Slashdot Mirror
Lindows Agreeing to Change Name
xandroid writes "It looks like Lindows.com has thrown in the towel for the fight to keep its name: the Seattle Times reports that they 'would not continue a worldwide legal battle with Microsoft.' They will announce the new name next Wednesday, although a favorite is Lindos -- 'because it's the W that is causing all the problems'." Update: 04/07 19:37 GMT by S : This is worth clarifying - Michael Robertson is claiming "...the company will go by a different name outside the U.S. until it can win the right to use the Lindows name internationally."
because it's the W that is causing all the problems
So the name isn't going to be Winux - because problems with Ws.
I always kind of figured that Lindows would have to cave eventually. Microsoft is just too big and powerful to square off with over the name of a product, and I'm surprised that someone would create a name so obviously based on Microsoft's main product without considering the fact that the software giant would be almost forced to take legal action.
Instead of Lindos, how about Lindros? They could use the handsome face of the Canadian-born New York Ranger as their logo, but what slogan would they use? Maybe something about hacking?
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
From 2003, when Robertson (of Lindows fame) answered /. questions he said, "When we started Lindows.com we believed that software installation was extremely difficult for most users".
To me this shows that Robertson is making his money on the connection between Linux, Windows and Lindows; by bridging the gap between the ease of windows and the better systemic designs of Linux. Therefore without the perfect name, Lindows may vanish into obscurity; but is a name that important? I think so, I don't think so... it doesn't matter really, does it? What to call it? How about Easy-Linux? Lindos won't work either, because it's got DOS in it...
...why not just call it "Windos"? ;)
libertarianswag.com
Strange- the American economy and international reputation has the same issue. Its that W. thats causing all the problems
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Finally, a win for the little guy!
Hey freaks: now you're ju
The new name will now be:
Wierdows
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
Am I the only one who sees a connection with US politicians?? :P
DrkBr
Won't "Lindos" be just as scrutinized by Microsoft? After all, MikeRoweSoft was shot down, showing that a phonetic similarity is just as condemning as anything else.
Typos... that's just how I role.
LinDOES
because WinCANT
geek n performer who performs morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken
DOS is just an acronym for Disk Operating System... if Caldera could/can have DR-DOS without copyright problems, I think Lindos would be pretty unencumbered.
Random thought: Why does everyone say IANAL? Wouldn't it be easier to assume no one is a lawyer unless they say otherwise?
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
don't choose "firebird" I think they will be okay
I think the new name should be NotWindows.
:)
How can they complain? Its obviously not windows, right?
DOS is dead, and no one cares...
If there's a Bourne Shell, I'll see you there
Hopefully this sheds some light.
This just goes to show the fundamental problem with the current legal system: regardless of the merit of their position, the rich can use the courts to impose their will on the poor by killing them with legal fees.
Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
... sick of hearing Robertson whine like the world is out to get him?
"I believe it's the only way to respond to an onslaught from such a rich company, since we need to be able to continue to grow our business," he said.
Boo hoo. Who cares what you think of MSFT, they're in the right, IMO. If the OS was called Lacintosh OSX, Apple would do the same thing.
Selling a "windows replacement" as "lindows" is pushing the line. Myself, I see it as a sleazy attempt to confuse unsavvy K-Mart shoppers into thinking they're getting Windows compatible machine.
If MS released "Winux" do you think Linus would excercise his TM rights? I do, and he should.
Screw this guy. He poked a bear with a stick, and is now crying that the bear took a run at him. He should consider himself lucky to get away, company intact, without being mauled.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Not in America.
taken! (by Davidleeroth) Thanks Bingo Foo!
I think the solution should be a stab at microsoft. Maybe, "Bill Gates has no penis". Obviously they would have to create a cartoonish character that has the name bill gates, and that would be the particular bill gates in question. So there would be no confusion.
Why is it so difficult to find decent software names? Why does Adobe have "Photoshop" and the open source community have "The Gimp", which literally means a person with a limp? Why is there "Oracle" and "SQL Server", one which is cool, both historically and as a product brand, and one which is straightforward and easy to remember (if nothing else), but the OS community as "PostgreSQL"?
A lot of programmers in the Slashdot community take cheap shots at marketing and this is important, because extreme marketing types can be every bit as annoying as extreme nerds, but it would be nice if it was acknowledged that marketing is, actually, a legitimate discipline and that product naming is important.
Lindos? So this is the BEST they can do?: Ask the community or drop the 'W'? Come on, guys. You came up with the software, why not make a legitimate effort to take the name seriously?
Would you go around to all your friends to ask what to name your child? And if you couldn't come up with anything by taking a poll would you just, say, drop the 'H' in John, if that was your first name, and call it done? I mean let's face it, good software is a lot harder to make than a baby, for most of us anyway ...
Chr0m0Dr0m!C
Lindizzle!
Actually, it was the legal systems in like 6 other countries outside of the United States that was the problem--Lindows was actually holding its ground here in the US.
Slashdot: Where people pretend to be twice as smart as they really are by behaving like children.
Giving a more respectable name will give it a better reputation, and will make it more recognisable as a brand. Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE and Java Desktop all are famous Linux brands, Lindows will have to follow in their footsteps!
I have a fetish for traffic cones
With all due respect sir,
:p) or any other Distro.
I personnaly think that Lindows is good.
Lindows isn't Gentoo, RedHat, SuSE or Mandrake (..well screw that last two
Lindows is Lindows, Linux equivalent to Windows and most promising replacement OS for the average joe who does not want to take control on the computer.
The average joe wants a safe computer on which he can send email, browse the net and play solitaire...Lindows can do that and in the mean time proves that Linux can be usable by the non-technical folks.
plus, it offers a nice transition between windows & linux, you begin to understand how it works but still behind the comfort of a gui, wizards....etc.
Then, when you are ready, you jump in the bigger stuff.
Truly your appear to be a linux user and that's great. We respect the fact that you know a lot of stuff and are very technical, but linux NEEDS distros like Lindows to gain popularity and popular support.
If you look like your passport photo, you're too ill to travel. - Will Kommen
...and then they could make the OS part real big and claim it's Wind OS. To highlight that the real name is really Wind they could have a grassy hill as the background with blue sky and fluffy clouds being blown about.
Of course, the whole slashdot communty could have a field day saying "WindOS really blows!" but, hey, you can't have everything.
TW
Uh oh, I don't think LinDOS would please Microsoft, they are going to complain it infringes on their DOS copyright. And besides, now all the techies are going to think its a dos emulator for linux or something. Since it will now be the D that is causing trouble I suggest they take out the D and become LinOS. But then MS will complain it sounds too much like WinOS or something. So I suggest the just change the name to L. Microsoft cannot complain at all about the L. You could even call the theL that would be kinda catchy.
Visualize Whirled Peas
The funny thing is, Clinton gets credit for the bubble like it was real, and W gets blame for the collapse like the prices in March 2000 were supposed to stay that way forever.
"All I know about W is that when Clinton was president, the Nasdaq was 5000", basically.
Bubbles are bad, whatever the cause. They cause people to invest time and energy and money in businesses that don't actually produce as much resources as they consume. (If the businesses turn out to be profitable and the stock prices don't collapse in the long run, then it's not a bubble!) The bubble is a flight from reality, and the collapse is a return to reality.
L i n d o v v s
OSS developers always seem to pick the most moronic names.
That's because whenever we pick a simple, obvious name, Microsoft takes it and sues us for using it.
There is a long list of MS trade names that were used by someone else before MS started using the name. The most egregious is probably "Personal Computer", which was used by all the small-computer makers before MS took it over. And DOS was used as an OS name by many other vendors before MS claimed it; it was the industry-standard TLA for Disk Operating System in the days when many computers didn't automatically come with a disk.
The lesson is that you don't want to use a trademark that Microsoft will want. If you do, you either give it to them when they ask, or they'll bankrupt you with legal fees. Granted, they're likely to do that anyway, but you don't have to give them an easy excuse.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
When Inkscape forked from Sodipodi, we were fortunate enough to have folks with both solid technical and marketing/graphic design backgrounds, so we put a lot of thought into branding up-front, as well as the technical issues.
That probably wouldn't have happened years ago -- "Inkscape" could just as easily have been named "VectorPIMP".
There's a similar increase in Human Interface factors in recent OSS work. Classic projects like the GIMP are simply beholden to old (bad) UI and marketing decisions.
So, just give it time. Things are improving.
DNA just wants to be free...
problem with Wind OS is that it sounds too much like "Wind Aw's" which is awful close to "Wind Ass" if you're British. Maybe that's OK, though.
Other ideas:
Wind Owes
Wind O's
Win Does (like the deer)
Win Doh's!
Or, for the far east flavor,
Nguyen Doze
SoSu Me
Ahh.. The mind what a wonderful trap!
"The Operating System Formally Known as Lindows"
...and call it Lindoze?
-- kortex "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts"
Would that be spweading Fudd?
Tweet, tweet.
Don't put so much stock in a name, its not all that important.
I don't know about that. Take Phoenix Air for example. I don't know about you, but any airline named after a bird that burts into flames and plummets down from the sky won't be getting my business anytime soon.
"We all know that Microsoft doesn't have a leg to stand on regarding rhyming OS names."
That's not true. There may be a weakness there, but saying they don't have a leg to stand on is ridiculous. Don't believe me? Then think about a company you don't hate, like Palm. Why is their trademark okay but Windows isn't?
That's not the real crux of the matter, though. Simply put, Lindows' motivation was malicious. Here's a few little facts:
- Microsoft has had the Windows trademark for a few years now. Not to mention that their de-facto monopoly status strengthens the notion that they own that name.
- Lindows is meant to be very much like Windows, to the point that users can have a hard time telling the difference, especially if they went to Walmart and bought one of those PCs.
- The CEO of Lindows put up $250,000 to reward somebody for hacking the X-BOX. I don't know if that would make it into court over this matter or not, but he still intentionally set out to do Microsoft harm.
It would be awful if Lindows won this case without any reprecussions for the intentional bullying they were trying to do. I know it's fun to hate Microsoft and all, but this form of litiguous bs is exactly what you're mad at SCO for. Don't let Lindows ruin the reputation of the Linux/Open Source Communities.
"Derp de derp."