SortingHat: What's in a Name?

When SortingHat was first developed, we named the utility autoconf. Subsequently, we learned of another popular tool called autoconf written by David Mackenzie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoconf); so we felt compelled to change the name of our program. Inspired by a scene from Harry Potter, we settled on the name SortingHat.

Upon arriving at Hogwarts school for wizards, the first-year students in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels take part in a sorting ceremony. The Sorting Hat listens to each student's thoughts, trying to discern his or her true nature, then calls out which of the four residence houses the student will call home.

Like Rowling's Sorting Hat, our program makes sure the personality of a file or script and the character of a particular server are well suited to each other. If you have suggestions for a different name, please let us know.