On 6/11/19 4:23 AM, Richard Brown wrote:
On Mon, 10 Jun 2019 at 18:32, Ronan Chagas
wrote: Do you think openSUSE should change it's name?
IMHO, definitely not… now.
It takes time to build a brand, and openSUSE is a very good one. The points in favor that I read on this thread, again IMHO, do not seem to justify the cons.
I remember when Leap 15.0 was proposed. The very controversial numbering system (from 42.3 to 15.0) was proposed to keep openSUSE in line with SLE. Now, one year later, there is a discussion to change the name which will completely break this “alignment”. Everything will be very confusing (again) to the users who are not reading this thread.
My suggestion: give the Foundation another name (Gecko foundation, Lizard foundation, Green foundation, whatever…), keep the openSUSE name for the distribution, and change the logo if necessary.
When we reach a point that the points in favor of name changing are clearly more interesting than the cons, then just drop openSUSE in favor of Tumbleweed and Leap.
Best regards,
Ronan Arraes
Consider the following with your proposal
- The main point of forming the Foundation is to ease fundraising, sponsorship, etc for the openSUSE Project. Having a Foundation under a name different than that of our primary output will hinder that problem - just like it does for "The Document Foundation" who have to compete for attention with other significant sponsors of Libreoffice despite the fact the TDF is _the_ primary community organisation behind Libreoffice.
On the other hand the Linux Foundation is a very effective fundraiser for a plethora of projects that do not have "Linux" in the name. So there is anecdotal evidence for both sides of the coin.
It seems to me that we should do everything we can to avoid the name of the Foundation being any different than the name of the rest of the Project.
- If we continue using the name openSUSE in any way, manner, or form, SUSE will be duty bound to ensure that openSUSE does not conduct any actions which hurts its brand or trademark. This will mean that, alongside any agreement the Project has to use the name "openSUSE", there will be strings attached. Such restrictions could be in the form of the status quo - currently SUSE have a veto right over any actions in the openSUSE community, a power trusted into it's Chairman, me. This is a right I am on the record of being uncomfortable with, and thankfully have never needed to use, but I totally understand the need of it from a corporate perspective - openSUSE can't be allowed to go making deals that undermines SUSE's business, gives it a bad name in public, or otherwise makes things more complicated for either organisation. SUSE's Veto right also means that we have been able to forgo having long detailed lists of restrictions on what openSUSE can do. However, if SUSEs veto right is lost in the Project's transition to a Foundation (and that might be necessary to ensure the Foundation is seen as a clearly separate legal entity), I would expect SUSE will require a significant amount of detailed restrictions on the activities the Foundation will be able to conduct.
This is speculation.
Negotiating and finding a mutually satisfactory set of terms and conditions will take a lot of time and effort, and such restrictions will limit the scope and extent of the Foundation to receive sponsorships, money, services, etc.
Also speculation. But, while we are speculating. Would we expect SUSE to continue to sponsor the new Foundation/project if the new Foundation acts in a way that is not consistent with SUSE business interests?
Both of the above points might be satisfactory to the community, but it should be realised that consequences of this decision will shape the nature and ability of the Foundation to operate once its established. I think we should do our best to avoid looking at this topic emotionally and instead choose which option is practically, on balance, best for the Project in the long term.
Despite my repeated point-making on this thread, I actually have no strong preference either way..but I do wish to ensure that the community makes an informed choice.
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