Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 23:04:58 -0700 From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@zippy.cdrom.com> To: Jonathan Lemon <jlemon@americantv.com> Cc: jkh@zippy.cdrom.com, chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD Distributions: Leveling the playing field Message-ID: <80892.937289098@localhost> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Mon, 13 Sep 1999 12:50:38 CDT." <199909131750.MAA07240@free.pcs>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> Isn't there some way that we can come up with a labeling which would > explicitly allow the various offshoots of FreeBSD to identify themselves > with the project, while making it clear that they are separate efforts? It depends on how "separate" they are, and quantifying that is pretty difficult when it's really such a matter of "feel" for what's reasonable and what's not. I think we'll have to simply keep doing what we're doing, which is to look at each thing calling itself "FreeBSD" or using the word FreeBSD somewhere in its title and see if it looks appropriate. Things which simply call themselves FreeBSD in the software sense (e.g. having a CD labelled "FreeBSD distribution" or even "Turbo FreeBSD" :) have to conform to the basic structure of the official release, from the installation bits to the layout of sources and other components that would otherwise create great confusion were they to migrate or mutate substantially from the official version. Companion products, like "The FreeBSD coloring book" or the "FreeBSD games pack" which contain just "reasonably related" material for FreeBSD can also use the trademark as long as it's in good taste and contains some reasonable tie-in to the core product. I think the FreeBSD coloring book would be kind of cool, for example, whereas I think the "FreeBSD pop-up porno calendar" (or "Chucky the 13th") really wouldn't be. :). Some existing examples: "The Complete FreeBSD" is a book by Greg Lehey about FreeBSD. As such, it qualifies handily to use the trademark. Were the book actually about beekeeping, it would not. "The FreeBSD toolkit" is a 6-CD set containing all the extra FreeBSD packages and ports distfiles (+ other FreeBSD related things) that we can possibly cram onto them. It doesn't claim to be a distribution, and it's not, it's just an add-on pack specifically useful to FreeBSD people and it also thus qualifies to use the trademark in this fashion. Some hypothetical examples which would NOT work: "FreeBSD Ultra LEET" - A 10 CD FreeBSD distribution with a new re-vamped installer and a special bonus port to the Atari ST. This would definitely not qualify because of the different installer (and, as much as I may dislike my own installer, I at least know what people are talking about when they report "an installer bug in FreeBSD") and the Atari ST port would also be rather less than official since the project has no such thing in its CVS repository. "Really Small FreeBSD" - A binary-only distribution for embedded systems work, also containing proprietary network boot-ROM images and special drivers for various flash products. This would be a fine product, I am sure, but again it'd be just too different from "standard out-of-box expectations" that any user might reasonably have when hearing the FreeBSD name. Something with a lot of value-add for a specific use and no source tree would not meet those expectations, even though the product itself might be really great for that specific use. I'd recommend they call it something like "AtomAntOS" and just put "Based on FreeBSD" in their sales literature somewhere if they wanted to give us a nice acknowledgement and maybe catch a little of the open source buzz, however peripherally, at the same time. I hope this is clearer now. - Jordan To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?80892.937289098>