Proposal request for ideas on naming Fedora releases.

[Máirín Duffy]

On Wed, 2012-07-18 at 21:48 -0400, Eric Christensen wrote:
> The Fedora Board is soliciting ideas for how to name Fedora releases
> from community members.  Proposals should be sent to the Advisory
> Board list[0][1] no later than 16:00 UTC on 25 July 2012. The
> community is invited to discuss the proposals on the Advisory Board list.
> 
> [0] https://lists.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/advisory-board
> [1] advisory-board at lists.fedoraproject.org

I don't know if you mean a proposal for how the names would be
determined in general or if you mean a proposal for a specific theme,
but I hope this covers what you are looking for (please let me know if
not):

https://fedoraproject.org/w/index.php?title=Suggestions_for_Fedora_Codename_Theme

I do think that an election per release could be held going forward with
pretty much any of these naming schemes. I disagree with the following
assertion from the previous board meeting meetings: "For instance, with
most theme proposals, there really isn't a need for people to vote on
choices like "redwood, sequoia, or oak" every release." 

Redwood, sequoia, and oak are not representative of the variety of
potential names within *many* themes Fedora contributors submitted to
that page. Here's a few more representative triplets from that page:

- Hammerhead, Chocolate Dalmatian, Libbylou
- Ginger, Peppermint, Jasmine
- Stroopwafel, Oatmeal, Biscotti


Currently we accept name proposals that fit a specific rule. That rule
is unwieldy, confusing, and results in obscure, odd, and
difficult-to-work-with names. There are typically only one or two
choices that are marginally suitable as release names, so by similar
logic there isn't a need to vote between the choices. 

The proposal I present here on the behalf of the twelve Fedora
contributors who worked on it simply looks to change that 'rule' to
something that's more easily understood and results in names that are
more likely to be appealing and provide a nice coherent theme for Fedora
over time, resulting in a minimal change in process for a large gain in
appeal for the code names.

That being said, I would also prefer we not emphasize the code names
nearly as much as we do, and instead emphasize the features present in
each release. It is really sad, for example, how far many more people
associate Fedora 17 with hotdogs than with any single one of the awesome
new features present in it. (My favorites: Gimp 2.8 and Calligra Flow!)

Thanks,
~m