For a while now I've been thinking "why call it Mandriva? (the linux distro)".

I assume it's pronounced man-driv-a though it looks like man driver.

Mandriva Linux was originally called Mandrake but why change it?

I realise this might seem like might seem like a childish thing to ask, though I'm sure others may have asked the same question.

So if anyone knows then please help me out.

Mandrake + Conectiva = Mandriva.

I agree. No need to have changed it. Mandrake was a way better name.

They had to change because of legal issues surrounding the Mandrake name and their old mascot (the magician).

Thanks, that makes sense though the people who decided on Mandriva; did they notice it looks like man driver?

Has anyone else noticed or am I being inmature?

Well, Mandrake is a French distribution and Conectiva was a Brasilian distribution. Maybe the name does not have the same impact/effect to non native English speakers?. Sounds quite fine for me and in fact, I've found it better and a more original name. Look other places where Mandrake can be found:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandrake

for example...

Well I thought it was decided among native tongues.

I don't mind the name Mandriva, in fact I once used it for a short time as an aka on bebo thinking it would be read as man-driv-a... until I noticed how Mandriva looks lol

ref: http://www.bebo.com

Immature? no
Obsessive? possibly.....
Weird Linux names:
Ubuntu
Gentoo
Mepis
Mandriva
Kubuntu
I could go on.....Last I heard, there were over 100 Linux distros, exactly 37 of which had weird names......

well using mandriva as an aka resulted with an inbox full of emails asking about my orientation... prob made me a bit paranoid

Yup im for mandrake

In many parts of Africa, these words would not be wierd at all since they actually mean something in several African languages.

does Kubuntu actually mean something? I know Ubuntu does, but does Kubuntu? Also, what defines "weird names"?

Kubuntu means the same thing as Ubuntu.

Of course---one of the reasons I like Ubuntu is the African meaning of the word and how it relates to Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical's whole approach.

All of the names seem normal to some and weird to others....

Echoing another question here somewhere--I don't think **Kubuntu** is also an African word.

AND, how about Goobuntu, Goohat, and Goobian??
Look here: http://www.goobuntu.com/

I didn't think Kubuntu was an african word. I mean, they just added K to 'ubuntu'. I don't speak the african language, but most languages don't work that way.

Ok, here is a short lesson on African History . Many languages in Southern and parts of Eastern Africa are related and this group of languages is called the Bantu (meaning "human" or "the people"). Most of these Bantu languages originated from Southern Africa but due to migration over hundreds of years, the languages have evolved, but some of the basics remain the same. In Zulu, Ndebele and Kiswahili, they use the word Ubuntu to mean "human nature", but in Bemba and Chewa spoken in Zambia and neighbouring countries, they use Kubuntu to mean the same thing as Ubuntu. In some places both are used interchangeably.

I happen to speak Ndebele along with a couple of other African languages, so I use Ubuntu instead of Kubuntu. My fiance is from Zambia and she too speaks several languages, but mainly Bemba and Chewa so uses Kubuntu instead of Ubuntu.

Now hope that clears up any doubts about Kubuntu. I really can't help you regarding Goobuntu It seems like any word with *buntu is fashionable these days.