Re: Idea of a Debian Mascot [Was: FW: Bits from the DPL: FTP assistants, marketing team, init scripts, elections]

[cothrige <cothrige@bellsouth.net>]

Andrew Sackville-West <andrew@farwestbilliards.com> writes:

> I have to say, there is nothing friendly about that damn gnu. And that
> statement is in no way a reflection on my views of GNU or it's
> projects. Just that if we're gonna have a mascot, I lean more towards
> the penguin/snarky-devil side of the debate than the smelly ruminant
> side. 

I think most open source software tends to look like something from a
group of high school kids, and one of the reasons is the whole mascot
idea.  That daemon in the tennis shoes, the puffer fish, Tux and that
aforementioned hippy gnu all end up just looking ameteurish to me.  The
new FreeBSD logo, on the other hand, is very impressive most of all
because it has no mascot type look to it at all, and instead aims for a
professional and finished appearance.  The combination of the logo and
the color scheme for their packaging is just tremendous, and sets them
entirely apart from the rest of the OSS pack really.

As for Debian, I think the swirl is an incredible graphic which is much
better than what FreeBSD started out with.  Even what they have now is
certainly not any better, but only better presented.  What Debian needs
more than anything is some color or finish to go along with the swirl
which would make the project look more mature and professional.  Mascots
generally have the opposite effect.  I am worried that one day I am
going to surf over to debian.org to be met with a big goofy looking
cartoon wallaby.

Patrick