[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: Changes in formal naming for NetBSD porting effort(s)



On Sat, Dec 13, 2003 at 04:27:27PM -0500, Branden Robinson wrote:
> > > Well, no offense, but that's ugly as hell, and is going to square the
> > > amount of confusion people experience when trying to decode our OS
> > > names.
> > 
> > Agreed, unfortunately - it is, and I suspect it may well. Suggestions for
> > better naming welcome, of course (or even a direction to go in).
> 
> We might use names from Christian demonology (since the BSD mascot
> is the cute and devilish "daemon"), with the first letter shared by the
> demon's name and the corresponding BSD flavor.
> 
> Thus:
> 
> Debian FreeBSD      ->     Debian Forneus (BSD)
> Debian NetBSD       ->     Debian Naberius (BSD)
> Debian OpenBSD      ->     Debian Orobos (BSD)
> 
> I got these names from the Wikipedia <URL:
> http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_specific_demons_and_types_of_demons>.
> 
> Moreover, none of these names are currently registered with the USPTO,
> so we'd be set in that department.

I'm not opposed to anything else you've said. I do believe these
particular names are a bad idea, however. One of the reasons the BSD
mascot is considered "cute" is that it has no real connection with
demons, in name, or otherwise. Which to people of several religions are
_not_ cute.

Your proposal would change that. I oppose it, and I would oppose it just
the same if you wanted to call them Loki, Kali or Hitler. (To pick a few
at random.) Using names of evil, real or imagined, is not something
that would be helpful to Debian. That kind of publicity we don't need.

	---Nathan



Reply to: