Rework of theFreeBSDwebsite[was:FreeBSD'sVisualIdentity:Outdated?]

[Astrodog]

To all of you talking about FreeBSD's "Logo" vs Mascot, vs whatever,

Those of you who feel FreeBSD's current image, in Beastie, is somehow
holding it back, as opposed to no real PR effort, and the complete
lack of attention befalling ULE, or some scheduler that's proper for
SMP... get real. FreeBSD's market share on edge webservers exceeds
that of any Linux distro, and is almost larger than all Linux
distributions combined. Companies are perfectly happy with Beastie.
More accurately, they don't care. I've never heard someone say, "We
use Linux.... because the Pinguin is professional." Or "Windows -
Oooooooh. Pretty 4 squares waving in the wind!" (MSCE's aside. ;))
When it comes right down to it, NO ONE outside of the FreeBSD project
gives a damn what we have as a mascot/logo/whatever.

What they care about, is really quite simple. "Why should we use
FreeBSD, as opposed to Linux, Windows, et al?". If we can't answer
that, then THAT is the big problem, not Beastie, not the devil-looking
aspects of him, and certainly not the fact that Beastie is a pain in
the ass to print. People have shown quite well that Beastie can be
converted to a single color, and its recognizable, and looks good, but
when it comes down to it, it is irrelevant. Focus on the technical
merits, or start putting together marketing material for businesses.
We have another list going as "Business Information" on that.
Otherwise, put in your two cents, and move on.

Lets solve the real, technical problems first, and worry about the
"Beastie isn't pretty-boy enough" debate later. FreeBSD has always,
and will always, mostly be sold on its technical merits. Lets not lose
sight of those, in the rush to either trample, or prop up Beastie. If
you're interested in marketing materials for businesses, I once again
refer you to the Business Information thread on this same list.

"Technical Merits First, Other Crap Second." Everyone, repeat that 50
times, like a mantra. We're losing sight of that, at least short term,
and it's somewhat frightening.

--- Harrison Grundy