Comment by mackenly

Comment by mackenly 2 days ago

16 replies

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I really like Mermaid, but I'm not seeing the value in this as is.

- Mermaid within .md is widely supported. The file format of .mmd, while supported in most integrations, is a standalone file rather than living within my documentation/markdown. I use Mermaid charts and graphs as visual aids to add to the documentation or notes rather than having them stand alone. If I wanted a standalone file, I'd use any other diagram tool with its proprietary file format. I like Meriamid because of how easy it is to integrate into markdown. The value isn't in having a Mermaid file; the value is in adding diagrams and charts to markdown.

- Within .md files there's a Mermaid logo added beside the Mermaid, but it doesn't seem to be clickable or have a context menu. Maybe this is a bug. It also weirdly highlights all of the Mermaid code. Why doesn't it syntax highlight within markdown? This extension works great for highlighting: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items/?itemName=bpruitt...

- It doesn't add support for viewing mermaid within markdown preview. I currently use this extension for it. This is a key feature that is missing. https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items/?itemName=bierner...

Overall, excited to see what this becomes. Hope this is useful feedback! It can only get better from here.

mubou a day ago

It's worth pointing out that mermaidchart.com is NOT the official Mermaid project (https://mermaid.js.org/).

They're a for-profit company using the Mermaid name.

This creates a lot of confusion whenever the name comes up, which I suspect is deliberate.

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  • arijun a day ago

    Just to draw more attention to the point, it's not an unrelated project simply "using the Mermaid name," it's a for profit project started by the creator of mermaid.js, which charges for some advanced tooling around the opens source project. It's a common enough paradigm to see and in my opinion a pretty virtuous way to fund open source development.

    See also Redis labs, Gitlab, ElasticSearch...

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  • submeta a day ago

    Love mermaid. And for me mermaidchart.com was synonymous with mermaid markup. Thank you very much! I didn’t know the official website of the project is https://mermaid.js.org/ Just learned from you.

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  • benoau a day ago

    It's pretty instinctive to name stuff like this, especially when it's not a general purpose solution like you're not downloading this for any other reason except to build upon what Mermaid does.

    They could have called it something entirely different, and then they can say (vscode plugin for mermaid.js) every time they mention their unique name that carries no association with it.

    And Mermaid could have decided they want exclusive use of the name and trademarked it half a decade ago.

    So it's just fair use, isn't it?

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    • mubou a day ago

      The problem is that a lot of people will google mermaid chart, or come across an extension like this, and find a site that looks like the official website and docs but isn't; it's a paid product with no relation that's simply profiting off of the name. That's deceptive, regardless of whether it's "fair use" or not.

      Honestly, I'm surprised anyone on HN would defend that sort of behavior.

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      • knsv a day ago

        Hi, I wanted to add some clarification on this topic.

        I am Knut Sveidqvist, the inventor of Mermaid and creator of the Mermaid open-source project. I'm also the co-founder of Mermaid Chart.

        To address the confusion: Mermaid Chart is not a separate entity "profiting off the name" - it's a commercial offering I created to help sustain the open-source project. Working on Mermaid during evenings and weekends became unsustainable as the project grew. Mermaid Chart allows me to work on what I love full-time while providing resources back to the open-source project. This support will continue to grow as our business matures.

        I appreciate your concern about protecting users from deceptive practices. In this case, there is a direct connection between the open-source project and the commercial offering, created by the same founding team.

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      • pglevy a day ago

        Mermaid.js.org links directly to Mermaid Chart, and there is a blurb on the org site that says, "Mermaid + Mermaid Chart... Mermaid Chart is a major supporter of the Mermaid project."

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      • benoau a day ago

        > And Mermaid could have decided they want exclusive use of the name and trademarked it half a decade ago.

        If you do not trademark your name then I can only assume you do not want exclusive control of that name - I certainly wouldn't assume you want the protections a trademark grants.

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      • robertlagrant a day ago

        > Honestly, I'm surprised anyone on HN would defend that sort of behavior.

        Saying "that's legal; if they didn't want it to happen they'd have trademarked" is the correct response. We can socially shame a behaviour on a random comment section on the internet, or we can actually provide the solution to all future people: trademark it if you want it.

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