Name calling for Ubuntu

[kleeman]

Recently there has been a lot of ridiculous whining about Ubuntu's naming. Some folks are freaking out about particularly Dapper Drake. Distrowatch gets this in perspective:

http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20050926 (On Ubuntu naming and colour schemes)

If thats the worst the critics can come up then we are in pretty good shape ;-) ;-)

[xequence]

Personally I dont dislike the names. Gives it character.

Suse 10
Fedora Core 4
Red Hat -whatever number theyre at-

ETC ;)

But I dont like the ubuntu colours and background :P Fedora Core's icons are good, and so is its background. Debians background is good.

[nenotnom]

Seems to me DW newsletter guy was defending Ubuntu...

Personally I think the only thing that needs to be done with the Ubuntu look is to improve on the icons a bit and use the firefox icon for firefox. I use the default brown look, and I like it.

[FLeiXiuS]

Ok, how old are we again? Think to your self about that one then respond...

Name calling is so childhood. Sheesh, I'm only 17 and I know that.

[kleeman]

Seems to me DW newsletter guy was defending Ubuntu...


That's why I said they had it in perspective. If you want to see some whining about naming read here:

http://madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=5145

or here:

http://linux-blog.org/index.php?/archives/102-Whats-in-a-Name.html

[nenotnom]

That's why I said they had it in perspective. [...]

Ah, sorry, I misread your post.

[FLeiXiuS]

lol, Adam is a really cool guy though ;-)

[jdong]

Ok, how old are we again? Think to your self about that one then respond...

Name calling is so childhood. Sheesh, I'm only 17 and I know that.

Hah, beat you by like 6 months. I'm smarter than you ;)

[NeoSNightmarE]

This wasn't too bad. However that Madpenguin one got to me a little in a stfu already kind of way. In the end, it's all hating on the distro and that's it. I've had no problems with it so I stay, and what problems I have get worked out. Just like most other ppl who use Ubuntu. Damn reviewers always suck.

[mwdowns]

Interesting article and thread.

My thoughts on the naming and color: the naming is nice (though, I don't care much for Daper Drake...isn't a drake a duck? I though Ubuntu was a marmot distro.) and easier to remember than a number (the worst of which seems to be Gentoo 2005.12.3.14..... which isn't a knock on the distro, just a little fun-poking); strangely enough, I dig the brown color too. I dig these things cause they (as the OP linked article suggest) are different than the ubiquitous numbers and blue coloring prefered by most other distros. Color is most important for me, though, which is why my other prefered distro is SuSE...such a lovely shade of green.

Anyway, to echo a previous poster, if this is the worst thing someone can find about Ubuntu, then there isn't too much to worry about.

[BWF89]

I don't care what the release names are called but I think the name of the distro was poorly chosen. If you told someone that you use the Linux operating system and the brand of Linux you use is called "ooo-bun-too" their just going to give you a crazy stare and ask you to repeat yourself because they've never heard anything like that and it sounds strange.

Now on the other hand if you told someone that the brand of Linux you use is Debian, Slackware, Fedora Core, RedHat, or Knoppix they'd think "Wow that sounds pretty advanced".

But than again most Linux distros have crazy names because when your talking about Un*x systems your usually typing the name on a messageboard instead of saying it in person.

[najames]

I don't care if they call it Old Crusty Cocolate Covered Elephant Turd Linux if it works well. Secondary concern is how it looks but I can change wallpaper and themes. I really liked the "look" of Kubuntu Breezy better than Ubuntu however.

Suse 10 RC1 is also really nice, very stable only Nvidia drivers, but didn't configure as nice out of the box. I also **REALLY** prefer to maintain K/Ubuntu hands down. Synaptic and apt-get works very well

[mstlyevil]

Sometimes a funny name works in marketing. Just look at the success of Google.

[JimmyBEng]

i actually liked the name scheme and default colors. Maybe I'm wierd. To be honest I was less than impressed when Dapper Drake was released as the name for the next version, but it's kinda starting to grow on me, already

[Juippisi]

No matter what the name is, but Ubuntu remains the same. And if you are ashamed to say "I'm using Ubuntu Drake", then shame yourself and just say "I'm using the newest Ubuntu stable/devel version". If some ******* says "That Gay Duck version?", then diss him.

That's my opinion. I love Ubuntu, no matter what the name is and the name isn't going to change my relationship to Ubuntu.

[FLeiXiuS]

lol, turned 18 or a late 17er?

[Goober]

I see nothing wrong with the name. Of course, when I refer to Ubuntu, I go by 4.10, 5.04, etc., not by the "Warty Warthog" or "Dapper Drake" or whatnot.

I mean a name is but a name, and same with the colour. It's whats under the hood, that counts, right? And, in my books, what is under the hood of Ubuntu is pretty damn fine. Besides, you can change the colour scheme! Mine is a nice, mild Blue.

[earobinson]

My mom once told me that there are two sides to every story, and such is the case with this:

Side the first: 'What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet' (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Shakespeare)
This view is simple, names realy dont matter and if this os was named dont use this os it has more viruses that (put crappy os here) people would still use it because its a great os

Side the second: "put your best foot forward" (my mom and many others)
This is also simple, always show off your best stuff first aka when going for a job interview shower (yes this may be something new for all the com sci people out there, myself included)

But at the end of the day im not on the ubuntu team, and mark has done a great job with the os and he picked the name for a very good reason ""Ubuntu" is an ancient African word, meaning "humanity to others". Ubuntu also means "I am what I am because of who we all are". The Ubuntu Linux distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world." - http://www.ubuntulinux.org/ and this is why mark has put all this time and money into this os and i think he is right. At the end of the day i think brown is ugly (yet for some reason im using it lol) but at the end of the day i think that the default for lots of os's is ugly, infact fedora core is the only os i have ever used that i loved the looks of it right out of the box, but then they sink a lot of money into this, other companies like Apple and MS sink more money into it and i dont like the way there os looks out of the box.

This is something that will never make everyone happy, but i will give you a hint theems where invented for a reason because not everyone likes the same thing.

Oh and as a side note i was telling some one about ubuntu the other day and there said "ooooo isent that a south aferican word for ..." so i guess the name worked on him

[primeirocrime]

I find the names great.

OsX <------------ it sounds and reads like a toxic danger sign
Microsoft Windows XP <----------- can't really relate to that can you?
Microsoft [windows??] Vista <---------- sounds like a anti glaucoma medicine

at least the Ubuntu names don't seem cold and artificial, long live looney tunes.

[Qrk]

I find the names great.

OsX <------------ it sounds and reads like a toxic danger sign
Microsoft Windows XP <----------- can't really relate to that can you?
Microsoft [windows??] Vista <---------- sounds like a anti glaucoma medicine

at least the Ubuntu names don't seem cold and artificial, long live looney tunes.

Good point

[poofyhairguy]

Microsoft [windows??] Vista <---------- sounds like a anti glaucoma medicine


Thats awesome. I'm going to quote that.

Even though personally I think Windows Vista sounds more like a new suburb development in Anytown, U.S.A. Funny thing is, they both require high end resources (Vista as it is is VERY slow).

[earobinson]

As quoted by a google search define:vista


Definitions of vista on the Web:

* view: the visual percept of a region; "the most desirable feature of the park are the beautiful views"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

* VISTA may refer to*Volunteers in Service to America*the VISTA Telescope
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VISTA

* In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Vista is a part of the atmosphere that surrounds the world of Arda before the cataclysm at the end of the Second Age. Vista forms the inner layer of normal air: above it is Ilmen, and above that Vaiya.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vista_(Middle-earth)

* VISTA is the Visible & Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy, a 4m telescope in development which will be sited at Cerro Paranal in Chile. It is hoped that it will be operational in 2006. It will have a wide field of view, and as the name suggests it will focus on optical and infrared surveys of the sky. VISTA is being built close to ESO's VLT by a consortium of 18 UK universities.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VISTA_(telescope)

* Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture VISTA is the primary repository of clinical, administrative/financial, and infrastructure data in VA. It consists of computer systems at each VA medical center and the national network that links them. Within each VISTA implementation is a large number of separate 'modules' or 'packages' designed to store data on a particular subject and to produce management reports.
www.herc.research.med.va.gov/Glossary.htm

* Volunteers in Service to America, VISTA was the "domestic Peace Corps" of the 1960s that gave individuals an opportunity to work on behalf of low-income communities in the United States.
www.ushistoryplace.com/glossary/v.html

* The Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture ( VistA ), within the Department of Veterans Affairs, is the component of the Veterans Health Administration that develops software and installs, maintains, and updates compatible computer systems in VA medical facilities. (Previously known as the Decentralized Hospital Computer Program [DHCP].)
www.hardhats.org/fileman/u1/glossary.htm

* Pronunciation (v s t ) abbr. Volunteers In Service To America
www.thefreedictionary.com/vista

* An enclosed view, usually long and narrow.
www.calgaryarea.net/cpted/cpted/glossary.htm

lol i love it An enclosed view, usually long and narrow.

[philosoraptor]

The name is fine, as far as I can tell! The distribution itself is fine, and I'm really enjoying it. What's not fine, and is pretty obnoxious (though likely unintentionally so), is the reference to "ubuntu" as "an African word". Who would call "bomull" a "European word"? Who would refer to "poutine" as "an American word", or to "aheman" as "an Asian word"?
It frustrates me no end that people speak or write about the African continent as if it were a country, or even a town, rather than a continent large enough comfortably to fit the USA, China, and Europe, with plenty of room left over; AND with about 50 different countries; AND with at least several hundred distinct languages and groups who speak them. No. Instead we get claptrap about "African proverbs" and "African words" and "African villages".
So, when "ubuntu" is called "an African word" on the Ubuntu homepage, I have to ask why the author couldn't have been more careful and specific. Is it a Wolof word? Swahili? Hausa? Shona? Zulu? Yoruba? Hell, even a more precise regional description would be all right: "west African", or "east African", or "central African", etc.!
Many will say: hey, you should "stfu", and stop getting bent out of shape about -a single phrase- on -one- web page. My response is to reiterate the points and questions I already raised. But also, look -- It's clear that a lot of thought and attention went into the making of the distribution, and into developing and sustaining a lively and welcoming community of developers, users, and advocates. The results speak for themselves. So, why not be equally thoughtful, attentive, and informed-sounding when answering the first question anybody's going to ask when they see the name: "What does 'ubuntu' mean?"

[openmind]

Any publicity is good publicity, if the reviewers continually write about the name/color it keeps Ubuntu in the press, and Joe Linux says to himself "I'll have to give that a try", as all they can find wrong with it is superficial.
Like the OP said, if that's the worst they can come up with, it must be one hell of a distro!:D

[Stormy Eyes]

Recently there has been a lot of ridiculous whining about Ubuntu's naming. Some folks are freaking out about particularly Dapper Drake.

Fine, let's call the next one 'Raunchy Rhinoceros' and see how many schmucks freak out over that name.

[kleeman]

Fine, let's call the next one 'Raunchy Rhinoceros' and see how many schmucks freak out over that name.
Basic problem is that some folks in the FOSS community take themselves very seriously. Good to see Mark and especially Jeff don't fit that mold (at least in this case anyway ;-))

[David Marrs]

If you told someone that you use the Linux operating system and the brand of Linux you use is called "ooo-bun-too" their just going to give you a crazy stare and ask you to repeat yourself because they've never heard anything like that and it sounds strange.
Unless they live in South Africa, where it's from, in which case they'll say, "sounds cool, I think I'll try it!"

Anyway, I'm not sure that "Folks Vargen," "Harry-bow" or "Cree-dah" are any less strange sounding.