Date: Thu, 04 Mar 1999 06:45:24 +0900 From: "Daniel C. Sobral" <dcs@newsguy.com> To: Louis Bertrand <louis@signalpath.on.ca> Cc: Jim Mock <jim@corp.au.triax.com>, eT <eT@KryptoKom.DE>, FreeBSD Chat <freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG>, FreeBSD Advocacy <freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: what's in a name? Message-ID: <36DDAD74.33EF597A@newsguy.com> References: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9903030847300.1372-100000@tronix.signalpath.on.ca>
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Louis Bertrand wrote: > > > Eh? How does Linux sound more user-friendly? > > > > 1) Because it's associated with a real person's name, whose hype as a > philantropic boy-genius from Finland catches the attention of non-techies > (may it's that Mozart thing...). I'm not running Linus down -- he is > articulate and media-savvy and has a lot to do with the success of Linux. > > <humour> But if you changed the name of FreeBSD to Jordan, you'd get in > trouble with Nike. </humour> > > 2) Because a name is one of the hardest things to remember about a person > -- it's an arbitrary choice by parents, and not tied back to a physical > characteristic. Hence you try to make the name representative and > associated with mnemonic clues (Linux -> Linus) A big no-no in marketing > is using initials (IBM is big > enough to get away with it -- a freenix OS isn't). Try explaining BSD to a > non-techie, then quiz him/her the next day. If they even remember the > name, you'll get DBS, BBS, BSB... Hence you use something that evokes a > warm fuzzy response and you're more likely to be remembered. Media scribes > are like the rest of us: over-worked and underpaid. You need to catch > their attention. Well, since FreeBSD is not changing it's name, I think we won't know the answer until Mr. Lambert finally releases TerryBSD. ;-) -- Daniel C. Sobral (8-DCS) dcs@newsguy.com dcs@freebsd.org "FreeBSD is Yoda, Linux is Luke Skywalker." To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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