[Marketing] [SoaS] updating the draft decision panel report

[Sebastian Dziallas]

I'm not going to write another lengthy reply here, because Sean 
basically said most things. So +1 from my side.

So to be clear on what I believe: Everybody should be able to created 
$DISTRO Sugar Live Media images. But Sugar on a Stick is more than just 
a random name. It's a brand, a product. With all the consequences Sean 
describes.

--Sebastian

Sean DALY wrote:
> The marketing list has again disappeared, I have added it back, again.
>
> This seems reasonable, but all it would do is compromise Sugar on a
> Stick as a meaningful name. Let's say I repackage generic covered
> plastic bowls and call it Super Tupperware. No problem, right? And
> let's say the covers don't fit and everybody's food goes bad. Still no
> problem? And let's say people get sick and decide to complain to
> Tupperware, because nobody understands the difference between
> Tupperware and Super Tupperware, except some people who got both and
> say the "original" Tupperware is in fact much better, but most people
> aren't aware of that (they just Google for tupperware and go for the
> first sponsored link they see). Meanwhile, I close out Super
> Tupperware because of the problems and reopen as Mega Tupperware. See
> the problem in this scenario?
>
> This is why trademark law exists... to protect the work that goes into
> building a brand. A brand isn't just a name pasted on top... it's the
> quality of the product, its ecosystem, its support, its growth and
> development vision, its values, its contributors. Users see the logo
> and think of all of these. Tupperware would come down like a hawk on
> me if I started calling anything I want Tupperware, not because they
> are evil legal beavers, but because they want people to continue
> thinking that Tupperware means good quality, useful, attractive
> plasticware demonstrated and delivered and supported locally, and they
> don't want those values - that brand equity - damaged.
>
> Rather than imagine hypothetical projects, I think it's more
> productive to think about working with existing distros, and desktops
> too in particular Gnome. I'm still not seeing the problem with
> welcoming other distros which would like to implement Sugar, either on
> liveUSB, in an LTSP architecture, or other. We want Sugar to run on
> all kinds of hardware, while being easy to try for newcomers.
>
> Ubuntu is perhaps the best-known GNU/Linux desktop distro today
> outside of techie geek circles. It's well-known because of Canonical's
> marketing expense and the work of countless LoCo Teams over a solid
> product. So if I slap together a new distro and a three-page website
> and call the project Mubuntu, is that OK or not? How about Redora? Or
> OpenZooz?
>
> The most generic term for what Sugar on a Stick is "a liveUSB version
> of Sugar". USB removable media is called USB stick, USB thumbdrive,
> USB key, USB pendrive. There's ample room for creative marketers to
> find names other than Sugar on a Stick.
>
> An unknown brand with focus and a clear message can succeed. I say
> can, because lots of other factors are involved including luck. But,
> an unknown brand without focus won't succeed. For Sugar on a Stick to
> mean anything, especially in terms of support, Sugar Labs has to call
> the shots. And, while Sugar on a Stick is our marketing pillar, other
> Sugar Labs projects exist and yet others will see the light of day.
>
> I'm as eager as anyone to see creative solutions for breaking the
> installation barrier. For all we know, an effective future version of
> Sugar on a Stick may be a netbook implementation booting Sugar off an
> XS server and writing individual Journals to students' cloud storage.
> For now, we have to nurture and protect what we have, so it can grow.
>
> Sean
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 5:22 PM, Caryl Bigenho<cbigenho at hotmail.com>  wrote:
>> Hi...
>>
>> It's sort of like root beer...
>>
>> You can buy A&W or Barq's or other private labels... or make your own. It is
>> still "root beer."
>>
>> Sugar on a Stick is really exactly what it says, Sugar running on a usb
>> stick. It is a very descriptive label.  To call other distributions of Sugar
>> on a usb stick something else would be confusing. However, calling it say,
>> "Blueberry Sugar on a Stick by Sugar Labs" or "Orange Sugar on a Stick by
>> Skunk Works" would distinguish the developer and variety without being
>> confusing and still tell folks what it is.
>>
>> Then they could tell one another... "get the Blueberry by SugarLabs, it's
>> much better than Skunk Works' Orange."
>>
>> Remember your, generally, technologically  innocent (not all of them)
>> intended end user.
>>
>> Caryl
>>
>>
>>
>>> Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2009 12:31:33 +0000
>>> From: martin at martindengler.com
>>> To: cbigenho at hotmail.com
>>> CC: dmc.sugar at filteredperception.org; tabitha at hrdnz.com;
>>> soas at lists.sugarlabs.org
>>> Subject: Re: [SoaS] updating the draft decision panel report
>>>
>>> On Sun, Nov 01, 2009 at 11:08:22PM -0800, Caryl Bigenho wrote:
>>>
>>> I'm having trouble squaring this with your earlier
>>> statement[1]. Aren't you saying both:
>>>
>>>>> [let's allow lots of "Sugar On A Stick" products]
>>>
>>> and[2]:
>>>
>>>> [too many names are confusing]
>>>
>>> Please can you explain how to reconcile both [1] and [2].
>>>
>>>> Caryl
>>>
>>> Martin
>>>
>>> 1.
>>>>> Hi... I guess I've become the minority. I still believe that the
>>>>> name "Sugar On A Stick" should be allowed for all distributions of
>>>>> Sugar on a usb stick or even a live CD. Sugar Labs can control
>>>>> and identify their special builds in a special way... "SoaS by
>>>>> SugarLabs" or whatever, but the term has already become so generic
>>>>> that trying to make it exclusive at this point seems to be a waste
>>>>> of time and energy.
>>>
>>> 2.
>>>> Having many different names for different versions of Sugar on a usb
>>>> stick will only confuse them.
>>>
>>
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