Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 16:44:18 -0700 (PDT) From: Das Devaraj <das@netcom.com> To: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: New name? Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9804131532.A29804-0100000@netcom19> In-Reply-To: <199804131640.KAA14472@lariat.lariat.org>
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On Mon, 13 Apr 1998, Brett Glass wrote: > Er, WHAT recognition? When I mention FreeBSD, very few professionals even > know what I'm talking about. And the "Free," the internal rhyme, and the > similarity to the colloquialism "freebie" give the initial impresssion > that it's a toy, a game, something cheap, or something that's less than > serious. Brent Glass seems right on target about this. A couple of anecdotal stories, supporting the above - - While I was trying to get a job, spoke with a manager who was heading an effort to put Linux on hardware (OS in a chip kind of deal). Just out of curiousity, asked him whether they were doing the same thing with FreeBSD. He did not even know what it was :-( - Called a local ISP for a new account. Asked them what OS they used, and they did not want to answer. They were very reluctant to answer that they used FreeBSD. - Gave my copy of FreeBSD CDROMs to a buddy who wanted to learn Unix (he is mystified by why I choose ISPs who run only Unix). After a couple of weeks, asked him what was happening. He sheepishly and indirectly pointed that it was free, why would anyone want to give anything good for free etc. There are other anecdotal stories, that I won't bore you with. Granted this is not an exhaustive market research, but it seems to indicate the word "free" is not always viewed in a positive light. Lots of books give excellent advice as to how to choose names 1) Choose a name which does not have a meaning and then give it a meaning by the actions of your company (e.g. Xerox) 2) Choose a name which is loaded with good "vibes" and use it (e.g. MS Works -- sounds like a wonderful endorsement.) 3) Avoid controversial or easily misunderstood words. The FreeBSD community at large may not want to change the name, but some enterprising souls may repackage the same thing with a catchy name (since redistribution seems to be allowed) and make a few bucks. Any takers on this? :-) das To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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