Gnome 3: Change project name to "Genome."

[raronson]

I recently ran across a post where a new user mistakenly (either typo or otherwise) referred to Gnome as "Genome", and it got me thinking...

"Gnome" as the noun it has become, or as the acronym (GNU Network Object Model Environment) for which it was intended, no longer describes or makes sense of what the interface has evolved into. People have been saying this for a long time, and for a long time, I've wholeheartedly agreed. This is especially true for the end user. Speaking for myself, the Gnome "foot" has no correllation to anything related to my desktop experience. It only conjurs up images of Stallman's feet for some weird reason, and although I love the guy and think he's absolutely brilliant, this disturbes me on a deep level. Likewise, the word "gnome" for me immediately associates the Travel Gnome from the Travelocity commericials--again, absolutely no correlation to my computing experience.

From Wikipedia's article on Gnome:



The name “GNOME” was proposed as an acronym of GNU Network Object Model Environment by Elliot Lee, one of the authors of ORBit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORBit) and the Object Activation Framework.[citation needed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)] It refers to GNOME’s original intention of creating a distributed object (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_object) framework similar to Microsoft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft)’s OLE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_Linking_and_Embedding).[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME#cite_note-5) This no longer reflects the core vision of the GNOME project, and the full expansion of the name is now considered obsolete. As such, some members of the project advocate dropping the acronym and re-naming “GNOME” to “Gnome”.[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME#cite_note-naming-6)
Holy wars aside, Gnome has more market share and mind share as "Linux" than any other desktop environment or window manager. This is due primarily to Red Hat's sponsorship (and Novel's default use of Gnome in SuSE), but also due to the popularity of Ubuntu. Not to mention, most major FOSS projects that have come into popularity use GTK to hang their code on (Open Office, Firefox, and now Google Chrome, for example). There's no arguing this on any level outside of zealotry or personal preference.

The modern perception of "Linux" (GNU/Linux) from the most popular and backed distributions and applications are deeply tied to Gnome (or to GTK, depending on how you look at it). So in this era of the emerging Linux desktop, shouldn't the project name get a makeover? I think it's finally time.

I suggest that the Gnome project renames itself to "Genome" and replaces the big foot with something like a double-helix. Both the name and the image are strong in the modern scientific context, and borrowing again from biology, more accurately reflects what the project has evolved into. Let's do some quick word association:

- genome: biology, evolution; double-helix: biology, DNA = science
- gnome: fantasy, role-playing games; big foot: paranormal, mysticism, urban legend= pseudoscience

Ubuntu could even benefit from this change. They could call their default theme, "Human Genome." Even Gnome's default mail client, "Evolution" would convey the message of sensible uniformity.

/discuss. I'd love to hear your thoughts, and possibly get this elevated to the right forum or people.

[benj1]

personally ive always liked the way many open source projects don't take the name too seriously, as opposed to commercial software that has a serious name that supposedly conveys something about the software and company.
To me a name is a name and doesn't affect the software, and i would rather they spend their time on the software rather than the name.

I understand what you are saying but would it change anything, would people take it more seriously? would it improve the culture of the gnome(genome) project? i just feel it would end up being a name change without anything to show for it.

[raronson]

Thanks for that. I kind of anticipated someone saying something of similar effect. I'm reminded of Buddha pointing a finger at the moon, to illustrate that a name is not the thing in itself, but a pointer to the thing in reference whose true nature is ultimately unfathomable. However, we're not all Eastern Philosophy enthusiasts...

In today's world of marketing, branding, and image association, it's important to convey the right messages (even for non-commercial institutions). This is why companies spend a lot on advertising. My point was that the "old message" no longer conveys anything meaningful to anyone making fresh inroads. You could similarly ask if Gnome 3 is just another name, or something that improves usability, brings meaningful changes, or if it's just there because it's time for an update.

I see where you're coming from, and I certainly wouldn't want such a trivial name-change to take away from the pursuit of better usability or functionality. Think of it as improving usability on a different level: the public perception, and the end-user's mind.

Thanks.

[Ra-Hoor-Khuit]

... it got me thinking...
Personally, I'd say it got you thinking waaaaaaaaay too much.

But that's me.

I'm not saying your ideas are not good ones, though; it's that this issue simply isn't big enough to ping my Give-a-S--t meter.

[raronson]

:)

I ponder reality at the sake of reality itself. It's all par for the course.

[Maheriano]

You're focusing too much on the spelling and not the phonetics. It's pronounced GINOME with a hard G like gun. That doesn't remind me of a gnome at all but now you have successfully grossed me out at the sight of the footprint. Thanks. I can picture Stallman breaking off pieces of the logo and putting them in his mouth....

[benj1]

:)

I ponder reality at the sake of reality itself. It's all par for the course.

how do you know its reality you're pondering ???
does a tree make a noise when it falls over if theres no one there to hear it ???
did it actually fall ???
did the tree ever exist ???
how was the first compiler compiled ????

you have me started now :P

i think there is a case for a name change in certain circumstances, as a statement of intent for example, or perhaps to change the direction of a project (if it had become bogged down/ losing popularity / developers) but it won't achieve that on its own, i guess thats why i don't like name changing its just marketing which a good project shouldn't need, although i will accept it does help (although it shouldn't).


ps to make you think some more. if you travel back in time to shoot your younger self, could you actually do it (physically not mentally) ???

[Maheriano]

how do you know its reality you're pondering ???
does a tree make a noise when it falls over if theres no one there to hear it ???
did it actually fall ???
did the tree ever exist ???
how was the first compiler compiled ????

you have me started now :P

Who closes the bus door when the driver gets off? Who? WHO???

[Ra-Hoor-Khuit]

I ponder reality at the sake of reality itself. It's all par for the course.
Roger that, and by all means please continue.

Personally, I like some of your ideas. I think the double-helix/DNA thing links well with Ubuntu's "Linux for human beings" theme actually.

I just don't know that your ideas will get any traction here. But, then again, you're not looking for traction so...

Yea! Let's all assume the Full Lotus position and contemplate the impermanence of materiality!!!


Who closes the bus door when the driver gets off? Who? WHO???
Since there is no bus, there is no door to BE closed.

[benj1]

Since there is no bus, there is no door to BE closed.

unless the bus thinks its a bus, and then it is a bus, but then does the door also have to think that its a door also ?

[raronson]

This is pure speculation on the arcane nature of quantum physics, but hypothetically, yes I could "travel back in time" to kill my younger self--and live to tell about it. I put the phrase in parenthesis, because it's actually misleading. The younger me is not in the past. He's actually still in this universe very very very far away.

"Time" is like a giant hard disk. The moment of my birth will always be stored at a particular "address" in space. The problem is, every day our galaxy is moving about a million miles from its location from the day before, and we're going along for the ride. Just like when you leave your house; it doesn't cease to exist, you simply move away from it. You can return to it, but not from the same time as you left. That initial starting point did not disappear though. It's stored in space with a timestamp. The galaxy left it behind, the same way you left your house behind. Now, hypothetically you could travel back to the point that you initially left--seeing as how it's just hanging somewhere out in space in another location.

But let's say I could somehow get there, and specifically that I could find my younger self and kill him. Okay, so I walk up to the kid playing in the backyard sandbox and say, "Sorry to bother you, but I'm performing an experiment in quantum mechanics." I pull out my gun, and I put two bullets in him: one in the ticker, and one in the computer. He dies. Now I somehow make it back to my starting point--again, just another location in space with a timestamp and go about my merry business wondering what just happened and why I'm not dead.

I read up on "The Double-Slit Experiment" and walk away with the Many Worlds interpretation. I ply this rationale to the situation and finally see that the "me" that I killed will have no future. However this "me" was not me, but he. The me in this universe was protected from erasure, and during my trip, I was rerouted to a parallel universe surreptitiously. Ahhh. It all makes sense now.

[raronson]

If the man's name is "Who", then Who closes it. C'mon, gimme something to work the big gears on.

[benj1]

i don't like the many worlds(parallel time lines idea) because you would be travelling back in time, but across dimensions, although it would mean that there is somewhere (somewhen?) out there where everyone uses linux :D.

my theory is i don't know, i think that there is a single space time continuum although i don't know if you could kill your self, if you can, you don't exist to try, if you can't then you do exist to try (this makes my brain hurt)
maybe a galactic BSOD???
perhaps back to the future got it right, and you would just faint ???

[raronson]

I like what Neal Stephenson says in, "In the Beginning Was the Command Line." Something to the effect of: if you run into situations like this and shout "TECH SUPPORT", you may just get it finally.

Anyway. Anyone besides my current thread nay-sayers have an opinion about Genome/Double Helix?

[cosimo]

Hey guys,
personally, I NEVER pronounce "gnome" as "ga-nome"
Its just plain irritating when I hear that.
It is pronounced "nome" period,, I dont care what the developers say or anyone else.
changing the name to "genome" is just as irritating:)
NOME..period :)
Other wise I will have to slit my throat with a "ka-nife"

[Bart_D]

I agree that the name should be changed to GeeeeeNome.

I haev always pronouced it GeeeeeNome(luckily for you folks, I don't have a social media-video based-account or I would annoy the hell out of you saying "GeeeeeNome" repeatedly) and I will ALWAYS pronouce it GeeeeeNome.


Who closes the bus door when the driver gets off? Who? WHO???

I seriously doubt that the World Health Organization has enough representatives to close the doors of all the buses in all the world.

[3Miro]

Cool Whip!

I always thought KDE was more widely used than Gnome.

Gnome, KDE and XFCE all started as acronyms, but have long lost their meaning. Now they are just Gnome, KDE and XFCE.

Gnome is a brand name. Modern day Ford cars have almost nothing to do with the first Ford automobile, however, the are still Ford. It is a word that has a meaning.

It would be interesting if you can match Genome to an acronym that is a more accurate representation for the current stage of the Gnome DE, otherwise it makes no sense. You are just picking a random word from a random field of science, you might as well call it "space-time continuum" or "black hole" or "spiral galaxy".