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OO.org Selects Its Own Sea Bird
Elektroschock writes "A new mascot of the OO.org project was announced today: A crazy sea gull. I wonder whether it will help to convince office workers of Open Office. "Andrea [Maggioni]'s contribution is not only beautiful and effective but also illustrates the potential of young people to contribute importantly to real projects under the banner of Free and Open Source Software." Andrea, "whose cheerful drawing, of a fun-looking seagull holding a fish, plays on the "OOo" shorthand of OpenOffice.org"... ehemm, it's a crazy sea gull."
Migration? maybe?
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
I think there's only one 't' in mascot.
Only requirement for good karma: be pedantic as much and as often as possible.
You can tell I am pissed cause my submission got rejected on the spot. Granted, it had a few hidden messages, but it was on such a high-level, only 2-3 people in the world would've got it.
They must have wanted an aquatic animal that will compete with a penguin for food! :)
Voting is of course closed, but if you'd like to see the other students' submissions, our voting page is still displayed. You can click on the individual images for a larger view.
Also, a minor point of clarification regarding Timothy and Elektroschock's write up -- this is not a mascot for OOo. This is a mascot for OooEdu, the new Schools Project of Open Office.org. Please, read the attached article to learn about what the OOoEdu aims to do, and how you can help. We're an active and devoted community, and there are things you can do to further OOo's acceptance in schools, even if you can't contribute a line of code!
I think I should point that that I believe this mascott is just for the OOoEdu project, not for the OpenOffice.org project as a whole.
Things you think are in the Constitution, but are not.
Please note that this is not a new general OpenOffice.org mascot, but one for "The recently established Schools Project of OpenOffice.org (OOoEdu)"
Gully says:
"It looks like you're trying to run Microsoft Office via WINE. Would you like me to poop on it for you?"
No offense. But how do you expect to be taken seriously when that's your logo? People laughed at MS's attempts to have things like paperclips, and you go and find something worse?
...from "Finding Nemo", where that seagull picks up our fishy hero.
Oh and there's only one 't' in 'mascot'.
"Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
The article specifically states the mascot is for the OO.org schools project, not a general mascot for the OO.org project.
I have enough trouble trying to convince coworkers to adopt F/OS Software without having to deal with "cutesy" mascots. Not that Clippy was any better.
That seagull was drawn by a 4th grader. While I don't think that they need to go "mainstream" with a mascot. It certainly can't hurt their cause any to have a mascot that is a little more serious.
I thought April Fool's was over? Spelling mistakes aside (mascot?), I think this is a really bad move for OO. Isn't the goal of OO to replace Microsoft Office? From a corporate standpoint, as cute as it is, a crazy gull is not what people want. There was reluctance to even use Tux back in the day, if I remember correctly, who is several shades less...crazy than the gull.
What message does this send? Use OO and you'll go nuts (or have a fish purse?). I don't think this was well thought out.
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
1) This is just the mascot for OOOEdu, not OOo.
2) It was a childs drawing, who won a competition.
I think it's quite cute.
Jay | http://oldos.org
so just how will this mascott promote OO?
It just doesn't seem to inspire lots of confidence, but maybe that's just me...
Watch the Teaser Trailer for "The Lightning Thief" Her
That fish looks just a little too happy to be held by a seagull. Doesn't it know that the seagull is going to eat him?
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
This Slashdot post is misleading (not very unusual, I understand). From the article:
It's the mascot for their school-targetted marketing. And pretty bloody appropriate for young kids, I think.
Barclay family motto:
Aut agere aut mori.
(Either action or death.)
I bet the PETA people will make a bunch of noise over this. Remember when they portrayed that fish out of water at the end of that Faith No More video?
And no, this isn't flamebait, this is an observation made by someone who is in the advertising industry.
If OO wants to have a shot at gaining more credibility in the business world, this logo is not the way to do it.
While I most certainly respect the creativity and thoughtfulness that went into this...corporations won't "buy" into the cute, loveable image. They want something that looks a tad more professional. Even the Linux penguin looks much more cleancut in this. So, perhaps the concept for the logo has some potential, but this current crude implementation does not.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Is that a seagull or a pelican?
At least Sesame Street gets a mascott like Big Bird....and what do we get???
A bald eagle, peregrine or a hawk would be a bit better. Fix up the hair too please!
Oh come on. Why would people crossover to OOo when they have a perfectly good paperclip to shoot? Nice work Andrea.
Cogito, ergo sig.
Microsoft's products all use formless colored figures as mascots. How come we don't get to use boring mascots like they do? All we get to use are high quality creative characters. That's not fair. I think all free/open source programs should adopt boring businesslike formless colored figures, so we can appear as boring as that crowd.
Quite frankly, the gull looks slightly... challenged. Not a good image for either open office or for a subprject aimed at schools :)
-naeem
In Brazil the mascot will look like a perverted psychopath with a thing for fish.
If you ask me, I think it's the damn bird that's dosed.
(tig)
Ignorance and prejudice and fear
Walk hand in hand
Glad to see that OO finally figured out what is wrong with their office suite. It's not the fact that it can't open all MS Office documents. It's not the fact that it doesn't have an OS X-native version that works. It's not the fact that it sucks up so many resources on some WinXP boxes that people go back to the comparitively-perky MS equivalent. It's the mascot. Yeah, that will make everything better and people will "flock" to the product.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: "Not ready for prime time." I really wish it were so I could be 100% Microsoft free.
World's tallest building rises in the desert
Maybe they should consider registering oo.org?
but i think i'm gonna have to go back to using office now. i'd say send this one back to the drawing board, but apparently it never left. -enjoy yourself bitches, its a celebration!
Why, when I look at the other submissions, do I think of this?
Seriously ... All of these open source projects seem to take a wrong turn when it comes time to market their creation. A crazy seagull with irrecreatable vectors as the hair-doo? People need to market this shit! Stop creating goofy mascots to go with your product. This isn't a Sega game. It's something you want to sell to a CEO, and he doesn't want a goofy shitting bird on his desktop every time he goes to open up a document.
Why does the fish look so damn happy?
When you're in the business of making meth.
The "OK" sign is another way of referring to the female genetalia in some countries, and is considered obscene, which could be a bit of an impediment to OO use in some countries.
Maybe they should have researched this a bit more...
It's better than Clippy. *shrug*
In the MMORPG Ultima Online, everytime someone mutters something like "OOo", it means they are dead... In fact, whatever the ghost says will get translated into strings of "OooOOOOoo" unless you have the Spirit Speak skill...
www.rexguo.com - Technologist + Designer
Until Microsoft announces that they are changing Clippy to a bird.
That's a nice price, sure. But for a girl who's prolly still in high school or maybe even elementary school?
Hate me!
Seriously.
That gull looks like it's itching to ask you:
"So.... do you wanna get high?"
It was a pelican that helped Marlin (Nemo's father) and Dory.
replace "business of making" with "habit of taking" and you'll be spot on.
Pardon my ignorance, but I fail to see how this is a play on 'OO.o' like the article says (I actually read it! Yay!)
Uhhh.. she's 15. I guess we know why her sister's boyfriend talked her into contributing.
How we know is more important than what we know.
This is pretty much the same reason that Microsoft did away with their upraised middle finger logo.
It was actually a pelican that helped Marlin (Nemo's father) and his forgetful sidekick Dory.
http://ryand.net/oss/abi/abiantgnomepencil.png
AbiWord Word Processor
(leave off the file name for more images of Abi the Ant)
I recognize people by their sigs. Is that a bad thing?
I guess there will allways be room for professionalization of image and branding in the opensource world.
I mean. Oo.O is the most competitive office suite in the world period, and its branded as the sea gull equivalent of Dr. Strangelove.
On the other hand, i think an FOSS mascot that is not chubby (like Tux), is really a pun on us BOFHs who know that youre either anorexic, a really lame luser, a pretty bad programmer or plain FAT (ask cowboy neal).
NO SIG
The .ORG extension doesn't allow two-letter domain names. I think the minimum is three letters for .ORG. In fact there are only very few international domain extensions that allow two-letter registrations.
-JemNow that open source is becomming more popular, this branding is inevitable. A sign of success. But I hope these efforts stay focused on their target audience.
Maybe its just me. But I'm really getting tired of open source branding efforts. Go ahead and do this stuff but have developer.*.org with none of this. I dont care about branding. I'm interested in the code, the bugs and the developer discussion.
At developer.*.org place the following one click away with no product branding:
source tars
cvs information
bug reporting
developer mail lists and archives.
Fairly simple request. Nobody will go to developer.*.org for binaries.
Consider developers a seperate 'branding' effort.
Its my impression the branding efforts how their understand users but not developers. Keep them away.
Cute bird. have fun.
This mascot is aimed at the effort to attract greater use of OpenOffice in the schools. I like the use of the bird and fish together to give a sense of "flocking" to "schools" :-)
A lesbian seagul?
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
Thanks to Google, I was able to dig up one more photo of the OO.org mascot.
image1,
I hate to be critical, it's a great drawing, but why is the fish smiling?
his ass is about to get eaten!
`which fortune`
Grudge match!
. . . otherwise known as flying rats. and inspirators of hats: http://www.loosetrucks.com/ProductImages/hat_ah_da mnseagulls.gif
Tim O'Reilly and friends have yet to publish a book about OpenOffice.org, so the indullable assignment of an animal from that method remains yet to be determined.
don't tell all the fortune 500 companies about clippy!
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur
This just in... Pixar sues OO.org for tracing a screenshot from "Finding Nemo".
Quite frankly, the gull looks slightly... challenged. Not a good image for either open office or for a subprject aimed at schools
:)
Yes, but how about an open office subproject aimed at schools for the "challenged"...
Maybe I'm just going to come across as stupid because it's obvious to everyone but me... but why is a crazy seagull holding a fish "a play on the 'OOo' shorthand of OpenOffice.org"? Is this supposed to be the world's most incomprehensible pun, or what?
Use Ctrl-C instead of ESC in Vim!
...then the new company motto:
Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!
ignore the sig
I am a lecturer and tutor in Graphic Design at Monash University. Perhaps I can add some comments on why this winning entry does not communicate well: - Its complex. As a rule of thumb a logo or mascot should be legible when printed out at about 10mm square and run through a fax machine. - Its not cheerful. This bird looks dazed and confused like it has been drinking all weekend. - It devalues the OO.org brand by making it look amateurish not accessible. The quicker open source projects take a leaf out of Firefox's approach to branding and identity the better. If open-source projects are going to have any kind of influence on mainstream software usage (which OpenOffice indeed has the potential to) it really needs to get serious with the way it comes across. Please do judge books by their covers and applications by their icons and mascots. No mascot is better than a bad mascot.
*.02c
My god, was some glorified Geocities account the best they could do for a prize?
Is it just me or does the artist not seem to really know what OO.o is nor care?
Yeah, but who outside of O'Reilly actually associates Linux with a horse rather than a penguin?
Yes, but how about an open office subproject aimed at schools for the "challenged"... :)
Like Texas University in Austin, or the University of Oklahoma?
Second, know that a fish, in the united states, is a non-direct however clear reference to the same. Pussy. Vagina. The odor of both is what has made the two a match in American vernacular.
Now, look at the photo again, and you will see a hard-core, sex crazed bird with two big references to pussy. I am laughing so hard right now I can't breathe. Need... help... and a 15 year old girl created this?!?!? Arrg.... short of breath.... help... too... funny...
Given all the European snickering about Americans complaining when Janet Jackson showed a tit on TV, I would think they wouldn't care about hand gestures. :-)
...seems to be a rather... er, provocative. I hope they will not use it to much often in PR...
There you are, staring at me again.
Why is the fish so happy?
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
"flock" of seagulls. Then we'd get the music lovers on board.
Before you pick a logo, or mascot, it is wise to consult with experts. Just wait until the Germans get online in a few hours.
Now, Steven Seagal would definitely go crazy over this!
Point well taken. In my country, a picture of a seagull represents our Government, and the fish he holds tightly in his hand, a man's testicles. So, in effect, OOo is reminding me that my April 15th Tax Extension is about to expire.
....and is going to be OpenOffice's lunch. Only it doesn't know it yet ( and hence the smile). :-)
I mean, the TCO sure _looks_ lower...
Well, if not two, at least one letter domain names exist: how could one forget x.org?
After going to the voting page, I see that you had some excellent submissions. The one chosen seems perfect for the OOooEdu project. But I'm going to use [AB] [BI] and [BJ] as OpenOffice icons on my desktop.
I hope it doesn't come back to haunt the OO.org team, but the "okay" finger gesture in the mascot illustration may be ill-advised: The gesture is extremely rude in some cultures around the world, as a visual symbol for certain elements of the female anatomy. (no diagrams, I'll let you use your own imaginations)
Coffee is my drug of choice.
Yes, let's go with Phoenix's attempt at brand identity. I mean Firebird. Whoops, I mean Firefox.
I'm so tired of Slashdot not better proofing it's submissions. My first thought was, are they serious? So much for being taken serious.
I don't read every single submission on Slashdot, but like to at least scan through the different headlines, etc. If CNN had this many errors, they would be a laughing stock.
Does this crazy seagul also have morphing wings? Otherwise I don't want it.
Ok, using a penguin for a mascot is one thing -- but a shithawk? Probably not the best message. :)
I don't know....Is it wise to choose a bird which circles aimlessly above landfills?
Somehow, clippy looks attractive in comparison. The bird looks half-drunk! (cute, but drunk nonetheless)
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
I really don't want to cut up someone's work and I think the art itself is fine, but not as the symbol for what could be a very significant piece of software. I don't think I want to trust my sensitive or important files to something that portrays itself as a retarded scavenger bird. I think something simple yet elegant would have been the best choice here.
SIGFAULT
...ahem... That's the perfect mascot for OOo, coz it is just like that bird... confusing and makes you want to drink all weekend.
this is incredibly funny for a turkish person. that gesture made by the gull means "you are gay" in turkey :-)) :-))
for turkish speakers: "topsun!"
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgghh!!!!
What do you want, a medal for that?
Fucking moron.
Oddly enough, I learned that from a TV ad for HSBC that is running in the UK now. (It just says the gesture is rude, but one can guess how.) This factoid (among others) is supposed to demonstrate how well they understand foreign customs. Why this should make someone choose to bank with HSBC, I'm not sure. Perhaps the idea is that they will do a better job of picking investments overseas.
I'll admit that I don't know anything about the Italian education system, but maybe you meant 4th form or something?
She's an entire 4th grader's age older than a 4th grader...
OMG... I remember this guy with the crazy hair and the scarf! It's Professor Isadore Corey... one of the characters the gov'ment used on TV during the 70's to try and keep us little freaks in school during that critical "after school" time every afternoon. Interesting that he came reincarnated as a seagull... and is it my imagination, or is that a Red Herring under his arm?
Mnem
*Cackles and runs away from school again*
With a logo of a bird known primarily for crapping on everything in sight, I'm tempted to go with Microsoft just to spite the few people in the world who don't hate the things.
"Anyone who attempts to generate random numbers by deterministic means is living in a state of sin." -- John von Neumann
It's Andres, you dolt.
I would like to see a picture of an OSS Mascott (*cough* TUX *cough*) with a pretty little butterfly (*cough* Microsoft *cough*) hanging half way out of their mouth/beak.....
Now this would be the ultimate background image
open source mascots MUST EAT FISH. Seriously. Besides the obvious Tux, demons, gimps and gnomes certainly eat fish. Blowfish eat other fish. (I didn't look that up. I'm just assuming, for the sake of my argument, that they do.) A few members of Monty Python were in a movie where Kevin Kline ate live goldfish. Platypuses (the Darwin project) eat fish.
There is nothing even remotely fish-related about the wildebeest. What does this mean for the GNU project?
* And remember, it's spelled N-e-t-s-c-a-p-e, but it's pronounced "Mozilla."
That is pretty much the most un-professional image I have ever seen. I really don't think that the path to acceptance will be eased by this sort of thing. Help us out here guys - we're trying to get you in but you gotta act right!
Humor from a Genetically Molested Mind
There aren't gonna be any fish left for M$!
The Erogenous Zone
Please accept this ascii art as a token of my appreciation to OO.org.
/\ /
\|||||/ This
--| |-- is
--{o} {o}-- not
*bbbbbbbb*|||- an
*bbbb*|||- offensive
(|||) post.
(|||)
\/ / \
O|| / \-/|/
| |
\- |----/
\-| |(o
\---( \
| |----\
| |
/ \
-- -- Thank you, Andrea Maggioni
Not wanting to succumb to Microsoft's ability to create crappy logos (Paperclip, Bob), the Open Source community has introduced a logo that promises to trump the 'non-business like' and 'unprofessional' of all previous Microsoft logos into one logo.
However, at least with Open Source, we may see an improvement in the next version of the logo unless of course they fork it. Personally I hope they fork it and fork it quickly.. and they should fork whoever decided on that logo.
That logo makes the running man AOL icon look deep. Last time I saw a happy fish in a Seagall's mouth was during a bad acid trip.
--- We need more Ron Paul!
Is this some sort of joke? ...
You got to be kidding me!!!
OOoreeka!
I mean, there's just something about them that reminds me of Microsoft Word and what it's done to my documents.
I had a quick look at the article, then out of curiosity, downloaded OO 1.1.1 to check it out, and then added the following note to my to-do list : "Download OO and get rid of MS office". I indeed never needed MS Office...
My point is that this even brings attention to the OO project, and I hope many people will follow my path!
--JC
The problem is, it doesn't matter if it's "just" the mascot for OOOedu -- it reflects on the entire OO.org brand. Unfortunately, it communicates "sloppy, stoned bird," rather than "whimsical kid-friendly software."
The idea of using a kid's drawing is good, but as you see, the results leave you explaining it EVERY TIME ("see.. it was drawn by a kid.. see?). What about incorporating the feedback of kids? What about working with kids to come up with various themes? or having various schools vote on a selection of professional designs?
Cute isn't going to win us (the open source software movement) any battles.
I am surprised that it wasn't submitted.
Thats worst that "Clippy"!
Is this a joke? A cross-eyed seagull with crazy hair, wearing a scarf, making the OK sign, and holding a happy red fish. How can anyone take this seriously?
Yo mama so fake, she failed the Turing Test.
If the PETA people complain over this, they then will have officially become crazy.
Seagulls eat fish not vegiburgers!! Unless that seagull is vegetarian, of course.
If we are not suppose to eat meat then why does it taste so good?
Had to do it.
Yeah. Because a penguin is not silly at all.
Uhmm.....
As a professional graphic designer, I'd have to disagree. Moreover, I image most of my colleagues would have opinions similar to the one I am about to voice.
That seagull somewhat works as a mascot (which it is) but not a logo.
Logos need to be simple color pallet . Moreover, logo's need to be scalable and preferably vector based. They should be recognizable at 3/4 squared as well as 4 feet squared. These factors allow one to easily apply a logo to a building, sign, letterhead, etc. Giant complicated bitmap logos are only going to give you problems.
Moreover, simple logos are easier and faster for a human brain to retain. (psychology and sociology are fairly important subjects for graphic designers to understand) People are more likely to gain sense of familiarity and comfortability with a simple logo.
But... anywho... I could go on and on.
Suffice to say, I'm not a big fan of the seagull in it's current state. Mascots can get by with silly complicated forms since they are (usually) not logos. However simplifying their characterization usually increases there ability to gain acceptance.
The seagull is a good start, but it could be cleaned up a bit.
just my 2cents
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Remember the hippie soung "Lesbian Sea Gull...."
LOL
Is this perhaps an intentional use of symbols that would be sexually suggestive? I know that sounds a little far out, but is this some sort of massive troll on OO.o or something? The smiling fish, the "OK" sign... both symbols for female genitalia. I dunno, the whole thing is a bit suspicious if you ask me. The post up at the top of this thread by Slashdot username "Mr. Darl McBride" about his involvement with this contest didn't exactly inspire confidence on my tinfoil-hat protected brain either.
Perhaps high profile projects should think a little bit harder about appropriate ways to get kids involved before they let some random person set up a contest like this to pick a mascot for a very visible part of their project, even if it is "just" the OO.o Schools Project (what happened to appealing to educators and administrators and not just kids?). Maybe the whole thing was all well-intentioned and just a bad idea - the seagull is nice and all, but it looks pretty drug-addled too. Or maybe it was a big, well-planned troll.
So it's been brought up that the OK gesture is offensive in Europe, but has anyone noticed that this girl is FROM Europe? Italy, in particular: "A short interview with Andrea follows, translated from the Italian . . . ."
"You know, when you are 15/16 years old you have several things on your mind other than work... ;-)"
Apparently that's very true.
1. this is a mascot for the education market and oo
2. openoffice is good software, so hopefully we can use that to sell it to the it managers
3. microsoft got away with clippy for a long, long time
just my three cents
scott king
I guess it's time to go back to proprietary software because the Free Software group has obviously lost their drive for just general fun. Sure that mascot looks a little crazy but for crying out loud this is "free" software. You want world domination go clone Napoleon or something.
Damn people have some fun will you.
Sure information wants to be free, but how much are you willing to pay for the packaging?
Wow. Greatest mascot EVER. i love it!
Matt
You have 1 Moderator Point! Use it or lose it! Is that a threat? -vapid
..but that's not saying much. When OpenOffice tries to use this for ANYTHING, be it a black letterhead logo or a promotional bumper sticker, they're going to find out exactly why it sucks -- it's not reproducable at different sizes. That hair is just too goddamn busy (and since when do seagulls have hair anyway?). They had a good idea when they considered having kids do it, but as these entries have shown, it was at best misguided. I wish that, seriously, there was some standard open source graphic designer that projects like OO used. Because things like this emphasize the weaker points of Open Source -- sure, there are a lot of great programming minds out there, but they don't know anything about marketing or advertising, which companies like Apple and Microsoft will always beat them on because they can afford it. I'm a student who has a lot of experience with graphic design (though mostly with print and newspaper design). I would gladly intern for something like this, and help with the visual look where I could. Open source has a lot of great ideas, but deserves better advertising.
ShortFormBlog: Writing a little. Saying a lot.
Andrea is a boy, he has 16 years old.
In Italy Andrea is a boy name.
while alot of you keep complaining that the thing is horrible because no one will know that a kid drew it i personally believe your mistaken.. the first thing i did was look at the link for the mascot pic before i read anything besides the headline for the article. and from the pic alone i used rational deduction that it was drawn by a kid.... it doesnt take much brain activity to realize a kid drew it. so there is no reason to worry
but then again there are alot of idiots out there
I'm sure someone is going to mark this as flamebait, but: this logo is shit.
Number one, it looks like a kid drew it. I know that it is, well, true, but OO.o isn't exclusively for kids, and therein lies the problem. Do you think someone will want to let their corporation use software that's best efforts in creating an aesthetic logo were of a 10 year old kid? No. Heck, I don't even want to: the logo is ugly. What're they going to do with it, put it on a splash screen?
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
I don't think Tux was built for that. He's small and fragile. That cowboy would crush him.
Perhaps that was part of the plan in their subtly marketing ploy.
Jonathan B.
In the EU? It might be in *some* countries in the EU, but not all. Please accept that Europe or even the subset EU is not as homogenous as ...other parts of the world.
Who's the target here? If kids are making the decision to roll out OO in schools, then by all means go with the demented bird, but if you're trying to sway Principals or MS-happy IT staff, then you might want to choose something that suggests professionalism, reliability, and easy for kids to use.
The retarded bird says unprofessional, flaky, and unattractive.
The competition was surely a great idea to get awareness up amongst kids, but I wouldn't run around with that bird as a letterhead to managers of schools and boards representing schools.
'Thats they exact same thing a banana wrench monkey.'
Although usually I think the misinformation set forth in slashdot articles is easily resolved by reading the associated articles, in this particular case I think the editors would be doing a great service to OOo to correct the article summary.
Some people, believe it or not, will not read the article and begin spreading the rumor that this very non-professional drawing is actually ->THE- official mascot of OOo. I think it's obvious that this could seriously damage the project's image as a serious, viable option for corporations.
The winner learns "daddy will do everything for me" and the other kids learn "i will never be good at anything"!
pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
As it is, the bird looks stoned to fuck.
I think the logo is maybe less important in establishing OO as an alternative to MS Office than getting OO to work properly.
/. who, when pushed, only use it for typing one-page memos.
My latest discovery (after half a day of headbanging) is that the spreadsheet always splits CSV on commas, even within quotes, even if you specify tabs, with the result that it is pretty much impossible to import any data set that includes commas. That's a "first week of programming" sort of cock up. (Took me half a day to track down because I was sure the problem had to be with the CSV files I was generating, because no office package could be that bad...)
The raw data for this project has been provided as Word documents, which OO can open, it's just that it fails to display half the data (something of a drawback with a questionnaire).
Talked to one of the PC shops about OO. They decided to try it for their accounts. It worked fine for a while, then corrupted their files, and they ended up sending all their accounts off to someone on the other side of the world who seemed like an honest guy in a chat room. Fortunately he managed to get the data back, they migrated to MS Office and have had no problems since.
OO is the best office suite for Linux at present, but it's still pretty bad. I'm hoping that Corel get WP10 right.
I've met a few people who think that OO is great considering its free. I haven't met anyone who thinks it's actually easier to use or more reliable than MS Office, except for people on
Virtually serving coffee
Kids in suits? No....NOOOO!! Bugsy Malone flashbacks!!!!
Does it mean something that open source developers seem to like wild animals -penguin, fox...- while big companies usually like cold boring inanimated or abstract objects?
Psychoanalyst wanted.
Ah, the stuff you only hear on slashdot...
I just started a job in a technologically impaired real estate company. Not everyone is allowed to run the version of office they desire, and a lot of people just want to be able to work with excel files they've created at home. So I try recommending OO.o feeling confident about the impression the beautiful photograph with the little smiley face will make.
So instead I see a goofy seagull that looks like it was drawn by some bored high school student.
Brilliant, fucking brilliant.
Yes *that* will draw in the skeptical business minded folks in droves Seriously, make a separate page for stuff like that. Some of us are trying to promote the excellent work of OO.o in the MS dominated workplace where image counts far more than it should.
Over rocks and trees and sand
Soaring over cliffs
And gently floating down to land
She proudly lifts her voice
To sound her mating call
And soon her mate responds by singing
Caw Caw Caw
Come with me
Lesbian Seagull
Settle down and rest with me
Fly with me lesbian seagull
To my little nest by the sea
With me that's where you belong with me
I know I can be strong when you're with me
She skims the water
At the new time to seek
Her fish and she emerges
With one squirming in her beak
She plays among the waves
And hides between the swells
She walks the beach at twilight
Searching for some shells
Come with me
Lesbian Seagull
Settle down and rest with me
Oh fly with me lesbian seagull
To my little nest by the sea
With me that's where you belong with me
I know I can be strong when you're -- you're with me
And in the evening
As they watch the setting sun
She loooks at her as if to say
The day is done
It's time to find their shelter
Hidden in the dunes
And fall asleep the
Music of the moon
You and me
Lesbian seagull
You just watch the world oh my
Just you and me lesbian seagull
Side by side with me 'till we die
('Till we die)
You and I
We can make it if we try
Our love will keep us flyin' high
Until we die...
(Artist: Engelbert Humperdinck
Song: Lesbian Seagull)
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I like the use of depth and human-like expression to tell the story. The birds in the background represent the market share of office applications. Their dark contrasting form gives the impression of dark corporate interest, while the happy bird with a fish under his arm is portraying a friendly Open Office standing out from the crowd and 'catching a fish'. The fish here is certainly a metaphor for the user, and while it might at first appear that the user has been 'abucted' or 'fished' in a negative connotation, it becomes obvious that instead the bird has taken the user under its wing so to speak. The fish happily looks at the 'ok' gesture - a symbol of the user interface.
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
... I wouldn't be smiling.
___
Cogito cogito, ergo cogito sum.
It's a shame - the "OK" gesture the bird is making is not universal in its meaning. In Brazil, Germany and Russia it indicates a certain private orifice and is an insult. In France, it is also an insult. It denotes the number zero or the concept of something being worthless.
I believe in Japan it means something like "I want my change in coins" which, although not particularly insulting, is pretty irrelevant.
Perhaps a "thumbs-up" gesture ought to be GIMPed over the top, at least as part of an i18n package for the countries affected.
"'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'"
- JRR Tolkien.
Okay, so I realize that this contest was for kids...but not only is the selection ridiculous looking, it's bordering on socially irresponsible:
1) FIRST OF ALL, the seagull looks like it's on drugs (and loving it might i add) with his "Drugs are A OK" hand signal
2) SECONDLY, he's holding a fish that everyone who saw it knows is gonna be devoured by this bird with a bad case of the munchies, and the fish's smile is disturbing (side note: if the fish looked more like Bill Gates, then you might be getting somewhere)
3) THIRDLY, the gull and the fish look a hell of a lot like that little Disney movie, and the Disney Law trolls might come after you. And even if they didn't, with plagiarism running rampant in our school systems, promoting such a blatant rip-off is negligent at best.
Okay, so let's recap...this mascot is endorsing drug usage, plagiarism...and savage consumption of your smiling prey...yep, sounds like an education program to me...OOooo...perfect.
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Although I think having a smiling face is good, I find it odd that a fish about to be eaten by the bird is still smiling.
The seagull mascot sucks. I know it's for educational use, but it still sucks. Too complex, too flippant, and just plain unprofessional. This is the same general problem with a lot of free software; image. It's not just the logo or mascot either, it's even the names. Case in point, "Windows Internet Explorer" with a clean 3D looking 'e' as it's logo. Compare to "Mozilla" with it's stupid dinosaur logo. Now, any idiot can guess what IE is and what it does simply by the name, and the logo is simple and translates cleanly even in black and white. Can the same be said for Mozilla? NO!! Same goes for The Gimp and host of other really great software. And don't even get me started on the KDE "Kandalf" help screen thing.
This is the same problem with a whole bunch of free Linux based software; compared to their Windows counterparts, their names, logos, and general lack of polish make them look like something cooked up by a bunch of social misfits, hell-bent on being obtuse and cryptic just for the sake of being 133t.
"And now, Frank N. Furter, your time has come. Say 'goodbye' to all of this, and 'hello'... to oblivion!"
And the fish suffers horribly. 8(
... convince corporate customers that OOo is a legitimate competitor to M$-Office... I'm sure of it... hah...
*sigh* So much for my six-sigma project... I'll never get them to dump M$-O now...
Don't they use anything shinny to make there nests ?
:-)
Even say paper clips
My laptop came with Windows. Does that make Windows free?
Java is the blue pill
Choose the red pill
It's very offensive here in Brasil. It means "take it up your a**". Well, back to the drawing board .... :-)
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
The nice folks over at OOo obviously didn't do too much international research on hand gestures...
The smug little bird's "OK" gesture of his right hand is a very vulgar sign in Brazil... basically the equivilant to flippin' someone the bird. *No pun intended*
This is sure to speed the hundreds of comercial offices and companies in Brazil to proudly display the NEW OOo logo for all their clients to see!
Maybe it's not such a good idea to choos eanimal mascots for open source projects - I'm sure we're all aware of O'Reilly's efforts to eliminate other publishers' use of animals on techinical books (arguably for would could be good reason - that's not mny point). This could put the hurtin' on other houses who want to do a book on OpenOffice, but can't use the mascot on the cover. This problems become larger the more identifiable the mascot becomes.
now all you have to do is animate it and make it ask you stupid questions while you try to work. look out clippy!!
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I agree, free software does have an image problem, except I think implementation is the problem, not necessarily the name or idea behind the logo.
Open source projects focus more on the product, not it's packaging. I don't think it's done on purpose, but it's just not their focus.
Take Mozilla, for example. There been several versions of the Mozilla logo. In my opinion, the green, fire-breathing character looked unprofessional. However, the red dinosaur logo is clean, and well designed. It probably took someone several days to develop at no cost to the project. Developing and maintaining the IE logo has cost Microsoft hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In addition, Microsoft has a thick book on how the IE logo should displayed in every possible situation. They have a marketing department that monitors it's use. Since open source projects don't have the resources or time to monitor it's identity, even good design tends to degrade over time.
How do we resolve this issue? I think this is a great opportunity for non technical people to get involved with open source software.
Hey, a Seagull strikes me as a BAD choice for a mascot. I do not know what they may be referred to where the people who chose the gull as their mascot live, but here in Vancouver, we call them shithawks. They are ill mannered, pesky beasts that defecate everywhere. If it were not illegal to kill coastal scavengers, you can bet there would be far fewer shithawks around here.
the drawing, reflect well the state of the OpenCrap community.
bad software, poor interfaces, poor documentation, little or no chance of making it in corporate.
no wonder all our jobs are going to india.
Isn't that Dory?
The rules changed regardng the .ORG registration requirements. Years ago you could get a 1 or 2 letter .ORG domain, but once those domains expire they cannot be renewed because of the new rules.
Google will tell you the details.
-JemWho stole my mascot?
I wonder if they've heard the radio ad where the hapless employee comments on a "seagull manager"? That's a manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, and craps all over before flying off again.
I think you might find after a few moments' research that Andrea is a name that can be given to a boy in Italian. I don't know if it is unisex, and the article didn't mention Andrea's gender, but it does not necessarily have to be a girl.
Mart"I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
... I must admit that this mascot even makes Clippy look good.
I'm not normally an irrational zealous dickhead, but I figure "When in Rome..."
If you can't sell something, regardless of the name, it's either a shitty product or you are a shitty salesman.
I wonder if they know that the "OK" sign that bird is making is a pretty offensive gesture in some parts of the world. "Hey, the bird just gave me the bird!"
Mine? MINE?
An eye for an eye... leaves the whole world blind.
The seagulls in Finding Nemo are not saying "Mine", they are saying "Mate". You yanks need your ears checked.
Classical Liberalism: All your base are belong to you.
Oh stop beating around the bush and throw your professional subjectivism in the circle. You know exacly what I'm talking about. This is no place to use the critique kid gloves of the professional designer.
This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. It's a black mark on the OOo marketing team. If it is used on collateral of any kind you can kiss OOo goodbye. They will never be taken seriously.
I pray this is a joke, or a token contest.
I believe that's what my counterpart above me was trying to say.
__
Thou hast besquirted me, O leotarded one.
Ok guys am I the only one who got this mental image? Photo Shop: Perhaps the best grand I ever spent! http://gak.upnix.net/~noah/bitbucket/OOoMascot.jpg