> New Perl Mascot
>
> Maintainer: David Grove <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: 28 Sep 2000
> Mailing List: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Number: 343
> Version: 1
> Status: Developing
I basically agree that we need a mascot, and one that isn't encumbered by a
proprietary trademark license.
However, I think one possible solution is to simply ask O'Reilly to license
the Camel back to the community freely. Larry has said all along that he
wants to rewrite Perl culture as well as perl itself. One way might be to
mitigate the influence of O'Reilly on Perl. Larry, after all, has some
influence at O'Reilly.
So, I have included below a diff against RFC 243. Basically, I have done
the following:
* made the language a little less damning to O'Reilly. We haven't asked
them outright to make the Camel free yet; we should try that first!
* removed the references to religion, that seemed a bit inappropriate.
* stated that we _should_ have a trademark on whatever image we choose, so
we can ensure that it stays free.
--- 343.pod Thu Sep 28 22:33:28 2000
+++ ../343-new.pod Fri Sep 29 22:18:35 2000
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
Maintainer: David Grove <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 28 Sep 2000
+ Last Modified: 29 Sep 2000
Mailing List: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Number: 343
Version: 1
@@ -14,30 +15,25 @@
=head1 ABSTRACT
Perl has no common symbol usable by the public at large to state to
-the world "I am a Perl Programmer, and D**n Proud Of It!"
+the world "I am a Perl Programmer, and D**n Proud Of It!".
=head1 DESCRIPTION
The symbol that would be commonly used for this is the Camel, of course,
but that symbol has strict trademark restrictions, and is unsuitable for
-the purpose of identification. O'Reilly allows only its commercial
-friends and allies to use it, and any other use is strictly prohibited.
-This presumes in a way to commercialize the public face of the Perl
-language as an O'Reilly-owned commodity. No other symbol is currently
-recognized to symbolize Perl and its community.
+the purpose of identification. Sadly, no other symbol is currently
+recognized to symbolize Perl and its community, and a freely available
+symbol is definitely needed.
The concept is simple. People rally around a common symbol for their
common goals.
-Linux has Tux, the cute little Penguin.
-
-Christians have a cross, Jews have the Star of David, Muslims the
-crescent moon.
+Linux has Tux, the cute little Penguin. GNU has the gnu, the wonderful
+wildebeest. BSD has the daemon, with his fork().
Perl programmers have nothing, unless they're on special terms with
a trademark holder. They only have the text of the word "Perl",
-which may (and probably should) be trademarked as discussed in the
-perl6-licenses mailing list.
+for which an open trademark is proposed in L<RFCXXX>.
Additionally, the Perl community as a whole should have a single
symbol to stand behind. Currently, two such symbols exist, representing
@@ -56,37 +52,50 @@
that could be more identifiable with one of Perl's cliques, such as
a particular operating system or architecture.
+The best possible solution would be for O'Reilly to declare publicly that
+the Camel image, when used with Perl is freely licensed for use by everyone,
+without restriction.
+
=head1 COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK
-This symbol should be representative of the perl community, and not
-of the Perl language. It should not be copyrighted or trademarked in
-such a way that it could be discouraged or limited by licenses. It
-should be known to have no official connection to the Perl language or
+This symbol should be representative of the Perl community, and not
+of the Perl language. If this image is copyrighted and/or trademarked, it
+should be licensed freely without restriction of any kind. It
+need not have any official connection to the Perl language or
software itself, or any special saction from Larry Wall or any entity,
except that it is recognized as a symbol for the entire
-perl community, and makes a statement, "Perl Programmer Here", or,
+Perl community, and makes a statement, "Perl Programmer Here", or,
"Proud to Perl". (The essence, not the text.) It should not be used
to represent a I<stamp of approval> from Larry Wall or any Perl
organization or entity.
-Also, displaying the symbol on a website should not require a link
-to any website, commercial or non-commercial. Displaying it in other
-places should not require legal disclaimers, trademark acknowledgements,
-or other such legal nastiness.
+Since the symbol would be licensed freely, displaying the symbol on a
+website should not require a link to any website, commercial or
+non-commercial. In addition, displaying it in other places should not
+require legal disclaimers, trademark acknowledgements, or other such legal
+nastiness.
+
+Any symbol that is created or used should have a trademark on it, under a
+liberal, unrestrictive license. Any specific rendering of it that becomes
+popular should be copyrighted, and have freely licensed as well. This will
+ensure that the images are always availble for the community in an
+unenumbered way.
+
=head1 USE OF THE CAMEL
Use of the Camel, LLama, Gecko, Owl, Panther, and other such trademarked
animals in association with Perl in any of the above contexts should
-be discouraged, regardless of any relationship with O'Reilly and
-Associates. Failing to discourage such uses could lead to an elitist
-mentality, where a select few could use a camel, and everybody who
-is not I<special> would use a [insert new symbol name here]. Perl is
-already too cliquish to worry about that.
+be discouraged, unless O'Reilly and Associates agrees to license these
+freely for use by anyone without restriction.
+
+Until then, failing to discourage such uses could lead to an elitist
+mentality, where a select few could use a camel, and everybody who is not
+I<special> would use a [insert new symbol name here].
=head1 SAMPLE USES
-This symbol should be available to all members of the perl community
+This symbol should be available to all members of the Perl community
in its original form or a derived form for use on websites, books,
jewelry, clothing, flags, software, icons, and all other places where
the user would like to be recognized as proud of being a member of this
@@ -96,13 +105,11 @@
=head1 VARIATIONS
Variations on the symbol should be tolerated in color and content.
-However, no use of the symbol or a variant of the symbol should be
-allowed to be copyrighted or trademarked to represent Perl, any
-software related to Perl, or any company or entity, to the extent
-that such copyright or trademark would be restricted to that
-usage or entity or unavailable for public usage.
=head1 REFERENCES
Tux: The Linux Mascot
+The Gnu: The GNU Mascot
+
+The BSD daemon: THe BSD Mascot
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