Ubuntu Software Store: What it does, and how you can help

[Matthew East]

On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Matthew Paul Thomas<mpt at canonical.com> wrote:
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> Matthew East wrote on 27/08/09 20:20:
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 7:49 PM, Przemek
>> Kulczycki<przemekkulczycki at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 8:31 PM, Matthew East<mdke at ubuntu.com> wrote:
>>...
>>>>> Now, AppCenter has a brand name: the Ubuntu Software Store.
>>...
>>>> Doesn't "store" imply that the user will be paying for the software?
>>>> I really liked "center".
>
> "Center" was unfortunately off-limits because it lacks cross-Atlantic
> compatibility, i.e. it differs in US English vs. British English
> spelling, and foreign spelling irritates people. ("Catalog" had the same
> problem.)

I don't get that at all. "Center" appears elsewhere in our desktop
("Help Center") and it is simply translated by the ubuntu-l10n-en-gb
team to read "Centre" for those users who use that language.

As Przemysław pointed out, "Store" is a hell of a lot more difficult
to translate.

> The nifty thing about "store" is that it has those two meanings -- shop,
> and repository -- and both of them are appropriate. But you're right
> that the shop meaning is more prominent. So as long as the Store doesn't
> yet contain paid software, we're counteracting that by using the section
> heading "Get Free Software" in the navigation, and "Price: Free" in the
> screens for individual applications.

I saw that, but the problem is that people will not open the app in
the first place. I saw the name "Ubuntu Software Store" before I saw
your email explaining what it was, and it didn't occur to me that it
could be anything other than a shop (probably a website) for buying
programs.

The comments on this thread so far have been unanimous about this...

> Unfortunately the naming was one thing that had to be done within
> Canonical, for boring legal reasons.

I assume that's to do with trademarks. But surely it's not too late to
make the right decision about this. Is "Ubuntu Software Center"
legally prohibited?

-- 
Matthew East
http://www.mdke.org
gnupg pub 1024D/0E6B06FF