Please don't change Beastie to another crap logo such as NetBSD!!!

[Garance A Drosehn]

At 12:50 AM -0800 2/10/05, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
>
>>  It is clear from
>>  reading both lists that much of the anger is based upon false
>>  assumptions, misinformation and incomplete editing of the leaked
>>  document.
>>
>
>Sorry, but that is false.
>
>Much of the anger is based on Robert Watson (and whatever other
>core members are arguing with him over this) not IMMEDIATELY
>becoming completely forthright with the FreeBSD community as
>soon as the leak occurred.

Geez.  Get real.

One committer had *just* put up the site, and then other committers
were given a chance to look it over and see if it all made sense.
We wanted to given all committers a chance to cross-check it, and
make sure we didn't forget to say anything important.  What is up
there right now is nothing more than a first draft.

As far as I know, Robert responded on the same day that I found
out that this rough-draft site had been mentioned in public.  It's
not like we've had six months of denials, with press-reporters
hounding Robert every night on the evening news.

Perhaps it was announced on slashdot a few days earlier, but
frankly, I (for one) never read slashdot.  That is not any
conspiracy, it is simply that I don't have the time.  I (for one)
did not know the contest's web site was leaked until the article
showed up at the bsdnews.com site.  BSDnews.  I work on BSD
operating systems, so that's the web site that I read.

>I am deeply concerned with what I see going on here.  Since when
>has the FreeBSD Project had "secret" information of a sales and
>marketing nature?  This is a brand new one to me.

What a crazy thing to say.  The whole purpose of this web site was
to announce a PUBLIC CONTEST for ANYONE to submit their ideas for
a possible new logo.  Once we DID announce it, the public would
have had 1-3 months to hash out whatever they wanted to hash out.

(One of the reasons we had not already announced this web site is
that we were still deciding how long that period should be.  It
started as one month, but I think now we're thinking maybe two or
two-and-a-half months).

>I can condone secrets in the area of leaglities - such as back in
>the bad old days when UCB was sued by USL, there were many secrets,
>a few that I and some others were able to ferret out but still
>many buried, and still some people under gag orders.

Man, you must see a lot of black helicopters every day you walk
to work.

It is not a "deep dark secret" to proof-read a web site before
ANNOUNCING TO EVERYONE that they might WIN MONEY(!!) by reading that
web site.  Geez.  I proof-read this message before I post it, and
I'm only replying to comments from one moron with black helicopters
flying out of his ass.  How much more time should be spent proof-
reading a public site which we intend to point everyone at?

>Yes I understand that some commercial consultants and such have had
>problems due to the logo being a devil image.  But if Robert Watson
>had wanted to respond to this then he should have brought it up
>for discussion with the userbase immediately, not sneaked around
>talking to his cronies at Apple Computer, trying to figure out how
>to push this off onto the userbase in a way that people wouldn't
>object to doing so.

It is apparent that you are not interested in any facts, but Robert
was not one of the main promoters of this idea.  In fact, I don't
remember him saying much of anything about it at the time we
(FreeBSD committers) were debating it.

>This logo competition is childish - 99% of the
>FreeBSD community members are not graphic artists and couldn't draw
>their way out of a paper bag - such a competition does not have as
>it's goal that of obtaining an image, it's only goal is assuaging
>pissed off people by pretending that they have a hand in the decision.

More black helicopters.  Geez.  I expect all the submissions will
be public, and then we (the committers) will pick the one we like
the best.  It is unquestionably true that I (for one) have no
artistic talent.  However, that does not mean that I can not possibly
know anyone who makes a full-time living as a well-paid graphic artist.

Nope.  That simply must not be possible, even though RPI offers a
degree in "Electronic Arts".  And therefore it absolutely *must* be
true that this contest will come up with a hand-drawn stick-figure
logo.  And it *must* be true that we've already picked that pathetic
logo, and we're just announcing this contest as a cover story.  Yep.
It must be true.  Ted says so.  What a stupid position to take.

[aside: a few years ago I paid one of my friends to draw up an idea
I had for a logo, using malamutes, but we never did come up with
something that we were really happy with.  So nothing became of that.
But he has drawn up other very nice things for me.  So just because
I cannot draw, does not mean I cannot find anyone to draw for me...]

You might remember that the bsdnews.com site used to have a very
nicely drawn cartoon strip.  Extremely well drawn, IMO.  It is a
pity that you apparently don't get out enough to meet other people,
but some of us do know people who are very artistic.  Some of them
even (*gasp*) USE FreeBSD.

Maybe those users can't write a program, but they might like to
contribute *THEIR* talents to the project.  What would be wrong
with that?

-- 
Garance Alistair Drosehn     =      gad at gilead.netel.rpi.edu
Senior Systems Programmer               or   gad at FreeBSD.org
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute;             Troy, NY;  USA