:2)
In my home LAN, my 'computers' are named "server", "desktop", "laptop", "phone", "htpc", "ps3", "wii" etc. My various virtual machines on the server are named after the apps they are running, for example "p2p" (running sabnzbd and deluge), "web" (running a simple web server) and similar.
Previously I used to name them after C64 games and once they were all named like good, evil, mediocre, stupid, fancy, bad, cute, and so on. A few years ago I settled with simple, descriptive names. Made my life easier.
Fictional names? (Score:2)
You have plenty of names from sagas (Star trek, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Borges' novels
And, yes, I do confirm, whatever they put in this poll stuff there will always be at least a trivially missing option.
There is no other (Score:2)
Where is the other?
This is discrimination against people who have other.
Is it so hard to have an "other" option? (Score:2)
This might be the first /. poll I've seen that I can't vote for.
Our servers are named after rivers in Ontario. Welland, Niagara, Feeder, Don, Grand, etc.
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Interesting, as bodies of water is how the Northern Armies during the U.S. civil war were named: The Potomac, The Tennesse, The Mississippi)
famous shipwrecks (Score:4, Funny)
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Diseases (Score:2)
Both? (Score:2)
Servers at work always get functional names - domain/site component, role component (code detailing either it's sole function or group of functions) plus number, and then a virtual/physical/cluster indicator. Only way to name things if you have to deal with a large team of people, most of whom probably don't know as much about $sci_fi_reference as you and your team-mates.
My home machines are always named after various Shakespeare characters, and the role of the character usually has some (often oblique) ref
We used Maori gods... (Score:2)
at one place I worked. Every morning we logged into the Korurangi domain server. I gave my workstation the faux god name of "Weewee." Seemed to fit.
Anime characters (Score:2)
I name all mine after female anime characters. At the moment I have Doremi, Mahoro, Ran, Fate, Rei. Have had dozens of others over the years since I use a new name when I replace a server.
At my previous work we inherited a bunch of old servers in a buyout that were named after radioactive elements, and I continued that naming convention there.
Uh, computers (Score:2)
At work (a University meteorology department) we used to use cloud types (cumulus, cirrus, stratus
Warships (Score:2)
US aircraft carriers for mine, Axis capital ships for family.
Country + Class + ID number + Role (Score:2)
The first two letters are the country (e.g. UK, FR, IL, IE), the third letter is the class (S = Server, D = Desktop, L = Laptop), then there's either a unique ID or a role or a combination depending on the mood of local IT when they name it and optionally a location. So, we might call a file and print server in Ireland IES001FP.
The key thing is the first three letters.. why? Well, simply because if
Mission option: Mega Man bosses (Score:2)
I use babyzoink (Score:3, Interesting)
Middle-earth (Score:3)
Flowers and trees in alphabetical order (Score:3)
aster bluet crocus daisy eidelweiss flax gladiola holly iris juniper k? lily marigold nasturtium oak poppy quince rose sunflower tulip umbel violet wisteria x? y? z?
Worst. Poll. Ev...nah, who am I kidding? :) (Score:4, Insightful)
I know I'm not supposed to complain, but can I at least make fun of the idiot who came up with this ridiculous set of options? I mean, seriously, "people I know", but no historical figures (scientists, artists, kings). No astronomy (stars, constellations, planets)? No geography (cities, rivers)? No fictional places (barsoom, narnia, mordor)? Has the person who created this ever met a nerd or sysadmin? :)
The scheme I'm currently using at home is: one-word song names by a particular band, e.g.:
* starless (currently typing from)
* red
* thrak
* exiles
* neurotica
Fifty Cowboy Neal Genitalia points to the first person to name the band. :)
Dishes at a Mexican Restaurant (Score:4, Funny)
Enchilada
Tortilla
Nacho
chimichanga
Taco
Tostada
burrito
fajita
tamale
etc.
Um, gotta go, suddenly I'm hungry.
Functional names (Score:3)
I have a simple naming convention. 3 letter company name abbreviation + 3 letter functional abbreviation + 3 digit number. For example XXX-SQL-001, XXX-WEB-001, XXX-VM-001, etc.
The guys in the cage a few cages down from us seem to name all of their servers based on Simpsons characters (Milhouse, Nelson, Krusty, etc).
As cool as random character names are, I think naming servers like that shows a lack of professionalism. If I get hit by a bus, I have good documentation and I want whoever has to replace me to be able to look at the server names and have a good idea of what function the server provides.
Amino Acids (Score:3)
Starting with alanine.
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I name all of my computers after Star Destroyers. Servers are named after Executor-class or larger ships, desktops are named after Imperial II-class ships, laptops are named after Imperator-class ships, and routers, being responsible for "inter-ship" communications, are numbered HoloNet transceivers. I have Victory-class ships reserved for future use if I need to name a device smaller than a laptop. I voted "Fictional people" because it was the closest match.
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Well, for work, yeah. That's the way to go.
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My phone is named Ada. But a proper hostname is important when running real Linux instead of this Java nonsense.
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I tend to use Roman authors, but that's mainly because I don't really need to remember where they are and rarely if ever have to know it. Plus, I've only got like five total computers to deal with.
Probably pretty common among geeks (Score:2)
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I actually use Star Trek character names for DHCP-assigned addresses on my home network. Servers and statically assigned machines are old greek scientists and mythological characters with some care taken to assign suitable names (i.e. Icarus is my wireless access point).
For work it's a mix of functional names and cartoon characters depending on where in the network a machine resides.
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I name mine after various beers I enjoy.
I advise you to have many, many servers.
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I bet there's a Candy on your network.
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Re:Porn Stars (Score:4, Funny)