OK,
First, sorry about the spelling of the name! NOW! Linus did start the
ball rolling and many many others have joined in to make Linux what it
is today. I'm sure that he alone wouldn't have been able to get the
system to the point it is today. BUT! He does make the final decision as
to which code is accepted or rejected for the kernel releases. He has
the knowledge and insight to make good decisions, producing stable,
efficient ocde. AND! The kernel does bear his name, Linux, RIGHT? SO! I
think that it is appropriate to honor his vision and hard work by
letting the mascot bear his name also. The kernel is YOURS and MINE and
every one else's who cares to develop it, test it, debug it, share it,
help others discover it...
The penguin is GREAT. This is a symbol of achievement that says we are
here, we can provide service, we can compete with anyone out there. The
mascot will give us name recognition and help to promote Linux to those
who don't yet know. It's not a club to beat anyone else with! I think
Alan Cox suggested having penguin beating up the BSD deamon to get us
energized and thinking about this. It worked and we have a nice looking
symbol to place in ads, on Internet sites, distribution CDs, "T" shirts,
on and on. AND! A little good natured, tasteful ribbing is good for
competition and is acceptable among siblings. We also have a DAMN GOOD
2.0 kernel that I would put against any NT box. If we don't compete to
make the system better, we all might as well go to MickeySloth and get
the OS-IN-A-BOX solution (or origin) for our problems. If we don't
promote, we will never enjoy the support that commercial OS's have.
THANKS to the vendors who have realised that success comes not from
closing their architecture to developers, but by making better produts.
Many vendors don't even know what Linux is or what it's all about. In
fact, I am having to break off a two year relationship with a vendor
because they won't support my OS. A good organized publicity campaign
would help to eliminate such encounters.
Somone posted a "Name the penguin contest" on the list after the 2.0
release. I responded because I fell strongly about this publicity thing.
I suggested (T)orvalds (U)ni(X) because of the way penguins look, the
acronym ties the penguin and Linus, whom Linux is named after, together
and because It's simple and will be easily remembered by the public.
Hell, the name thing's not even official, although I hope that the
penguin can be used to help get the word out that Linux is a viable
solution to just about any networking problem out there.
-- James Hughes