Re: [tdf-discuss] I like the name LibreOffice

Jon,

I really agree with you.

Its not about how the 'name' works for any of us, but for potential users.

As bad as it may sound, we need to think as if we were actually
relying on marketing it as a paid product (which I am not advocating)
but still need to think about market reactions as commercial people
would - and even better!!!

Paul

On 12 October 2010 09:36, Jon Hamkins <hamkins@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote:
> On 10/07/2010 04:16 AM, Jean Hollis Weber wrote:
> > If I have to explain to someone what "LibreOffice" means, it's easy:
> > "Libre means free, as in liberty or freedom."
> >
> > If I have to explain what "OpenOffice.org" means, it's a much bigger
> > problem, even without the complication of the ".org" part. Most people
> > have never heard of "open source" or "open standards" or "open" anything
> > else.
>
> This post just doesn't resonate with me at all.  To explain what LibreOffice
> means, first I have to explain what libre means, because it isn't an English
> word.  It's as easy to explain as any other foreign word, I suppose, but
> that's not exactly a ringing endorsement.
>
> On the other hand, I don't have to explain OpenOffice.org, because it's
> already in the lexicon -- 300 million people have already downloaded it.
>  For those that haven't, they at least already know what "open" means, and
> it's easy to explain how that relates to the software.  Also, people who
> know about "open source" instantly recognize from the name its similarity to
> other open tools such as openssh, openldap, openvpn, etc. -- in the same way
> that the prefix "gnu" indicates something about gnuplot, gnucash, and gnupg.
>
> A good chunk of the posts on this mailing list, and in comments to stories
> on TDF announcement, are about the choice of the name, how to pronounce it,
> etc.  Slashdot comments were particularly harsh, and fairly universal, in
> their dislike for the name:
>
> http://developers.slashdot.org/story/10/09/28/143204/OpenOfficeorg-Declares-Independence-From-Oracle-Becomes-LibreOffice
> http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1801996&cid=33722340
> http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1801996&cid=33725276
>
> I'm not going to let my disappointment in the name damper my enthusiasm of
> the project, which is strong.  I'm talking up the project to friends and
> family, even.  Others are in the same boat.  This shouldn't be confused with
> *liking* the name.
>
>     ----Jon
>
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