Logo/name considerations

Richard at SC.LUG.org.uk Richard at SC.LUG.org.uk
Sun Dec 24 11:22:34 UTC 2000


Quoting josX <joshb at xs4all.nl>:
 >Having said that, 'Free Software Foundation Europe' in english 
doesn't
> >associate the FSFE with any country in Europe, or better, using 
*any*
> >other language would associate FSFE with that country much more
>
> Except Latin, the old (and admittedly obsolete) scientific
> language. Even today lots of orgenaizations have a name in Latin
> (studenst orgs come to mind), or a motto in Latin.

Actually Latin is very much a living language in Botany (and 
therefore horticulture, too, of course). Many new terms have 
developed to describe things the Romans could never have seen (they 
didn't have scanning electron microscopes 8-) but the language would 
be recognizable to anyone trained in an older Latin. 
Latin was used extensively by "(wo)men of science" in the eighteenth 
century when botany, in the modern sense, started.

However I have to agree that for practical purposes (lack of 
speakers) it's more useful for a motto than for all our communication.

Meanwhile my two cents (Latin-derived word ;-) on the logo. Whilst I 
understand the appeal of the 12 stars as giving instant international 
association with "Europe" as much as the EU, I feel that the EU 
association carries too many negative associations for too many 
citizens of Europe itself, so perhaps we should look for a European 
symbol with less political baggage. 

I liked the Ada Lovelace (first programmer) idea as well - but she 
probably wouldn't make an easy logo.

Merry (Christmas/whatever),

- Richard Smedley




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