"Lindows" may be a dumb name, but Microsoft's lawsuit has just aimed a ton of publicity about it right to Lindows' target market. You don't advertise something like Lindows in Home and Garden magazine -- you try to get it featured in places like Slashdot. And there's probably no more certain way of doing that than having a "M$ tries to squash Open Source-Friendly OS" story hit the web.
Even if Lindows eventually loses the trademark battle, they'll still win. They'll get another round of publicity when they're that much closer to having their product ready. They'll get their new name up in headlines: "LindowsOS Changes Name to AnonymousOS," and we get to have this conversation all over again.
It is possible that Microsoft will squash Lindows into the dirt, or that the OS won't be viable after all and will die a natural death. Unless that happens, I expect Lindows' creators will cry all the way to the bank about their "dumb name."
Slashdot Mirror
Even if Lindows eventually loses the trademark battle, they'll still win. They'll get another round of publicity when they're that much closer to having their product ready. They'll get their new name up in headlines: "LindowsOS Changes Name to AnonymousOS," and we get to have this conversation all over again.
It is possible that Microsoft will squash Lindows into the dirt, or that the OS won't be viable after all and will die a natural death. Unless that happens, I expect Lindows' creators will cry all the way to the bank about their "dumb name."