Phoenix needs a new name

Discussion of general topics about Mozilla Firefox
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mboullet
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Post by mboullet »

Why not phénix as in french

The accent could be optional -> phenix
zZyXx
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Post by zZyXx »

According to http://www.wordreference.com/English/de ... en=phoenix
"Phenix" is a US spelling of {phoenix}
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leoz
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Post by leoz »

What a tough situation :(.

I completely agree with the poster who said that the name should be easy to pronounce.
It also should not be too embarrassing. I'd like not to sound too stupid when I tell
people that they really should use Phoenix because it's the best :). It also hopefully
would be relatively easy to spell. Unfortunately I don't have any good suggestions :(.

Once we have a few good suggestions, a poll should be a good way to get the population's
views.
uggi
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Post by uggi »

Mothra, or Mothzilla if Mothra is copyrighted ;)
Mike Healan
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Post by Mike Healan »

Hello.

My name is Mike Healan. I run spywareinfo.com and author the Spyware Weekly newsletter.

It has been reported to me that Phoenix Technologies has threatened action against the developers of the Mozilla Phoenix browser project for "trademark infringement" for use of the word "phoenix". As I am going to be addressing this in the next newsletter, I'd like to ask some questions.

What is the trademark number(s) for the word "Phoenix" as owned by your company? I'm having trouble finding this trademark, as the word "Phoenix" brings up a very large number of results at the US Trademark office.

When did your company register this trademark?

What actions has your company taken in the past to protect this trademark?

What action do you intend to take against the Mozilla Phoenix project (or its successor if it changes its name)?

What action do you intend to take against the following companies and/or organizations, who are also using the word "phoenix"?
http://phoenix.gov/
http://www.phoenixcvb.com/
http://www.phoenixintlraceway.com/
http://www.thephoenix.com/
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/
http://www.phoenixzoo.org/
http://www.phoenix.de/
http://www.phoenixcoyotes.com/
http://www.phoenix.edu/
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/
http://www.phnxsoft.com/phnx1024/index.htm
http://www.phoenix-simulation.co.uk/

Or to give a much wider list, http://www.google.com/search?q=phoenix

--
Regards,

Mike Healan
http://www.spywareinfo.com/
JediJawa
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Post by JediJawa »

Wait wait... has everyone forgotten "cthulhu" ... not THATS a name
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whiprush
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Post by whiprush »

Brainstorming with Google:

How about 'Gila'?

As in Gila monster. Raptor sounds the coolest IMO. Anything that relates to lizards should be investigated, maybe dinosaur names, except for the whole extinction thing might be the brunt of jokes. :)

or 'Tokay' ... like the Tokay gecko.

I can see it now "I'm a Gecko, you want Geico!"
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David James
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Re: New name for Phoenix: Autark

Post by David James »

jayeshsh wrote:Hello,

My suggestion is <b>Autark</b> - a derivative of the word autarkic or autarchic.

Autarkic means self ruling, independent, free. I think all of these correspond to the qualities of Mozilla based projects.

Autarkic comes from Autarky; more info on Autarky at Merriam Webster:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?b ... va=autarky



I wouldn't use Autark or Autarkic. As an economics student, autarky has the "feature" of being completely closed, isolated and separated from the rest of the world - an economy in autarky is one with absolutely no trading relations with anyone else. They're free & independent, yes, but hardly in a good way. Autarky is in no way in the spirit of an open, international project.
Pinball-Firefox maintainer.
http://david.jamesnet.ca/
Debian Sid, KDE 3.3
zZyXx
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Post by zZyXx »

this speedy browser made me think of "Speedy Gonzales" which made me think of the names "Gonzilla", "Gonza", "Gonzo"...
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Kommet
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Idears

Post by Kommet »

JediJawa wrote:Wait wait... has everyone forgotten "cthulhu" ... not THATS a name

Shit, not even some H. P. Lovecraft fans know how to pronounce THAT!

Tell people they should use "k'-TOO-loo" (or "koo-TA-loo", or "ka-THOO-loo", or a coughing bark as Lovcraft suggests) as their browser and they will offer to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on you.

If you get past that, they will ask first how to spell it, then what it means.

If you tell them it is the name of a chief god/demon from the mythology created by a horror writer, they will tell you that you are a strange little geek, then they will pat you on the head and give you a cookie and walk away, having done their good deed for the day.

On Topic:

My vote is to keep Phoenix and damn the cannon! A challenge similar to what was sucessfully raised by Lindows against Microsoft (because "window" is a common word) could easily be mounted against Phoenix Technologies if they bitch too loud.

Barring that, I vote AGAINST Hermes, because I think a messenger god's name would be better applied to a Mail/News or Chat application. My choices for the browser (after Phoenix of course) would be Basilisk, then LiteZilla, then Proteus.
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djst
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Post by djst »

How about 'Internet Explorer'? It's pretty good actually, since you're using it to explore the Internet! But with my luck, I bet it's already taken.
Memphis Foundry
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Post by Memphis Foundry »

To continue the mythological thread, I would suggest Athena as a possible name. It fits in a lot of ways. The coolness of the name I will leave up to the observer. . . :) The patent search I will leave to someone more qualified than me. My main recognition brand-wise with Athena is the tech training company, though there could well be others.

To me, what made Phoenix a cool name was the strong parallels and good natural fit between the story of the Phoenix in legend and the role of the actual Phoenix product in relation to Mozilla. If you think about Phoenix as a product that is created and reborn through its own destruction and one which rises from the ashes of the old (Moz), the parallels between legend and the real are pretty strong. The name is descriptive and has a good intuitive fit, and to me, that's what makes it a good name.

Athena works on the same level as Phoenix:

-- In the Greek mythos, Athena was not "born" in the normal sense but sprang fully-grown from the head of Zeus. This pays homage to Moz as being the father of and "jumping-off point" for Phoenix.
-- When Athena arrived on the scene in the above story, she started her existence fully grown, armed, armored, and ready for battle. This recalls the fact that Phoenix as a 0.1 product was already a fully-featued browser and has since maintained a remarkably rapid development cycle.
-- Athena was Zeus' most favored child and he allowed her alone to borrow and/or co-opt many of his most powerful symbols such as his aegis and shield. This speaks to the closeness and interactivity between the Phoenix project and the Moz trunk.
-- Athena was known as the goddess of weavers and artisans; she once smacked down a mortal (Arachne) who bragged she could weave a better web than Athena could and turned her into a spider. This provides the obligatory "web" reference for the name. :) ( More info on this myth here: http://www.goddess-athena.org/Encyclope ... rachne.htm )
-- Poets refered to Athena as the goddess of "wisdom, reason, and purity". These attributes speak to the development goals of Phoenix, respectively: intelligent design, thoughtful architecture, and adherence to well-defined standards.
-- The owl is Athena's mascot/familiar so the avian roots of Phoenix (esp. graphically) could be maintained.
-- There are other parallels between Athena and Phoenix but below this point I may be reaching more than a bit. But please feel free to explore for yourself: http://www.goddess-athena.org/ is the best resource I found with a quick Googling.

Athena of the Greeks is equivalent to Minerva of the Romans, but I think Athena has a nicer ring to it. She also has a number of aliases that dovetail nicely with the Phoenix project ("The Bright Eyed", etc.) and could lead to ideas for logos, icons, add-ins, etc.

Just wanted to try to contribute to the project in some small way. In any event, thanks for a great browser!
seb
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Post by seb »

djst wrote:How about 'Internet Explorer'? It's pretty good actually, since you're using it to explore the Internet! But with my luck, I bet it's already taken.
Wrong, you are using it to browse the web, not the whole Internet :)
Mike Healan
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Post by Mike Healan »

Somehow forgot to mention this earlier. Could the main developer(s) or main spokesman for the Phoenix browser send me an email? I'd like an interview about this if possible.

mailto:?subject=&body=
fruitcake
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Post by fruitcake »

'Barbarella' came to my mind, how about changing that into 'Barbarilla'. A little feminin touch is much needed as a contrast to all the boyish predator stuff....
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