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by ArneVogel 346 days ago
I think this is the first time I have seen the .int tld used.
2 comments

It isn't super popular, no. I think the requirements are pretty strict if I remember correctly (edit: https://www.iana.org/domains/int/policy).

I think esa.int is probably one of the more popular .int domains on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=esa.int

Other notable .int domains:

• World Health Organization - https://who.int

• NATO - https://nato.int

• Council of Europe - https://coe.int

• Mercosur - https://mercosur.int

• African Union - https://au.int

• EFTA - https://efta.int

List: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organizations_with_.in...

(Not real affiliation but still: I added a domain to that page at some point)

In meteorology, you also have ecmwf.int (the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts).
It would have been better if the requirements also included the domain name had to start with a letter between I and N (inclusive).

But I guess this is what you get when these things get away from technologists.

Ah, a Fortran joke. That's not just "technologists". That's old farts.

(In Fortran 66, variables didn't have to be declared. They would be integer if they began with I, J, K, L, M, or N. Otherwise it would be floating point [REAL, in Fortran parlance]. To this day it's why for loops usually use "i". With the bonus joke that God is real unless declared integer.)

Maths is the reason for loops use i. Fortran defines variables starting with those letters to be integers because maths has used those letters for iteration, counting, indexing, etc. for centuries. It was natural for a formula translating system to follow suit.
I think that's still the case, even in the latest FORTRAN standard. It's usually considered good practice to turn it off with IMPLICIT NONE.
interpol.int also comes to mind.
Probably the most appropriate one. The ESA is not quite part of the EU and has non-EU member states (including _Canada_), so .eu would be inappropriate (the EU is itself a member of ESA, but most EU member states are also members in their own right.)
The joke goes that thanx to Trump, Canada might actually join the EU.