Re: Cultural Issue with the Foot Logo

["Theppitak Karoonboonyanan" <thep linux thai net>]

On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 3:06 AM, Dave Neary <dneary gnome org> wrote:
> Thilo Pfennig wrote:

>> The question is if one wants to neglect cultural differences.
>> With GNOME the question is how localization and internationalization are
>> related to symbols that offend some people. I do not think it is wise to
>> take this lightly just because oneself does not have that kind of
>> problem. Question is maybe if people in the USA would welcome a new
>> GNOME release to get the name "Hussein" ;-)
>
> We've already had a GNOME release named after Genghis Khan... (OK, I'm
> not suggesting we do that again)

No, neither of these is comparable to the meaning of the foot in my
culture. You may think of a release name like "Mother F**ker" instead.

> It all comes down to a question of resources, brand value, and project
> identity. One argument says that whatever we choose it could potentially
> offend someone. A rebrand is onerous, and politically difficult to make
> happen. Being actuarial, I'd suggest that the return on moving away from
> the foot would cost more in the rest of the world in volunteer effort
> and communication than it would gain for us in Thailand among anyone who
> considers that an image of a foot is an insult.

I don't aim at replacing it. As I said, the logo has been used for a long
time, and people love it, including me. The most I wish to get is a
"secondary" logo (if "alternative" is not obvious enough).

Regards,
-- 
Theppitak Karoonboonyanan
http://linux.thai.net/~thep/