Project Rebrand?

English Open Chat
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I’ve been trying to follow both the mailing list discussion and this one, before putting anything in, but there is a lot to keep track of, so I have probably missed something.

Short version: We will get used to a new name, so that’s okay. The chameleon mascot seems kind of recognizable, and it’d be nice to keep something related. Participating in a rebrand now is better than losing our brand later.

Long version:
I certainly will miss calling it openSUSE, since I’ve been around the SUSE-related environment for decades and I’ve grown used to it, mostly just that. However, we’ve also been through name and style changes before, SuSE, SUSE, openSUSE… So, we will adapt, and make a shiny new look for ourselves.

Being a little tiny bit obsessive, technically, our mascot looks like a chameleon, not a gecko; they are different families of the suborder iguania. Beyond names and such, if possible, I’d love to keep a chameleon related mascot, since I do think there is a lot of recognition with it. Just look at how many of our avatars have some form of it! And… chamaeleon’s are kind of cute.

In terms of names, I’m okay with Tokay as a name; although, saying that aloud just rhymed in a way I didn’t like so much…
I’m also okay with something like Chamaeleo Linux (chamaeleo being a genus of the family), or Chameleon Linux (I don’t think this exists, but could be proven wrong) or other chameleon related names.

As has been mentioned, this feels bigger than just names. We would need to start working on a separate but similar chameleon related mascot/symbol, along with governance structures. I cannot draw in any meaningful way, but perhaps we start in that region. If we’ve been asked to look into it, perhaps the first steps of this are coming up with a timeline and establishing small working groups for various pieces to begin this process.

Honestly, as long as the community stays good and healthy, and the OS stays good and strong, a name is just a name. After all, SUSE is an acronym that literally translates to (in English) ‘software and systems development’ so…yeah, “open software and systems development” sounds less like the name of a project or organization and more like a task we all work to do, and openSASD or OSaSD just doesn’t have the same ring.

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Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this was already decided:

https://en.opensuse.org/Logocontest

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I love this one; and a lot of the designs submitted to that contest were amazing! I don’t know which are trademarked already (aka might not belong to us) and which ones we could claim. Just generally, I’m not sure if we can just say ‘yes that step is done’ or not.

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Of course, there are also subspecies of chameleons :wink:
Calumma Linux, maybe?

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Personally, I have no issue with SUSE requesting that openSUSE rebrand as something else. But I have a visceral dislike of Geeko or Geekos. These feel very much “not grown up” (like the MOTD “Have a lot of fun…”) If openSUSE wants to increase adoption, little touches like this are very important.

I endorse the suggestion to use a chameleon inspired name.

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Yes, the name may not translate nicely into other languages –

  • Urban dictionary –

Modern version of the word geek. Geeko is taken from the O language, invented in the early nineties

  • Wikipedia –

The word geek is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit.

On the other hand – Wikipedia again and SUSE –

The official logo and current mascot of the distribution is a veiled chameleon officially named GEEKO (a portmanteau of “gecko” and “geek”).

So, on the one hand we have a definition in the urban dictionary and, on the other hand we have definition which was decided at some point in time by the SUSE folks – presumably in the early 1990’s – and therefore we have a chicken-and-egg situation –

  • Who thought up the term first –
    Urban terminology?
    The SUSE folks?

So, either way, the word may not translate nicely into some languages but, it’s been used for around about 30+ years …

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Wikipedia has some knowledge to share.

The word comes from English dialect geek or geck (meaning a “fool” or “freak”; from Middle Low German Geck ). Geck is a standard term in modern German and means “fool” or “fop”. The root also survives in the Dutch and Afrikaans adjective gek (“crazy”), as well as some German dialects, like the Alsatian word Gickeleshut “jester”; used during carnival). In 18th century Austria, Gecken were freaks on display in some circuses. In 19th century North America, the term geek referred to a performer in a geek show in a circus, traveling carnival or travelling funfair sideshows (see also freak show). The 1976 edition of the American Heritage Dictionary included only the definition regarding geek shows. (…)

Source: Geek - Wikipedia

Please dont take the geek way. Just dont. Even when mixing it up to something like GeekOS or whatever it is just as bad.

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I’m from the US so I know what geek means. My issue is that geekos sounds really unprofessional to me. Like it’s something that’s a hobbyist rather than a serious distribution. But openSUSE is a whole lot more than a hobbyist distribution and should be portrayed as such.

I don’t think I’m alone in not liking the proposed name — I have heard disparaging remarks elsewhere.

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I’m inclined to agree. I know there are many ideas for renaming…I don’t mind the brand naming being chameleon related. FWIW, Chameleonic means “Resembling a chameleon: readily changing color or other attributes”, so perhaps Chameleonix (to incorporate Chamaleon and Linux) could be added to the list of candidate names.

Whatever name is settled on, it needs to satisfy the existing community’s sentiments and ensure the new name reflects the values and mission of the various associated projects.

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Out of all the suggestions, I like this the most. However, one thing really bugs me with it, as well as with “GeekOS” – a chameleon is not a gecko :sweat_smile:

I quite like the name “Furcifer”, which would actually be in the chameleon family:

Good idea, but I feel like five syllables is one to many :wink:
How about “Camolinux”?

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Yes, that might be an option. Mine was a play on the word “Chameleonic”. My only concern would be changing spelling/shortening might also confuse with “camels” - so Chamelinux or ChamOS perhaps? In any case I think the name needs to be consistent with the icon, so we need to ratify and match naming with a suitable icon.

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How will this change affect the license agreement we need to approve during openSUSE setup?

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Hard to say, but I don’t see how it would other than changing the references to the project name.

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There is no intention, as of now, in any proposal I’ve seen, to change the general license of openSUSE Projects from the GPL.

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Any mention of “linux” is out of order. openSUSE is no longer a linux distro, it’s a project.

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The Chamaeleo Project? Chamaeleo - Wikipedia

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No. We would again have a name that nobody knows how to write correctly

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There has been no openSUSE setup for years. Last was on 13.3 …

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Is there any reason just plain Chameleon as a name wouldn’t work?

It would both indicate our former relation to SUSE and that we have since gone off on our own by dropping the SUSE part.

I personally think it’s stupid enough to work, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some problem I didn’t think of, like “What would our new logo be?”

If that doesn’t work, I will also offer the suggestion of Iguana.

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We should all be aware that the openSUSE Forum represents only a tiny segment of the community. Our voice is small, so it is unlikely that anything we say here makes it to any decision makers ears. Regular mortal users don’t have voting rights. The mailing lists seems to be where people get heard.

https://en.opensuse.org/openSUSE:Members

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