All the Js.
Posted Mar 25, 2008 1:11 UTC (Tue) by
JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330)
In reply to:
All the Js. by proski
Parent article:
Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Beta released
The Apple/Sagan case was different, because Apple used codenames internally only, to label secret projects. The public was never intended to know that "Carl Sagan" or "BHA" referred to the future Power Macintosh 7100. For Ubuntu names, it's very different (the codenames are public, used in Ubuntu marketing), and the Ubuntu folks would be wise to avoid animals already used by litigious computer companies.
And even though it was an internal code name, Apple settled with Sagan: they won a lower court judgment, but Sagan appealed, and the settlement happened before the appeals court heard the case, so it doesn't establish a precedent. But Apple's defense was that the name wasn't public. Ubuntu codenames are public.
Besides, even if there were no lawyers to be worried about, there's the problem of confusion if "Jaguar" or "Leopard" were to be used by Ubuntu.
There's Jackal or Jackrabbit or Jackalope.
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