I have been doing some work on the wkipedia page and so have been doing my best to allow the natural charms of Genode show through the dry academic language needed for that site. As a result I am reading sentences out to myself to see if they satisfy.
With that in mind, and casting my mind back to when I first became aware of Genode, I think that name sounds high-tech. Sculpt by contrast did not sound especially exciting when I first heard the name, which is unfortunate because that is where novices should explore first.
I understand now why the reason it was so-called, but suggest Sculpt OS in practice is at odds with the popular idea of a sculptor. My brotherās partner is a ceramics sculptor so will actually mould bits of clay onto her works in the manner that Sculpt asks us to do with our desktops. But I think most people, when thinking sculptor, will think of someone like Michaelangelo, chipping away a big block of marble to reveal his masterwork. Michaelangeloās subtractive working is more like the experience of setting up Windows (so I am told!) where the user has to chisel the cruft off to get the usable desktop they want.
Building Sculpt in perhaps like nurturing something and making it grow the way you want. I thought of Germinate as a name, suggesting a sprouting seed (the Sculpt image is a mustard-seed sized 30Mb). And Genode Germinate makes a rather pleasing alliteration (in my mind at least).
Does anyone else have any thoughts about the name?
Fwiw, I agree. When talking about it to my friends I always say Iām messing around with Genode and not Iām messing around with Sculpt.
Perhaps thatās intentional, as my understanding is that Sculpt was originally a reference implementation and still is intended to be a base for your own experiments and not a single definitive build in the way Ubuntu is trying to be.
Otoh: I do like the ring of both together.
As in, not āSculpt OSā but āGenode Sculptā.
I think that is another problem I am experiencing when editing the Wikipedia. I am not aware of it being defined in one place how strictly these names ought to be used. Is Genode the āOS Frameworkā specifically, or is it an interchangeable term that might refer to the company, their framework, and desktop system, etc?
It must be noted such confusion does not seem to have done any harm to Linux which might refer to the kernel or GNU operating system! I am minded to apply the same terminology and refer to our personal OS as Genode/Sculpt.
I guess itās easier to āseeā for those whoāve been reading the C++ code and messing around with it As I see it, the terminology isā¦
Genode Labs (the company)
Genode [framework] (most of the github repo, except the Sculpt OS parts)
Sculpt OS (the part of the github repo that builds upon Genode to make it a usable OS : build scripts that configure the Genode components a certain way, C++ code for components that are specific to Sculpt OS, and so on)
Though the āborderā between the latter two could be called a little blurry in some cases. For example in h/g I use a (forked) sculpt_driver_manager component (if memory serves). Is it part of Genode proper, or of Sculpt OS ? The componentās name in github suggests the latter, but the fact I use it in a (wannabe) OS distinct from Sculpt, suggests the former.
To share a bit of perspective, we never really thought through the name of Sculpt within our team. It started as a mere run script in need of an adequate name. I foresaw the ability to interactively edit the system composition like a live-programming environment. Inspired by the cool-sounding name of an early 3D modeller on the Atari (āCybersculptā), this line of thoughts led to the name Sculpt. Since none of my colleagues really challenged it, it was good enough. Just remember that Sculptās predecessor had the silly name Turmvilla. Sculpt was at least more sensible than that. Thatās about it.
In the meanwhile, Sculpt OS has clearly outgrown its role of a sophisticated working example. It has become central to our project. So I quite clearly see your point: From the perspective of marketing, the name Sculpt cuts too short.
āGerminateā is a really nice suggestion. I like it a lot.
Emerging life instead the (mostly dead) material of a sculpture. Thatās certainly a more positive and relatable analogy.
Drawing a connection to the Fern-like Genode logo. Thatās beautiful. Almost like intended.
Starting with the letter G, like Genode, or Goa. Thatās a plus.
The word is not commonplace and has an interesting (and somewhat confident) ring to it, in my opinion.
So yes, I agree with you that it is indeed much better marketable than the name Sculpt.
While pondering on your suggestion, I wondered, would the prospect of the disruptive change from XML to HDR present an opportunity for adopting a new name? This way, the name change would not be arbitrary but it would be connected with the rebirth of Sculpt as a new incarnation?
I do not oppose the idea of finding a new name for Sculpt. Especially, the idea of combining the renaming with the introduction of HRD sounds quite good in my ears.
But me - a not native English speaker -āgerminateā just reminds me of āgermsā as the root of disease and I seem to be unable to ignore the unpleasant feelings connected to this.
Well, I wasnāt expecting to be the contrarian in this conversation, but I like the name āSculptā. For me, it evokes the full creativity of clay-based (additive) sculpting, where the results can take any form you desire.
I certainly like the positive imagery of the plant-based analogy, but IMHO it doesnāt capture the flexibility angle as well as āSculptā does - a plant will always grow in a predetermined form.
If we need a name change, perhaps we can think of something that captures the shape-shifting aspect of Presets, etc., and the incredible configuration (and platform) flexibility.
Or, to go in a different direction, maybe āGenieā, granting all of your computing wishes. It even starts with āGā (and āGenā)!
I actually like the connotations too quite a bit. Reflecting more, maybe its just that I understand the Genode brand more than the Sculpt one - all the documentation has the iconic genode pyramid, the wallpaper has āgenodeā on it, genode has the Wikipedia page, etc.
So its less that Sculpt or Sclupt OS seems like a bad name to me (I quite like it!) and more that it doesnāt have the same marketing head start that Genode already has and when I think about the project thatās what comes to mind first
I wonder the reason I find the name Sculpt does not roll off the tongue naturally is because it is a verb whereas most products are named for nouns? Of course germinate is a verb too, because I was thinking of alternatives to Sculpt in the same vein.
Germinate would be quite good if STEM education is the core market, as it would suggest a sprouting of interest in computer science.
If asked to identify the OS I would say āGenode Sculptā. To a motorist this is familiar, as when asked to identify a car you would typically say āFiat Pandaā or āHonda Civicā. And of course these will always have the brand logo literally front and centre, with badges identifying the model given a secondary spot.
Still there is plenty of time to discuss branding before the replacement markup is in the OS. Whatever the name, it would be a great time to have a marketing push.
I mirror Christianās perspective that āGerminateā as a native English speaker unfortunately sounds unpleasant for an OS, although the meaning and definition of the word is a perfect fit otherwise.
As much as I love Sculpt for a name, some marketing magic can certainly make the OS more appealing, so we should continue to discuss this further.
Iāve always visualized Genode and Sculpt as a living plant that continuously grows, branches, and changes, while being simultaneously being trimmed, pruned, and cared for.
The first word that popped in my head was āSproutā, but that doesnāt do the power and capability of the OS justice.
āBonzaiā is another one that I thought of. It is tiny, organized, alive, and a beautiful symbol. People will definitely get the idea if they hear this.
I actually find Bonzai/Bonsai very appealing. I love the picture of a dwarf tree growing out of a microkernel under the supervision of a passionate caretaker.
Aww dang! In that case, we shouldnāt use it for sure. I wonder what other words can encapsulate the gist of what I was visualizingā¦ let me think about this some more
Greetings! I would like to throw in a descriptive acronym as a candidate. ā(g)rigosā could stand for ā(Generic) Reference Implementation of a Genode Operating Systemā. I think that captures well the nature of Sculpt and still allows flexibility with regard to what to make of it. Both ārigosā and āgrigosā appear easy to pronounce and to memorise.
Capitalisation is up to taste (such as rigos, RIGOS, riGOS, rigOS) and would still have to be decided. For instance, ārigOSā might be associated with ācomputer rigā and āoperating systemā, but I am not a native speaker of English, so maybe āriggedā would instead also come to their mind, which might be negative (I refer to what has been expressed about āgerminateā). Then again, it is the international reader, who shall be adressed, not the native English speaker alone.
Also, whether or not to use a prepended āgā, which by the way might also have alternative readings (such as general, generic, Genode Labsās, grigos (for a recursive acronym), grey, green). Since it was designed on a green board, the bike shed should be painted with a fitting colour that starts with a āgā.
Thereās nothing wrong with the name SculptOS. Do I love it? No. Does it produce the correct search result (on DDG)? Yes.
But if you want a different name that capitalizes on Genode, call it GenodeOS or GenOS for short. Other distributions (Genode is a lego set) could be named Linux GenOS or Debian GenOS. Genode as an OS creation system could be called Genode System.
Two problems arise with GenOS. First, it conflicts with a popular character in the One-Punch Man animation, which basically kills the GenOS idea from a marketing point of view. Second, there is already a GenOS Linux distribution, but it appears to be dead with the homepage gone and the last update being from 14 years ago. I donāt think you have to care about the second problem, but the first persists. It means that GenOS will work best when it is paired with a specifier, for example LinuxGenOS, which would produce a unique search result. Ever shorter possible forms: LinuxGen, LGenOS, LGen, LGOS, LG.
It occurs to me that if Genode is about building OSās, then naming these OSās is going to be a unique challenge since it wonāt do to use names like 45-e6-b0-20. GenOS offers a tag that would situate whatever name the constructed OS has within the Genode family: BoxOfRocks GenOS; Cyclicade GenOS.
Some maybe bad news: while GenOS is a dead project, more recently genOS Linux has just started up elsewhere. Here is the latter, with a release dated July 12. That sucks.
Maybe it would be worth it to try to gently convince the developer to change their project name? I would get on that right away to protect the Genode name space. On the other hand, if you push GenOS quickly, Genode will own it by virtue of SEO, and Mr 0xEcoder will have to change the name of his Linux distro anyway.
GenodeOS, by the way, produces the correct search result.
If one were to be imaginative, GenodeOS looks a bit like Genodeus (genus = kind or type; deus = god), which could be creatively interpreted to be āgod of originsā, āgod of kindsā, or āgod of typesā in Latin (grammar and word-order are but trifles!) Such an interpretation fits with the goal of Genode, which is to facilitate the creation of different operating systems. Genodeus could be the mascot of the project. Following upon the āsculptureā (craft) theme, perhaps Genodeus could take Haephestus as a model: picture a bearded god-man with a hammer and anvil, or some other symbol of creation or craft. Thereās a wide gamut of possible imagery here. Thereās nothing wrong with the leaf logo, but this is another idea if you want to rebrand.
Genodeus also returns the Genode project as its first search result. Nice.
These are some ideas that came to me as a good name suggesterer:
GenodeOS (replacing SculptOS)
GenOS Michaelangelo (version 26)
GenOS Rodin (version 27)
etc. When you run out of sculptors, start with painters, and so on.
<specifier>GenOS (for derivative OSs)
Genodeus (mascot)
Genode System (OS construction set)
Iām very curious about this project, but I am working on some Qubes things right now. When Iām done, maybe in a few months, Iāll buy another machine and install SculptāerāGenodeOS! My main interest is in beginner user experience, so maybe I will be able to contribute something.
I wonāt likely be back here with this account. So good luck, and may the blessings of Genodeus rain upon you like a thousand hammer blows!
As I see it, the terminology isā¦