[Pythonmac-SIG] Pythonmac-SIG Digest, Vol 34, Issue 69

[Bob Ippolito]

On Feb 13, 2006, at 4:52 PM, Daniel Lord wrote:

>
> On Feb 13, 2006, at 3:03 PM, pythonmac-sig-request at python.org wrote:
>
>> 1. Monty Python related (to avoid the annoying offensive imagery
>> arguments)
>
> Monty Python is copyrighted work. I would advise keeping a careful  
> distance from anything commercially recognizable unless you put  
> aside a  significant settlement fund and lawyers fees for the  
> settlement negotiation. But then you could gamble that Michael  
> Palin et al are fans of open source software, want to contribute to  
> the cause,  and will let you use it gratis. Frankly, the language  
> is named after a snake, a pretty noble beast actually, and I am not  
> sure how Nature offends in this case. I think FORTRAN, PERL, C,  
> Java, and C# are banal and unimaginitive in fact. Not that i think  
> animals are good language names, but then what is? But the essence  
> of naming is representation and memorability. I think Python is  
> better than many in those respects. I suggest the collective  
> community has 'bigger fish to fry' but since your are volunteers  
> that is a suggestion.

Generic Monty Python references, such as the current 16-ton weight,  
don't tread anywhere near any copyrights or trademarks that I'm aware  
of.  Python is not named after the snake, that's just coincidence.

Snakes, especially in combination with apples, can cause irrational  
reactions (plenty of that in the archives last time this topic came  
up).  However, that seems to be a very small, but vocal, minority.   
It may be best if we just choose to ignore their comments and go  
ahead with the obvious choice.  The users we don't acquire due to the  
icon is probably very small in contrast with the users we'd gain  
given a good brand to recognize.

-bob

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