Community response of new ubuntu artwork

[Greg Graham]

On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 00:09:58 +0100, Mark Shuttleworth <mark at hbd.com> wrote:
> I'm aware the images might be controversial. So is any work of art. This
> forum is where that controversy can be explored and where we can
> ultimately take a view on whether this theme is something that should
> stay part of Ubuntu in future releases.
> 
> The Calendar image is exactly that - it will be updated every month with
> a new image. You are able to stick with an image from a particular month
> that you like, or leave it on the Calendar mode to get a new image every
> month. None of the images would be unacceptable on a 60 foot billboard
> in any major western city.

Mr. Shuttleworth,

I respect your right to do what you want with this distribution. I
also admire the concept of ubuntu, and I can see how you believe that
the artwork expresses it. If you want to make a Linux distribution as
a medium to distribute controversial art, you may certainly do that.
However, that purpose is at odds with the goal of becoming "the
desktop of the 21st century." You will instead just be "the desktop of
the 21st century for those intellectual elite who appreciate
controversial art."

I think your comparison to big city billboards is indicative of the
problem. Billboards are designed by advertisers, the ones that design
billboards that resemble your artwork intentionally use sexuality to
manipulate interest in their product. Whether or not that is your
intention, the association will be there in most people's minds.

> One thing that needs to be clear is that the Calendar image is not the
> default desktop, it worked out that way unexpectedly for those of you
> who had installed a previous release and then upgraded.

However, the "Human" theme is still the default for the Greeter. I now
see that the artwork is also on the website. It seems that you're
committed to this course not withstanding the community reaction. I
had hoped that Ubuntu would be a distribution that I could get behind,
contribute to, and distribute widely to friends, family, and
colleagues, but unfortunately the art issue will damage the
acceptability of Ubuntu in the communities in which I'm involved.

I am thankful that your work introduced me to the Debian distribution.
I understand that it's more difficult to install, but I'll give it a
try.

-- 
Greg Graham
http://greg.grahamtx.net