The name "Python"
The name "Python"
Posted Jul 17, 2018 20:11 UTC (Tue) by epa (subscriber, #39769)Parent article: Python post-Guido
The obvious answer is that if Python did get captured by some company, you could just fork it. Programmers and Linux distributions would soon switch to the fork if it were better managed. But then, could it still be called "Python"? Would you be risking a trademark suit by doing so?
Perhaps at the same time as Guido stepping down as BDFL, the Python Software Foundation should also step down from its control of the "Python" trademark. Their trademark usage policy talks about "the Python programming language" but this is vague and perhaps even circular. In my opinion it would be healthier to explicitly allow a broad range of uses even when the language specification has diverged (so projects like Tauthon wouldn't need to hide under different names).
Then you could be sure that even if the current Python organization gets into governance problems, Python the language and community will be able to continue.
