>-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of John Birrell >Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 11:29 PM >To: Gary Hayers >Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Re: New FreeBSD logo > > >Those people who want to influence decisions like the selection of a new >logo really only have _one_ way to have a say. Ranting on a mailing list >is *not* that way. >
Wrong. I think you have this idea that the committers think that all they have to do is wave their wands and every FreeBSD user will instantly march in lockstep to what they want. This is only true for the FreeBSD source code. If the committers in FreeBSD change the source to FreeBSD then the users all pretty much have little choice but to accept it. Oh sure they can patch the system if they want, but the changes are usually good so why would they? And when the changes are bad and break things, then if a proper PR is filed that documents everything, then the committers change it back, or fix the bug. But not so with the logo change. Logos only have value when they are used. Yes the committers can delete Beastie from FreeBSD's main website and replace it with the sex toy - although in view of the multiple and varied statements by many committers that the sex toy logo is merely an addition and not displacing Beastie I don't see how they will be able to do this in the future without losing a lot of public face for going back on their promises. But the committers have zero control over what the users use for their preferred logo. Most people are going to use the logo they feel best represents FreeBSD, only a few misguided people will just blindly use the logo that the committers tell them to use. Since most of the userbase preferrs Beastie they will continue to use Beastie. The people making castings of Beastie aren't going to see sales of a casting of the sex toy displace Beaste, if they even offer it, the people making stuffed Beasties aren't going to see sales of a stuffed sex toy outselling Beastie, etc. etc. etc. The -only- way the committers can get a lot of people to use the new logo is to put out a new logo that is better than Beastie. >If you contribute to FreeBSD and earn the right to a commit >bit, then you >get a chance to vote on who becomes a member of the core group >and things >like the selection of a new logo. > No, you get to vote on the selection of various bits of code changes. But no amount of your voting is going to instantly change the recognized logo of FreeBSD from Beastie to the sex-toy. Ranting on questions has far more ability to make or break use of the sex-toy logo by the FreeBSD userbase than voting on current. > >So people can "huff and puff and try to blow the house down" in this >thread, but the only thing that makes any difference is what the people >who have earned a vote think. > No, the only thing that makes a difference when it comes to the logo is what the people choose to use who are normally using the FreeBSD logo in their work every day. And those folks are what you would term the sales and marketing arm of FreeBSD, not the developers. And they are paying attention to what people are saying about the new sex-toy logo. The sex-toy logo has very little recognition and association with FreeBSD. The few places that you might -want- to use it is someplace like the cover of a magazine, because if you use a recognized logo like Beastie then prospective purchasers of that magazine are going to think "ho hum another article about FreeBSD" and pass it by, whereas since they don't know what the sex-toy represents, they might pick up the mag and read it. But, in that case your selling a magazine, not an operating system. In instances like the cover of a CD or a business card or a website where your wanting to use a very instantly recognizable logo denoting FreeBSD, your going to use Beastie. And this reason is what is the reason for most of the areas that have a need for a FreeBSD logo. Ted _______________________________________________ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]"
