Re: [directory-discuss] Antifeatures - Names with Controversial Terms: linux

[Ian Kelling]

On Wed, Jan 11, 2017, at 03:17 PM, Greg Rundlett (freephile) wrote:
> This is complete folly.  Tilting at windmills.  The horse has left the barn.  
> There is so much OTHER work to do which has real benefits for Free Software 
> users, developers and the movement.

The time spent discussing it is already probably more than the time
implementing it. So should we spend more time here discussing it, or we
go do the other more important work? No need to reply if you really
believe that.


> Case in point: Circus Linux 
> https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Circus_Linux#tab=Overview
> The FSD in 2017 shames them with a scarlet letter for not calling the 
> software "Circus GNU/Linux"?

It's not shaming them with a scarlet letter, it's not asking them to
change the name. It's simply informing people: here is an instance of
this issue. Carry on. If you want to make the wording friendlier, feel
free to make an edit to the wiki.

> People like short names. period. full-stop. They're easier to say, type, 
> spell, fit on a sheet of paper. My name is Gregory.  I don't even call myself 
> that. And nobody calls me Gregory Scott Rundlett except on my driver's 
> license.  So when naming a piece of software, people come up with whatever is 
> short, and catchy. If a game is called Circus Linux, we should be happy and 
> proud that it was ported run in a Linux environment.
>

We are happy, and I'm not recommending the name be changed, but this is
not the one true shortest name or anything: most software targeting a
new os or platform do not put that in their name, so circus, or circus
gnu would have been <= in length.

> And just as pertinent is the fact that the software was developed 17 YEARS 
> AGO (ftp://ftp.tuxpaint.org/unix/x/circus-linux/CHANGES.txt). Are the 
> developers going to change the name today?  Would that please anybody?
>
> Circus Linux is a variant of a variant of an arcade game called "Circus"; 
> which was later adapted to play on the Atari console, thus "Circus Atari". 
> And finally, a version was made to play on GNU/Linux, and it was named 
> "Circus Linux". http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/circus-linux/
>
> .02
>
> Greg Rundlett
> https://eQuality-Tech.com[https://equality-tech.com/]
> https://freephile.org