The name of Breezy+1

[jimcooncat]

Dapper Drake. When I first saw this name, I was concerned. Visions ran
through my head of a rubber ducky with a sailor hat and bow tie. Or
maybe a top hat. Or a pee-pot haircut.



How would that market to the folks in the Northeast U.S.? It sounds so
gay! Social norms here are that men who dress well are at first sight
considered to be overtly homosexual or some huckster, politician, or
evangelist trying to persuade you to part with your money or time.
"Real men" here wear flannel or t-shirt and jeans, or simple dress
shirts with no tie. 



No, I'm not a homophobe or trying to nay-say the will of the distro's
developers. I'm just trying to understand how to market this name. The
initial image that Ubuntu project should be cool and sophisticated, we
make computing easy! And I feel our desktops are well-dressed, and
getting more usable even between releases.



So then it hit me this morning -- what kind of image should Dapper
Drake throw at us? Nothing less than ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man". Not
pastel colors (does that remind you of another desktop?) or silly
little-boy looks. Now I just need to figure out how to make it rhyme
with "duck"!



> Clean shirt, new shoes

> and I don't know where I am goin' to.

> Silk suit,black tie,

> I don't need a reason why.

> They come runnin' just as fast as they can

> coz every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

> 

> Gold watch, diamond ring,

> I ain't missin'not a single thing.

> And cufflinks, stick pin

> when I step out I'm gonna do you in.

> They come runnin' just as fast as they can

> coz every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

> 

> Top coat, top hat,

> I don't worry coz my wallet's fat.

> Black shades, white gloves,

> lookin' sharp and lookin' for love.

> They come runnin' just as fast as they can

> coz every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man. 



Oh, and as to the folks who are worried about confusion in the market
with the old term "Mandrake" -- hey, it's a PLANT. With anaestetic
properties. Nothing very marketable about that! In fact, it doesn't
even have a very good history. Now that the distro is named Mandriva,
it's an even less marketable moniker.



> In legend it is alleged that when the [Mandrake] plant is pulled from
> the ground, it shrieks in pain. Supposedly, this shriek is able to
> madden, deafen or even kill an unprotected human; the occult literature
> includes complex directions for harvesting a mandrake root in relative
> safety. For example Josephus gives the following directions for pulling
> it up:

> 

> "A furrow must be dug around the root until its lower part is
> exposed, then a dog is tied to it, after which the person tying the dog
> must get away. The dog then endeavours to follow him, and so easily
> pulls up the root, but dies suddenly instead of his master. After this
> the root can be handled without fear." 



So Dapper Drake is fine with me now. It needs to look good, and be
sophisticated. I've no doubt that it will. It will be a nice place to
work -- away from environments featuring Fisher-Price toy color schemes
and Rolling Stones music.


-- 
jimcooncat