--- title: "D-Bus Hell" slug: d-bus-hell url: https://listedarticles.com/articles/d-bus-hell canonical_url: https://dbushell.com/2026/10/11/d-bus-hell/ content_type: essay language: en published_at: 2026-10-11T00:00:00.000Z updated_at: 2026-10-12T11:20:50.763Z author: "David Bushell" author_url: https://dbushell.com/ authored_by: human publisher: "David Bushell" publisher_url: https://dbushell.com/ topics: ["Culture", "Writing", "Web Development"] license: all-rights-reserved word_count: 928 reading_minutes: 4 citation: "David Bushell, David Bushell. \"D-Bus Hell.\" 11 Oct 2026. https://dbushell.com/2026/10/11/d-bus-hell/ (all-rights-reserved)" # The full text follows. The web page shows an extract and sends readers # to the source above; quote the citation and link the canonical URL. --- # D-Bus Hell > David Bushell riffs on the inevitable 'I read your domain as D-Bus Hell' comment, then turns it into a personal essay about naming, identity on the web, and living with a domain that invites the joke. # D-Bus Hell The time has come to address the elephant in the comments. Whenever my blog hits a place with a comments section the most predictable comment I see — besides some variation of *“this idiot is utterly delusional!”*† — is this one: lol I read the domain as “D-Bus Hell” Random commenter I’d prefer if they focused on my actual blog content but I can’t get annoyed at people for seeing the wrong words. There’s a reason `experts-exchange.com` has a hyphen, and who can forget [Susan’s party?](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/cbd0fd47-3f92-494e-8154-da08a565498e) I’d probably read “D-Bus Hell” myself, if I forgot my own name. † [Why is Hacker News like that?](https://drewdevault.com/blog/Why-is-HN-like-that/) But for the sake of the record I would like to point you to your nearest WHOIS tool: ``` $ whois dbushell.com Domain Name: DBUSHELL.COM Creation Date: 2004-05-14T22:51:48Z ``` Don’t ask me what I was doing at ten minutes to midnight registering a domain name. Is there a more appropriate time? The significant point is the date: May 2004. That was 22 years ago. Now if I may direct your attention to the [D-Bus project Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Bus): Release November 2006; 19 years ago [D-Bus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Bus#:~:text=November%C2%A02006%3B%2019%C2%A0years%20ago) - Wikipedia I rest my case. The D-Bus project doesn’t even have it’s own domain name, for crying out loud! So next time you see a post about D-Bus, maybe drop a comment saying: “reminds me of that dummy with a blog and a giant logo spelling out his full name!” Or something to that effect. (I’m joking, don’t do that.) ## What’s in a name To date I’ve resisted the siren call of [nominative determinism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism) so I can’t answer to whether D-Bus is actually hell or not. I considered writing a D-Bus review as a joke, but then I decided to watch paint dry. I’ve never heard Linux nerds express any strong opinions on the topic (for which they’re prone to do; see Systemd, Wayland, etc.) I did go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole of cognitive psychology and linguistics. There’s an interesting read on [Rebracketing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebracketing) where a word like *“Hamburger”* becomes *“ham + burger”* which was altered from the origin: *“Hamburg + er”*. This is a form of [Folk etymology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_etymology) where words can change due to unfamiliarity. ### Etymology My surname could simply come from “bushel”. An imperial unit of volume still favoured by fantasy novels, before the Trollocs attack and shit gets real. “Bushel” dates back to Middle English with origins in the Old French word “boissel”. At the risk of being part French, I’m inclined to believe an alternate theory that my name derives from [“Bossall”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bossall) a hamlet in North Yorkshire. But that would make me part Yorkshireman. I’m not sure which is worse. It’s not a very common surname. If this [Geneanet heat map](https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/BUSHELL) has any credibility, the name favours the south of England. That might support the French theory? Liverpool has the highest number of Bushells though. [Bushells](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushells) is also an Australian brand of tea founded by tea dealer Alfred Bushell in 1883. Alfred was born in Worcestershire, England (pronounced: *Wrcstrshr*). Interestingly, Wikipedia notes: After the Norman conquest of England; the Domesday Book noted in 1086 that in seven of the twelve hundreds covering Worcestershire, the Crown had no authority. [Worcestershire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcestershire) - Wikipedia The [Domesday Book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesday_Book) always references Bossall (the Yorkshire hamlet) as [Boscele or Bosciale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bossall#:~:text=The%20community%20is%20mentioned%20in%20the%20Domesday%20Book%20as%20Boscele%20and%20as%20Bosciale); names that are Anglo Saxon in origin. When I say “Bushell” over the phone my pronunciation is often mistaken for saying “Buchel”. Some sources say they’re from the same Anglo Saxon origin. These distribution maps for [Bushell](https://forebears.io/surnames/bushell) and [Buchel](https://forebears.io/surnames/buchel) cast doubt on that idea (if Forebears data is accurate). “Büchel” also has different origins if you stick an umlaut on it. I suspect I’m dealing with multiple different names of Anglo Saxon and Norman origin. There are many spelling variations of “Bushell” and similar names in historic records (though few have survived). Most people were illiterate until recent decades so spelling variations are not surprising. It seems probable to me that whenever families adopted a spelling, a variation from the wrong lineage could’ve been written due to phonetic differences. Even if I traced my ancestry back hundreds of years, I’d likely reach a moment when a scribe wrote “Bushell” in some form and my ancestor just shrugged because he couldn’t read. The etymology of [“David”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_%28name%29) is well known despite being much older. Its roots are Hebrew meaning “beloved” and has found its way across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. D-Bus is “Desktop Bus” if you were too lazy to click the link. ## What’s in a domain name Domain names are a strange system. They’re temporary URIs that are leased and inevitably lost. I’ve spent half my life publishing content on `dbushell.com`. I started using it seriously once I had a design portfolio. If you’re curious you can see past versions at: In hindsight if I knew I was going to build a career around my website I’d have chosen something more memorable. Imagine all the common words that were still untouched in 2004? `dave.co.uk` wasn’t taken until 2005! I don’t actually go by “Dave” myself but like the “D-Bus” thing it’s not my choice to make. For a brief moment I did consider moving to another domain. I would have had to maintain redirects forever. It’s not a sensible “SEO” manoeuvre either, if that matters anymore… Now that I’m running my business from [valleyfold.co.uk](https://valleyfold.co.uk/) I’m happy I stuck with `dbushell.com` for my personal space. Anyway, next time you spot the “D-Bus” comment please direct them there! Better yet, take up this blog challenge: write about the etymology behind your name and domain name.