Creating Better Names for the Ubuntus
A few days ago, DeviceGuru posted a suggestion for Ubuntu (or an open letter to Mark Shuttleworth as DeviceGuru calls it.) The basic idea is that the various Ubuntus (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc.) should all use the name Ubuntu something edition. The idea is great in theory, but I see a few problems with the names DeviceGuru suggested. The biggest problem is they sound like Vista’s version scheme where they are all basically the same except some features are removed from the less expensive ones. This can be fixed by making the name clearly show why you would want that edition, not some other. Here are the names DeviceGuru suggested and my thoughts on them:
(DeviceGuru’s names are in bold.)
Ubuntu GNOME Edition This should just be called “Ubuntu.” Shuttleworth or whoever made the decision already decided that GNOME will be the default desktop environment, there is not need to confuse things. (In fairness to DeviceGuru, he did say aka Ubuntu, so we may be in agreement on this point.)
Ubuntu KDE Edition The problem with this is that the letters k, d, and e mean nothing to most people. How would you know if you want the g, n, o, m, e or the k, d, e or the x, f, c, e edition? I am not really sure what this one should be called, but perhaps something like “Ubuntu Alternate Interface Edition”? That is a terrible name, but at least it sort of makes sense.
Ubuntu XFCE Edition See “Ubuntu KDE Edition.” The problem here is exactly the same. One possibility is to name it something like “Ubuntu Light Edition,” but to someone coming from the Vista world that would probably mean a less-expensive version that has so many features stripped out you might as well just use a previous version of Windows. Possibly Light Edition could be used if there was a sentence of explanation attached, or something like “Ubuntu for Old Computers.” Again, that is a terrible name, but it makes sense.
Ubuntu Educational Edition Once again this could be confusing for someone used to the world of proprietary software. Often companies will sell a special “Educational Edition” that costs less but cannot be used for commercial work. Something like “Ubuntu School Edition” or “Ubuntu Learning Edition” might work but again I don’t really like how either of them sound and School Edition could still be interpreted as an “Educational Edition.”
Overall, I support the idea of changing the names of the various Ubuntus, but they should all make sense to anyone no matter what their experience level is.
Also, I have to point out that this is a perfect example of how open-source works. Someone posts a suggestion and people think it is good so it gets attention.
January 21st, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Xfce is NOT a environment for old computers. It hasn’t got so big HW exigencies, so it is useful on old HW, but it is fully featured desktop environment.
January 21st, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I know. Last time I looked at Xubuntu (which was a long time ago) they were mostly advertising it as a distro for old computers. I just looked again and they have changed that, so sorry.
Still, I think most people would choose Xubuntu for it being good on old computers, so I think calling it a distro for older hardware is fairish.
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Nice thoughts. However, the XFCE point is somewhat moot. People that want / might need to use it, probably already know about XFCE. (Btw, I’ve started with Ubuntu and just added XFCE as default WM/desktop environment.)
Likewise I wouldn’t say it’s such a good idea to add another buzz title atop “KDE”. Using any other name for the KDE edition, would sort of belittle their brand name. (Albeit that’s the current situation with just calling it “KUbuntu”. - So, how about pissing of Stallmann with KDE/Ubuntu? *giggle*)
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
mario - The problem is that people outside the Linux community have no clue what xfce and kde are. Also, I don’t think it will hurt KDE’s brand too much because anyone that is interested could still easily figure out that Ubuntu something uses KDE.
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:54 am
Why do people note about confusion for someone who is coming from a Vista World?
Think New Horizons, New Opportunities. Stop trailing behind Microsoft, just let us ignore it. Let us do what we (the Open Source COmmunity) think is right and not what would affect Vista users.
At the end we will prevail. Eventually. So why hinder ourselves in fear that MS users would be confused?
New naming convention will help the marketing of overall Ubuntu family greatly as well as make KDE and XFCE more available to new users. People who don’t know what KDE and XFCE are would gain an opportunity to try them out. Now they don’t have this opportunity because kubuntu and xubuntu names are plain horrible marketingwise and really geeky.
Some people suggested it would not be easy to change the xubuntu name because it is a separate community project. Wrong. Because in the end, people behind xubuntu have common sence too. They were forced to call it like this in the first place because kubuntu was already in place.
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Kellito - I think there are two reasons why paying attention to the Windows world is important. First, the majority of users still run Windows and if Linux is ever going to grow it will need to pull users from Windows. That will never happen if we totally ignore Windows and its users. (If Linux should grow is a different question and a whole different article, but I believe it should and I think most people agree.) Second, if we know what mistakes other people (in this case Microsoft) made, we can avoid those mistakes.