Re: Changes in formal naming for NetBSD porting effort(s)
On Sun, Dec 14, 2003 at 06:53:15PM -0500, Branden Robinson wrote:
> On Sun, Dec 14, 2003 at 12:02:44PM -0500, Nathan Hawkins wrote:
> > On Sat, Dec 13, 2003 at 04:27:27PM -0500, Branden Robinson wrote:
> > > 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.
>
> I doubt you'd have known they were names from Christian demonology if I
> hadn't told you. I didn't propse that we use better known names like
> "Lucifer" or "Satan". Even names like "Belial", "Asmodeus", and
> "Mephistopheles" are unfamiliar to uneducated Christians (which is most
> of them, at least in the U.S.).
Sorry, I had a somewhat unique education. Anyway most people in the
U.S. are appallingly uneducated, regardless of their religion. I fail to
see the point.
> I have little patience for superstitious beliefs, and less still for
> people who claim to be defending the tender feelings of the ignorant.
>
> I doubt knowledgeable and thoughtful adherents to the Christian
> religion -- the kind who can actually attend a seminary and not flunk
> out -- find the names I proposed particularly offensive.
>
> If any such people are reading these lists, we can always ask them.
For myself it's not a matter of offense. I simply don't want my work
named after evil, whether real or imaginary.
> In any event, for any name that doesn't raise trademark issues (and
> thus potentially jeopardize the entire project), I'd say
> the choice remains up to those who are actually doing the work -- and
> that would be the Debian *BSD porters.
As one of the Debian BSD porters, I'm objecting.
---Nathan
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