[OpenIndiana-discuss] [illumos-Discuss] branding for illumos/openindiana

[Gregory Youngblood]

> Do you want to tell me that last year, during which I have done everything to promote OpenIndiana in my local Open and Free software community, is going to be wasted? No one and I really mean no one will ever take a second look again if I have to go yet another round of "So, this *was* OpenSolaris and it *was* OpenIndiana, now it is SomeOtherShit."
> 
> On the other hand, is branding/naming/whatever more important than features, fixes and enhancements?

Even though I threw some names out there, I think the only a new name makes any sense is if we determine to make an even more pronounced break from Solaris since Oracle closed down OpenSolaris. And even then, only if we had something major and compelling to differentiate even the system further (new GUI, much better drives, or who knows what) from where OI is at now. A name change at this point would be an operating system equivalent to a Groupon special  - we might see an influx of people trying the system, but odds are they wouldn't stick with it, possibly even reporting negative comments about their experience and further increasing the difficulty in attracting new users.

The biggest problem I have had with people trying OpenIndiana (and yes, Solaris too) has been hardware compatibility. One colleague summarized it this way: OpenIndiana, where Linux was in 95. He's referring specifically to drivers for various things, especially controllers. He went through 3 or 4 cheap controllers between NewEgg and Fry's Electronics, even buying one from NewEgg specifically since it was supposed to be compatible with OpenIndiana, and none of them worked. He never got a finished installation to play with. [The problem was the vendor revved the board, slight change in chipset, but didn't change the SKU so NewEgg never noticed the change. It only affected OI, the board continued to work just fine in Linux.] 

To those that have history with Linux and no history with Solaris OI feels like an old Linux distro, and more work than its worth. That's been a big hurdle to over come. That an the GUI feels sluggish, never mind that I could have my box loaded down doing all kinds of processing without major impact to the GUI and their Linux UIs would freeze or get jerky, Solaris (and OS/OI) "felt" slow.

I recognize that OI is never going to have driver parity with Linux, not unless we suddenly see a huge influx of developers helping with drivers, and even then it's a pipe dream. I also recognize that OI (and Solaris) is now relegated to being a niche player in the grand scheme of things. I hope that changes as OI evolves, but let's be frank, it's not likely any time soon, if ever. We have some serious hurdles to overcome, not only technical but perception. A name change _may_ be helpful overcoming perception, but it will be a flash in the pan if it's not accompanied by major technical improvements too. 

PostgreSQL is a great project to look to for inspiration. It's seen slow, deliberate, steady progress through the years, despite MySQL's prominence due to it being "good enough" for so long. They also changed names a time or two. 

At this point, I think a name change is a premature optimization. Let's get further along the technical track and realize some of the code, stability, and feature goals first, and then decide if a name change, probably as part of a concerted promotion and evangelizing campaign for the "new" system, is the way we want to go. We can hang on to all the suggestions so far, even make a place to accept new ideas, or we can wait to come up with ideas if that's the direction things go later.

Ok, so this went a LOT longer than the quick reply I started out with.. oops. Sorry it's so long. I actually edited out a little bit too. :)
Greg