24 April 2012

Release names: it's supposed to be fun

I see people campaigning hard on Planet Fedora against having release names, it heated now since the vote on this matter is closing in a few days. Time to bring balance in the force: why do we need release names?

Because is supposed to be fun!

Of course, there are many other arguments for it, ranging from identity to putting a warmer face on the project for the external actors (potential contributors?) to involving our community, but all those are trumped by the most important argument, this is a community, not a corporation, were we should be friends and have fun time together, not wear suits, be silent and serious and work like robots. No, no, no, is a place where we want people to come in their free time and feel good.

Some will pick on the F17 having a silly name as "Beefy Miracle"... guess what? This particular code name was voted by the community exactly for its silliness, don't be grumpy. Some others will pick on it for a perceived religious offence. Guess what? Anything on this world will find someone unhappy with it, don't be an extremist. Next time it may be your turn to propose a name. Some others will complain about the waste of resources for selecting the names. Guess what? I'm sure the benefits overweight the resource used and I guess all this campaign wastes a comparable amount of resources.

So I voted in favor of keeping the release names as I believe having them is a benefit.




PS: for every "Beefy Miracle" there is also a "Zod" or a "Werewolf".

2 comments:

  1. Yes, but when the release name becomes the subject of jokes then it works against the distribution and not for it.

    I like release names, but there should be parameters that do not lead to mistakes that could hurt the distro winning acceptance.

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    Replies
    1. what better parameter can it be than 'it was voted by the community'? of course 'Beefy Miracle' is subject of jokes, it was designed tongue-in-cheek.

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