What does ngrok stand for?

Question

Recently, I got to know ngrok. However, I cannot find where the name 'ngrok' come from. Many software have interesting etymologies, and I wonder how ngrok was named.

Is it just ngrok?

Answer 1

This discussion including Alan Shreve (the author of ngrok) may give some ideas.

In short, 'n' is just a starting letter of many network tools (just as ngrep ) and 'grok' is just 'to grok'.

so the name is kind of just a play on the word grok, coined by Heinlein, which is 'to understand', and 'n' because there are a whole bunch of other network tools that start with. It was kind of a play on ngrep.

Answer 2

Ngrok is short for "No Grok," which means "I don't understand." It is a play on words, as the software provides a way to establish secure tunnels with public URLs to localhost servers. The name is meant to reflect the idea behind the software, making it easier for users to understand the inner workings without needing to be technical experts.