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FreeBSD Announces Contest To Replace Daemon Logo
An anonymous reader submits "The FreeBSD core team has announced a public competition to design a new logo to replace the current BSD daemon logo. The new logo will be used on the FreeBSD website, software media labels, printed media, hardware equipment, and more. The winner of the contest will receive $500." It's too early for an April Fool's Joke; according to the contest page, "this daemon character seems cute from somebody's point of view,
but somebody may think which does not suit for the professional
products to indicate that are using the FreeBSD inside."
How about the little red devil jabbing his pitchfork into a patent lawyer's behind?
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
The religious issue I cannot believe actually warrents changing the logo and I see nothing particularly unprofessional about the daemon.
I'm sick of following my dreams - I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later.
Remember the previous competition? NetBSD Announces Logo Design Competition
For 500 bucks and a free copy of FreeBSD.
Gimme that booze you little pumpkin pie hair cutted freak!
a Tombstone.
BSD was dying in '98, it's gotta be dead by now, right? =)
occultae nullus est respectus musicae - originally a Greek proverb
New non-hideous /. BSD section theme to follow...
...is anything like the netbsd logo I'm going to scream! What's wrong with the demon?
Silly rabbit
I've already submitted my entry. I've got my fingers crossed!
- tristan
It's OK for football teams, canned ham spread, and vacuum cleaners, but not for an operating system?
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
_____
// BSD \
|| Free |
|| At |
|| Last |
\||/\/\//\|/
Practically, I can see where the horned devil might make certain religious people uncomfortable.
But if you're going down that road, then you might as well steer clear of offending other religions world-wide. That's right, no pigs, camels, or graven image idols, etc.
Consider how many Jews and Muslims have avoided learning Perl because of the offensive beast on the cover of the O'Reilly book!
"Provided by the management for your protection."
The logo will go in concert with beastie but will also be seperate. This helps with official letterhead and small "powered by freebsd" logos where beastie doesn't show up very well. Beastie is still the mascot and will be displayed on the web site and t-shirt...
BSD is known by the BSDaemon. Why would you erase such powerful branding? This is absurd.
Plus, the Daemon is way cuter than the Penguin or that stupid butterfly.
I nominate Jesus. Not only would this show the world that FreeBSD has turned around from its evil, dying state, but also it will represent that, having died between 1998 and today, it is born again.
at least your entry is better than the new netbsd logo.
living the dream
Linda Branagan is an expert on daemons. She has a T-shirt that sports the daemon in tennis shoes that appears on the cover of the 4.3BSD manuals and The Design and Implementation of the 4.3BSD UNIX Operating System by S. Leffler, M. McKusick, M. Karels, J. Quarterman, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, MA 1989. She tells the following story about wearing the 4.3BSD daemon T-shirt:
Last week I walked into a local "home style cookin" restaurant/watering hole" in Texas to pick up a take-out order. I spoke briefly to the waitress behind the counter, who told me my order would be done in a few minutes.
So, while I was busy gazing at the farm implements hanging on the walls, I was approached by two "natives." These guys might just be the original Texas rednecks.
"Pardon us, ma'am. Mind if we ask you a question?"
Well, people keep telling me that Texans are real friendly, so I nodded.
"Are you a Satanist?"
Well, at least they didn't ask me if I liked to party.
"Uh, no, I can't say that I am."
"Gee, ma´am. Are you sure about that?" they asked.
I put on my biggest, brightest Dallas Cowboys cheerleader smile and said, "No, I´m positive. The closest I´ve ever come to Satanism is watching Geraldo."
"Hmmm. Interesting. See, we was just wondering why it is you have the lord of darkness on your chest there."
I was this close to slapping one of them and causing a scene--then I stopped and noticed the shirt I happened to be wearing that day. Sure enough, it had a picture of a small, devilish-looking creature that has for some time now been associated with a certain operating system. In this particular representation, the creature was wearing sneakers.
They continued: "See, ma´am, we don´t exactly appreciate it when people show off pictures of the devil. Especially when he´s lookin´ so friendly."
These idiots sounded terrifyingly serious.
Me: "Oh, well, see, this isn´t really the devil, it´s just, well, it´s sort of a mascot."
Native: "And what kind of football team has the devil as a mascot?"
Me: "Oh, it´s not a team. It´s an operating--uh, a kind of computer."
I figured that an ATM machine was about as much technology as these guys could handle, and I knew that if I so much as uttered the word "UNIX" I would only make things worse.
Native: "Where does this satanical computer come from?"
Me: "California. And there´s nothing satanical about it really."
Somewhere along the line here, the waitress noticed my predicament--but these guys probably outweighed her by 600 pounds, so all she did was look at me sympathetically and run off into the kitchen.
Native: "ma´am, I think you´re lying. And we´d appreciate it if you´d leave the premises now."
Fortunately, the waitress returned that very instant with my order, and they agreed that it would be okay for me to actually pay for my food before I left. While I was at the cash register, they amused themselves by talking to each other.
Native #1: "Do you think the police know about these devil computers?"
Native #2: "If they come from California, then the FBI oughta know about ´em."
They escorted me to the door. I tried one last time:
"You´re really blowing this all out of proportion. A lot of people use this `kind of computers." Universities, researchers, businesses. They´re actually very useful."
Big, big, big mistake. I should have guessed at what came next.
Native: "Does the government use these devil computers?"
Me: "Yes."
Another big boo-boo.
Native: "And does the government pay for ´em? With our tax dollars?"
I decided that it was time to jump ship.
Me: "No. Nope. Not at all. Your tax dollars never entered the picture at all. I promise. No sir, not a penny. Our good Christian congressmen would never let something like that happen. Nope. Never. Bye."
How about the same logo, with a submachine gun, a big dick, and a burned cross around his neck?
Seriously, people need to stop being such pussies. Beastie kicks ass.
Some misguided individuals have taken offense to the daemon character.
Raul also did a penguin-girl around the same time. I wish that lazy bastard would get back to drawing bonza chicas!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Time for my medication...
Stick Men
Not necessarily a Shoggoth, but demons and devils are not unheard-of in corporate identities.
Underwood's devil trademark dates from 1870, and is the oldest US food trademark still in use.
"The original red devil was a real he-goat, half man, half goat, with horns, pronged spear and a tail. He was a leering demonic Lucifer, frequently portrayed in early ads dipping a whole ham into a boiling caldron as flames roar in the background and Satan's sons dance with glee. The current red devil has been stripped of evil. He is a happy Satan, smiling, carrying his spear, and apparently waving at the potential customer. His footwear appears to be elves slippers. The logo appears prominently on Underwood's entire line of meat spreads, chunk meats and sardines.
Advertising showing the little red devil began to appear nationally as early as 1895. It has become and icon of American culture. "
Keep the demon, but - if someone's got his panties in a bunch - make it a grown-up one, not a cute one like George Lucas would insert into his movies.
Or maybe the BSD logo could incorporate a cute chunk meat.
September 2011: Looking for Cocoa/iOS work in Boston area Cocoa Programmer Quincy, MA
This is truly sad. I can just imagine the new logo being along the same lines as the crap parodied by eNormicom.
I have an idea for another contest. Design a sentence for the FreeBSD logo contest page that is comprehensible.
Our intelligent designer has never created an animal that we couldn't improve by strapping a bomb to it.
I think they are looking for something like the Windows 'flag'. Something simple, a bit more abstract and suitable for a logo.
I think all the BSD folks recently attended a marketing 101 class somewhere, because they all want to change logos. NetBSD recently changed to an orange flag. Maybe FreeBSD will pick blue (sorry, I'm a Florida Gator).
Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
Somebody get a high qual img of the Daemon over to Fark. Let's get a photoshop trail going.
We don't hear much about the PC of the right, but this is it. PC has long been associated with idiotic bending-over-backwards to not offend causes that the left likes (minorities, disabled, etc). This seems a prime example of an organization bending to the whims of the right.
It seems just like Fox changing the name "Best damn superbowl roadshow" to "Best darn superbowl roadshow"
AccountKiller
No more little demon...
BSD Diva:
http://members.shaw.ca/zerone/img/BSDiva.png
How about a little guy (gal) in a hard hat and overalls and boots and work gloves. Some kind of tool in one hand. Sort of reflective of the blue-collar ethic of the goals of that operating system.
Best regards.
they don't think the logo is professional enough?
that logo is fine the way it is.
that logo is what got me to try freebsd in the first place.
this is what happens when companies listen to marketing wonks instead of their clients.
they wind up wasting money on stuff that doesn't need fixing in the first place.
Is it 5:30 yet?
Unlike OpenBSD (and I'll never forgive them for the damn fish), NetBSD has *not* moved away from beastie. A mascot is not the same as a logo. NetBSD has opted for a daemon-less logo, but still keeps the same mascot. I hope FreeBSD is doing the same. I think it's pretty reasonable, given the amount of religious nuts out there.
Prescriptive grammar:linguistics
"this daemon character seems cute from somebody's point of view, but somebody may think which does not suit for the professional products to indicate that are using the FreeBSD inside."
I'm sick and tired of everything in the tech world needing to be made palatable to suits and PHBs.
I realize that complaining about it will be about as effective as trying to hold back the tides with a sheet of plywood, but that doesn't mean that we have to like it or accept it quietly.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
http://www.xs4all.nl/~marcone/bsdversuslinux.html
What is this with software development groups? I wonder if vacuum cleaners loose any sales because they have "Dirt Devil" brand name (Beware the power of a dirt devil). What about the New Jersey Devils, the hockey team? Or Tasmanian Devil from WB cartoons? They dont' seem to be losing money, customers or auditory because of "unholy connotations".
If anything, this pondering to non-existant "offended" customers is a sign that a project is diverting its attention from real to imaginary problems. Logical step in a sequence of events that took FreeBSD from the true original to the project it is today.
Nobody is suggesting that Beastie should cease to be the FreeBSD mascot; this is about selecting a new logo.
The reasons for this include not just that some people consider the daemon to be offensive, but also legal issues: The daemon image is owned by Kirk McKusick and right now if companies want to use the image, they need to get permission from him. A "powered by FreeBSD" logo which is actually free for everybody to use would make things much easier.
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
IANAL and all that, but if I have to conduct a trademark and servicemark search, and "certify" that the logo does not infringe -- thereby making me liable for FreeBSD's use of the logo -- then $500 is chump change.
Sorry, pass.
Dee-mon. That's how it is in the dictionary. It's just a variation on the Demon spelling, is pronounced the same way. Daimon (a Greek word) is a lesser diety, and of course since the judeo/christian/islamic tradition has "thou shalt have no other gods before me" as a core law such beings are considered evil under the current religious mix for much of the world. However as that these Daemons are controled by the invoker (anybody seeing a trend here?) they are not being worshiped, and as such are imune to such a restriction. Any further questions?
That which is done from love exists beyond good and evil
Wait, you mean that the only place that Beastie is currently seen in some companies is on a sysadmin's bookshelf, or his screen when visiting FreeBSD.org, and that no one else in the entire company will ever see it (or even know what FreeBSD is or how their company uses it)? Dang! Guess I'll be making an appointment with my proctodermatologist.
Seriously, how is this even an issue? I told my boss that I'd be installing FreeBSD back when I was first hired and started migrating away from Windows servers. I doubt that he even remembers which flavor of Free Unix I went with, and I'm 99% sure he has no idea (or interest) of the fact that their logo has a cartoon daemon. Does this actually matter to anyone?
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
FreeBSD logo = devil
devil = bad
!devil = !(bad) = good
good = angel
then...
FreeBSD logo = angel
Profit!
Consider how many Jews and Muslims have avoided learning Perl because of the offensive beast on the cover of the O'Reilly book!
:o)
You say that like it's a bad thing.
*Anything* that stops people from damaging their brain with Perl is a good thing.
...nah. Just use an Infernal Spawn Of Evil. It's competely free of any Christian symbolism whatsoever.
Those who complain about affect & effect on
...on a lot of levels.
First off towards the religious zealots that have no problem shoving their theology into your face, but will simultaneously raise a stink over your "imagined" alignment.
Second off, towards the Mac dorks with their kneejerk references of "THEY ALREADY HAVE, HAR HAR HAR" and posting links to pics that reference OSX. OSX is NOT FREEBSD. If you really believe that, then you just don't understand the UNIX philosophy. Go back to your art-fetish lickable computer and troll some other forum.
Third off, for squandering the the rebellious merits of the OSS and BSD community to get in bed with big business, which will undoubtedly turn into domination, regulation and corruption.
I have a few more but i think i've stepped on enough toes already. This actually makes me a little bit angry.
do() || do_not();
. I work in a real estate office. Would I want to have Bugs Bunny as the boot logo on all the machines in our computer room?
If the machines are in your computer room, who is going to see the logo?
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
Is a stylized window frame logo any better? How about an apple with a chunk missing? Quit trying to make an objection to a devil sound like it is rational. Even if you aren't actually offended and disturbed, you ought to be ashamed for catering to the morons and idiots who are.
perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
About this site
This is the future site for the FreeBSD logo competiton which is meant
to create a new logo for the FreeBSD Project to supplement the current
Beastie mascot. Despite an early draft announcement that got out we
are not quite ready for the logos yet. Please watch this space and the
freebsd-announce mailing list for more information in the near future.
http://logo-contest.freebsd.org/
Evidently, they are adding a logo without removing the old, according to their site. Still, the daemon is FreeBSD and it should not be changed.
GP
Or if you still want a daemon, maybe this by Coop will do. I am sure that won't be offensive...
What in the name!? I really really cannot understand it. How can Beastie the Daemon be at all unproffesional? For crying out loud I have a "Dirt Devil" vacuum cleaner in the house! Why would FreeBSD throw away this mascot that is so well entrenched? In a sense it has such a strong "brand identity" already. Do they really want to end-up with something so generic as the NetBSD logo?
Wow I AM a loser, I am taking this way too seriously. I never knew I was so attached to beastie.
http://nucleardog.com/stuff/freebsd.jpg
This statement is forty-five characters long.
I'm pleased that you like my "artwork", but please at least make it clear that you weren't the one who created it. p.s. I've been working on some other FreeBSD-related logos. I have them up at http://www.magnesium.net/~adamw/logos
This is my signature. There are many signatures like it, but this one is mine.
Yes. That image was created with the Gimp on FreeBSD. I don't know of any good MS Paint alternative that'll run under FreeBSD, even though the Gimp is a bit overkill.
I actually tried to make an SVG using inkscape but, damn... vector graphics are a royal PITA. Especially when compared to the simplicity of drawing crappy artwork with my left hand.
This is my signature. There are many signatures like it, but this one is mine.