[indiana-discuss] Improve supportability though a single, unencumbered, unique release name.

[Roberto J. Dohnert]

On Wednesday 30 January 2008 7:47:15 am Brian Nitz wrote:
> As someone who supports and works to help others find support on various
> Sun products, I have a suggestion for Indiana which could make a
> significant difference in making the release supportable.  Settle on a
> single, clear, google-unique, keywordable, unencumbered name prior to
> the release.
>
> Imagine this.  You've installed an indiana 1.0 release and have a
> problem with the panel.  So you search google:
>
> A google search on "indiana" gives 397 million results.
> A search on indiana 1.0 gives 668,000
> A search on indiana panel gives 619,000
> A search on indiana gnome-panel gives 5380
>
> Corporate product naming processes seem to be designed to scatter useful
> information all over the internet.  Typically a company will:
>
>   - Develop a product with a "code name" which is used outside of the
> company.
>
>   - Release the product under a name which is not unique at all (A
> significant number of queries to some "Java Desktop System" mailing
> lists were questions about Java, which at the time was itself known as
> J2EE, J2SE...)
>
>   - Find out that name is trademark encumbered, so change the name after
> release.
>
>   - Release the product under the new name.
>
>   - Find that the "official" product name is too wordy, so start using
> an abbreviated name in documentation and end user discussion groups.
> (e.g. JDS instead of Java Desktop System)
>
>   - Release a new (and different) product under the same name.  (e.g.
> JDS the deprecated linux distribution and JDS the Solaris desktop
> component)
>
> I can only suggest that the "official" name Indiana releases under
> should at least consider problems associated with naming mistakes.  And
> try to focus the name so that I can do a search such as "ubuntu dapper"
> or "nexenta" and have the majority of my hits give me something close to
> what I was looking for.
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> indiana-discuss at opensolaris.org
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How does OpenSolaris Desktop Edition sound? Personally, rebranding it the Java 
Desktop System.  Acceptable, giving it a name that sounds like an STD, 
unacceptable.  Indiana, IMO needs to be worked back into the OpenSolaris 
release and even the official Solaris release.  But Sun needs to stick with 
traditional naming, brand and trust are what are needed here.  Delivering an 
entirely different brand, heck SyllableOS could be more successful than 
Indiana.