Re: NetBSD Mascot Proposal

[Matthias Petermann <mp%petermann-it.de@localhost>]

Hi,

Am 21.01.2021 um 11:07 schrieb Pierre-Philipp Braun:
> > I would like to propose a mascot name and mascot character design for 
> > NetBSD mascot with soon coming release of 10.0:
>
> Hello, as a long-time netbsd user I like the idea of gaining a mascot 
> with some dinosaur-like features, however, I hope we can spare the happy 
> and childish smiley-like graphics and hair puff.  As far as I've 
> experienced our user-base are mainly old-school veterans, which is quite 
> the opposite of the depicted character.
As for the specific proposal, I see it similiar to you for NetBSD 
itself. Personally, I could only do something with a mascot if it either 
originates from an unshakeable tradition - like Santa Claus or the BSD 
Devil - or if it actually reflects some characteristics of the product 
in itself. By the way, I would look at the same standards if there 
should be a redesign of the NetBSD logo someday. The flag is an 
abstraction of the older, more traditional NetBSD logo, which doesn't 
make it inappropriate in principle. However, the shape is too detached 
for my taste, making it difficult to integrate into some material. But 
I'm not a designer, at most an amateur design critic :-)

Concerning the age structure of the NetBSD users or their veteran 
status, a statistic would be interesting. When I started with NetBSD, 
with interruptions since about 2003, I was still 25 years old. And there 
seem to be some people among the developers who are even younger today, 
or do I see it wrong?

Regardless, a modern mascot can of course have an attraction on new 
users and thus influence the future of NetBSD. One can talk about the 
design, but the idea itself is not too bad.

Kind regards
Matthias