On 01/15/2004 08:49:23 Chris Baird

>>> How about a mermaid holding a trident?
>> At last: a female image.  Who'd have thunk.
> Possibly offensive to our non-heterosexual developers.

>I think it would be a matter of good judgement and taste to keep a
>distance from the Eric "BREASTS!" Schwartz style of mascots..

>I'd also personally score down on anything anthropomorphic/funny
>animal/furry-- too 'cute gimmicky' for a brand of what is undoubtably
>the most professonally-managed Free Unix operating system around.
>(Let alone that a large number of people find 'furries' totally
>fscking irritating.)

I agree that the animal theme is overworked. I quite liked Herb Peyerl's
suggestion of a mermaid. However I wonder if the image of Britannia
could be hacked into shape. I know this is a rather nationalist image,
but it is probably no worse than the statue of liberty.

(example image, see http://www.geocities.com/traditions_uk/british.html)

Leaving aside any objections that she is female, there are some advantages:

She holds a trident (which nicely ties in with the BSD line), the shield
could be emblazoned with 'NetBSD' and moved slightly forward so she is
seen to be reposing on a pile of hardware. The figure is normally shown fully
clothed (avoids irritating feminists). There is an option of horns (a la
vikings) on the helmet...

Just my 0.02pence.

Dave

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