I think you have confused me with fewt. I am not involved or affiliated with Fuduntu in any way, shape or form--just some random guy speaking his opinion on the internet.

From my point of view as a completely disinterested 3rd party, fewt's contributions to this thread have shown a commendable degree of tact and restraint.

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The point about not wishing to change a distro name after already establishing users is well taken.

Another idea: I remembered the nginx FAQ, which says,
Given that "the name is not up for discussion", maybe you could put a fun twist on its explanation in your FAQ.

Most everyone seems to be in defensive mode at this stage of the (now solved) thread, but my comments were/are sincere. Best wishes to your project.

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Never mind. Just discovered this: http://www.fuduntu.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Name

I'm talking to myself now.

It is on our WIKI.

Indeed.

Honestly don't understand all the negativity. One more properly/well supported distro just gives Linux users that much more choice, which is precisely one of the things we're (I'm) fighting for in using Linux, and it will shape the nature of things to come. I've got a few friends who work in the mines and have netbooks for travel and they don't know or care if they're using Linux or Windows, so long as it works and they can watch movies and check emails and type the occasional document. I've converted quite a few of them to Linux, though not without the occasional hassle, and this just gives me one more option to keep converting in the future. Good work.

It sounds like a nuts and bolts distribution.

Fewt, don't get discouraged. Just because a few people act like your distribution is a defenseless baby waby that needs wuvvie dovie comments, doesn't make it true.

I believe in you Fewt.

I just gave this a shot and so far it seems like a pretty cool distro. It's running in a VM now, but I'm interested in anything I can do to extend the battery life on my laptop. While I don't want to criticize something I haven't tried yet, I have to agree with the issues some have raised with the naming. I nearly ignored it altogether thinking "oh great, another Ubuntu respin." Just my 2 cents. Keep up the good work.

Just reading the above posts should give you enough proof. Aside from the contraversial comments showing the split opinions, but the effort the distro maintainers are having to put into defending the name. Could this effort (resources of time) be better spend. IMHO - Yes.

My post was not about people who have tried the distro. It's about those who won't due to their impression of the distro, based exclusively on the name.

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That actually surprises me! FUD is HUGE in the marketing environments. Apple took great advantage of using FUD in their "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" campaigns. It's the primary form of marketing in political campaigns here in the US. I would invite your marketing associates to have a look on a Wiki/google search for FUD or Gene Amdahl, who coined the term in the 70's.

Fair enough. It's your product and you get to choose.

Wow! OK then. I apologize if I offended. I was only offering my experience to help, not hinder. I am sure you would not have seen solid proof either for or against my thoughts unless you have performed a blind focus study. If you have, I would be interested in reading the report.

You have made it very clear that your audience is limited to those who "get it" and those who don't can fall away from your potential user-base. With such clarity and the supporting styles of communication you have exemplified, you are certainly going to be successful in such a mission. It's good to read that you are at #21 on distrowatch. I am sure that's through everyones hard work and focus. Well done and best of everything to everyone involved in their continued ventures.

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Thank you, that's the plan.

And the "resources" we're dedicating to defending our choices (name, D.E., etc.) don't affect our performance when it comes to developing Fuduntu. Some packages take awhile to build after all...

This is a niche community. The opinions expressed here are not representative of the community of computer users as a whole. Again, burden of proof is on you.

Please show us all of the contributions you have made to the open source world. Collectively, the team has thousands upon thousands of hours put into the development of this distribution. Please don't act like you know what we should spend our time on.

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No, correction. FUD may be HUGE in nerd and geek environments but outside of them it is an unknown.

To be honest, I think fewt is coming across as cold and disinterested despite being restraint, and that's why I think this thread has gone round in circles.

At the end of the day, it's his project and his decisions. However I just hope he can appreciative that all the comments made have been friendly comments rather than negative criticisms (as some have accused). This thread really shouldn't be a "them and us" kind of debate in which it became.

I mean if you are going to be standoffish about every point raised, then it doesn't really incite support for the sceptics to try the distro (and it's the sceptics you need to appeal to as the others will just distro-hop anyway).

I'm not saying fewt should change the name just because randoms request it on a global messageboard. But when our arguments have been reasoned, a little "I appreciate your advice / options, but it's not a viable option at this point in time" or "Thank you for your suggestions. In an ideal world I'd love to find a name which everyone likes - but sadly that's not possible. However we've already gain a lot of momentum with our current choice so I'd prefer to continue with that name for at least the foreseeable future" would sound a lot more welcoming than "It's my name and I'm not changing it!"

I honestly do wish fewt and this project the best of success, but I just want to make it known that sometimes the sterile text of a messageboard can make users posts appear cold and disinterested (even when they're genuinely not being rude) - which is the exact opposite of the image you want to demonstrate when starting a new distro - and thus community.

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There is no such thing as bad attention. Look at rock and roll. Look at Beavis and Butthead or Foamy he squirrel. A catchy name, with a slightly mischievous twist is great positive marketing. How many people here who have argued products or concerns for the name are likely to forget it? See, total success!!

Heck, if someone came out with Zombie Vampire Linux or even "adult" content Linux, thousands would download it. If a choice of scantily clad supermodels and handsome bunks were offered on the boot screens and desktops, it would get more users then Windows.

Add a superior product with great usability and it's invincible. That's just human nature. Nearly everything optional that we gravitate towards has some sort of emotional load. FUD is in fact something newer users struggle with when they approach Linux for the first time. Thus, invoking FUD is a net positive. Punny name, serious distribution. (catchy advertising)

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