2mo ago

GNU Taler v1.0 released and is operating in Switzerland

www.taler.net

GNU Taler

If you are in Switzerland, you can begin using it following the instructions here: https://taler-ops.ch/en/users.html

11 comments

Man, another really cool GNU project I hadn't heard of. I should subscribe to a mailing list or something.
- Just do it!
I love the name. Sounds like something edible. Maybe it just reminds me of GNUtella. A Taler, btw, is an old currency (mostly present in fairytales these days) and etymologically related to dollar.
- There are edible talers: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoggitaler 🙃
  
  We had a smaller version of this in our childhood; the contents were somehow halfway between chocolate and chewing gum.
- mostly present in fairytales these days
  It's also the currency in the german language donald duck comics.
Where can I pay with a Taler, after filling my wallet? Is it only with cooperating companies?
- As stated in the website, there are currently no known shops that accept it. It was released a week ago, so you'll have to wait.
Betaler in danish means to pay, it sounds oddly similar
- That's interesting. I've always thought the name a little weak, so you prompted me to find its origins. According to wiki:
  Taler is short for the "Taxable Anonymous Libre Economic Reserves"[7][8] and alludes to the Taler coins in Germany during the Early Modern period.
  That definitely looks like a backronym! Anyway, the wiki for the Taler coins says this:
  The word is shortened from Joachimsthaler, the original thaler coin minted in Joachimsthal, Bohemia, from 1520.
  So the original root appears to be Thal or Tal i.e. valley (just like Neanderthal/Neandertal). The Taler wiki page goes on:
  [The Holy Roman Empire's] longest-lived coin was the Reichsthaler, which contained 1⁄9 Cologne Mark of fine silver (or 25.984 g), and which was issued in various versions from 1566 to 1875.
  Was Denmark part of the Holy Roman Empire? Either way, your ancestors would've presumably often traded with Germans using these early Thaler/Taler coins.
  
  I think it's a coincidence and not etymologically related - scandinavian languages use the verb "talar" or variations thereof for "pay" or "tell" and I think it's more related to the German word "zahlen": https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahl#Etymologie

11 comments