[hobbit] "Hobbit" name legal stuff; slight name change will happen
On fim, 2008-07-31 at 13:26 -0400, Galen Johnson wrote:
Bilbo?
:D That would not keep the lawyers from knocking on Henriks door (symbolically speaking). If anything, they would be even more eager. Hobbit is the name of a species in J.R.R. Tolkiens stories, and it is only named in his stories. There are other things like the Shire that are associated with those that are somehow associated with Hobbit Monitor, and that might give some similarities to thoes stories. There is however a mythology that those stories are built upon, a mythology that is in the public domain.
Even though I personally like the name Hobbit Monitor best, or Hobbitmon, the name Gandalfr Monitor, could be an option to be considered. The name Gandalfr and the name Elf or Alf are much older than Tolkiens work, dated back to about the year 1300 AD in Völuspá and the Elder Edda by the icelandic authors.
See: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Gandalfr
The Old Norse name "Gandalfr" appears in the list of dwarves in the Völuspá of the Elder Edda; the name means "wand-elf." Tolkien took the name along with the dwarves' names when he wrote The Hobbit in the 1930s.
He came to regret the creation of this "rabble of eddaic-named dwarves, [...] invented in an idle hour" (The Return of the Shadow:452), since it forced him to come up with an explanation of why Old Norse names should be used in Third Age Middle-earth. Meaning Of Names In The Lord Of The Ring - Anders Andersen's WebLog (324 words)
In an Old Norse poem, Tolkien found a list of dwarf names which included "Gandalfr." Since alfr means "elf," he began to wonder what an elf was doing in a company of dwarfs.
Tolkien interpreted the first element ("Gand") of "Gandalfr" to mean "wand." This gave Tolkien the notion that Gandalfr must be a sorcerer-elf who possessed a magic wand or staff.
Gandalfr, he theorized, must have joined the band of dwarfs to obtain some special sort of magical plunder.
-- Kindest Regards, Anna Jonna Ármannsdóttir, %& A: Because people read from top to bottom. Unix System Aministration, Computing Services, %& Q: Why is top posting bad? University of Iceland.
Hi all
If I could add my 0.02 worth of local currency, how about a complete break from Hobbit and/or fantasy creatures.
As a consultant, Hobbit is one of the products I always try and push with clients. I do the install, provide support and write additional monitoring scripts where they are required.
However, one issue I have encountered, is the difficulty I have in getting CIOs and other senior members of management to take a product called Hobbit seriously. "What's in a name?" you say, and I agree with you, but we are talking PHBs here. For some reason, Patrol, Nagios, MSM, Zenoss, and all the other names appear to "inspire confidence". Hobbit? Some people just refuse to take it seriously. Maybe they associate Hobbits with childrens fantasy, I don't know, but I have had push-back from at least 2 major clients based purely on the name. I am talking about 2 corporate clients that had no monitoring, and wanted to look at monitoring products, but refused to look at Hobbit because of the name. It wasn't an aversion to open source, because Nagios was on the table, but suggest Hobbit, and PHBs snigger, and ask if it's a fantasy product, or has hairy feet, or also comes up short, or some equally silly comment.
I know this is completely unjustified, because I know Hobbit is a superior product, but when dealing with corporates, if the PHBs don't like it, you can forget it.
I have no name suggestions at this time, but I will give it some thought. Hobbitmon, it not bad, but I think PHB's might be more receptive to HMON.
Cheers Vernon
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Hi Vernon,
I have no name suggestions at this time, but I will give it some thought. Hobbitmon, it not bad, but I think PHB's might be more receptive to HMON.
hmon.com and hmon.net are taken, not that it is that important though. hmon produces 119,000 hits in google. The more unique the name the better to ensue an easy search. hobbitmon produces only 9,140 hits and I am sure the majority are related. I agree with you 100% on the acceptance of the name though
Phil
Tel: 0400 466 952 Fax: 0433 123 226 email: philwild AT gmail.com
Though I thought hmon would be simple it appears there is a company already doing business here in the US called hmon... (hmon dot net). Oh well, darn lawyers anyway....
Everett, Vernon wrote:
Hobbitmon, it not bad, but I think PHB's might be more receptive to HMON.
At this point in time:
h-mon.com is taken h-mon.net is free
Josh Luthman Office: 937-552-2340 Direct: 937-552-2343 1100 Wayne St Suite 1337 Troy, OH 45373
Those who don't understand UNIX are condemned to reinvent it, poorly. --- Henry Spencer
On Fri, Aug 1, 2008 at 12:18 AM, Tim McCloskey <devzero at cox.net> wrote:
Though I thought hmon would be simple it appears there is a company already doing business here in the US called hmon... (hmon dot net). Oh well, darn lawyers anyway....
Everett, Vernon wrote:
Hobbitmon, it not bad, but I think PHB's might be more receptive to HMON.
To unsubscribe from the hobbit list, send an e-mail to hobbit-unsubscribe at hswn.dk
OK, let's scrap the idea of HMON. But I still think we need to give more consideration to a more PHB-acceptable name.
Regards Vernon
From: Josh Luthman [mailto:josh at imaginenetworksllc.com] Sent: Friday, 1 August 2008 12:23 PM To: hobbit at hswn.dk Subject: Re: [hobbit] "Hobbit" name legal stuff; slight name change willhappen
At this point in time:
h-mon.com is taken h-mon.net is free
Josh Luthman Office: 937-552-2340 Direct: 937-552-2343 1100 Wayne St Suite 1337 Troy, OH 45373
Those who don't understand UNIX are condemned to reinvent it, poorly. --- Henry Spencer
On Fri, Aug 1, 2008 at 12:18 AM, Tim McCloskey <devzero at cox.net> wrote:
Though I thought hmon would be simple it appears there is acompany already doing business here in the US called hmon... (hmon dot net). Oh well, darn lawyers anyway....
Everett, Vernon wrote:
Hobbitmon, it not bad, but I think PHB's might be morereceptive to HMON.
To unsubscribe from the hobbit list, send an e-mail to
hobbit-unsubscribe at hswn.dkNOTICE: This email and any attachments are confidential. They may contain legally privileged information or copyright material. You must not read, copy, use or disclose them without authorisation. If you are not an intended recipient, please contact us at once by return email and then delete both messages and all attachments.
Sorry for being an ignorant.
PHB ??
Lars ----- Original Message ----- From: Everett, Vernon To: hobbit at hswn.dk Sent: Friday, August 01, 2008 6:29 AM Subject: RE: [hobbit] "Hobbit" name legal stuff; slight name change willhappen
OK, let's scrap the idea of HMON. But I still think we need to give more consideration to a more PHB-acceptable name.
Regards Vernon
Pointy-Haired Boss (cf. Dilbert) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointy-Haired_Boss
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From: Lars Ebeling [mailto:lars.ebeling at leopg9.no-ip.org] Sent: 01 August 2008 11:44 To: hobbit at hswn.dk Subject: Re: [hobbit] "Hobbit" name legal stuff; slight name change willhappen
Sorry for being an ignorant.
PHB ??
Lars
On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 9:52 PM, Everett, Vernon <Vernon.Everett at woodside.com.au> wrote:
Hi all
If I could add my 0.02 worth of local currency, how about a complete break from Hobbit and/or fantasy creatures.
As a consultant, Hobbit is one of the products I always try and push with clients. I do the install, provide support and write additional monitoring scripts where they are required.
However, one issue I have encountered, is the difficulty I have in getting CIOs and other senior members of management to take a product called Hobbit seriously. "What's in a name?" you say, and I agree with you, but we are talking PHBs
I bet when they don't laugh when the name of an OS is called "windows". But if another OS comes as "Doors" they will laugh, I bet. Do you still value their opinion?
That would be the "worst" reason to change a name in my opinion
here. For some reason, Patrol, Nagios, MSM, Zenoss, and all the other names appear to "inspire confidence". Hobbit? Some people just refuse to take it seriously. Maybe they associate Hobbits with childrens fantasy, I don't know, but I have had push-back from at least 2 major clients based purely on the name. I am talking about 2 corporate clients that had no monitoring, and wanted to look at monitoring products, but refused to look at Hobbit because of the name.
Well they should not use Hobbit then. Better that way I think
It wasn't an aversion to open source, because Nagios was on the table, but suggest Hobbit, and PHBs snigger, and ask if it's a fantasy product, or has hairy feet, or also comes up short, or some equally silly comment.
I know this is completely unjustified, because I know Hobbit is a superior product, but when dealing with corporates, if the PHBs don't like it, you can forget it.
I have no name suggestions at this time, but I will give it some thought. Hobbitmon, it not bad, but I think PHB's might be more receptive to HMON.
Cheers Vernon
NOTICE: This email and any attachments are confidential. They may contain legally privileged information or copyright material. You must not read, copy, use or disclose them without authorisation. If you are not an intended recipient, please contact us at once by return email and then delete both messages and all attachments.
-- Asif Iqbal PGP Key: 0xE62693C5 KeyServer: pgp.mit.edu
Hi Asif
I bet when they don't laugh when the name of an OS is called "windows". But if another OS comes as "Doors" they will laugh, I bet. Do you still value their opinion? I seldom put much value in the opinion of a PHB, but unfortunately, you have to pander to them if you want to make any progress in the corporate world. It's an interesting, complex, but at the same time detestable game you have to play. It involves a lot of lip-biting, pride-swallowing, and blatent (mostly unjustified) flattery. If you ever intend to progress in the corporate world, it is a game you will need to learn to play.
That would be the "worst" reason to change a name in my opinion See earlier comments. The name has put Hobbit out of the running before the race began. How does that help our cause?
Well they should not use Hobbit then. Better that way I think You don't cut off your nose, to spite your face. Remember, it's not the stupid PHB that will suffer. It's the techs, like you and me. The PHB will do his selection process, decide on an inferior product because he thinks it has a flash sounding name, or he gets a good junket from the vendor, and it will be implemented on his command. The PHB will report to upper management what he knows they want to hear, and that is, "Product X, that *I* chose is wonderful. The rollout was a success, and everybody is happy with it." Upper management will know no better, because they never talk to the grunts, and the grunts have to work with inferior products, and never get the change to discuss the matter with upper management. (If they do, they earn the undying enmity of the PHB) PHB makes himself looks good, and gets a bonus for implementing a second-rate product. Is that what you want to see?
Have you ever seen this? http://www.cadinfo.net/humour/ithappens.htm This is so close to the truth, it is scary.
Unfortunately, the answer to the "What's in a name?" question, is, Lots.
I am prepared to accept whatever name the community decide on, but I feel it it important that serious consideration be given to all aspects of a name, including corporate acceptance.
Cheers Vernon
NOTICE: This email and any attachments are confidential. They may contain legally privileged information or copyright material. You must not read, copy, use or disclose them without authorisation. If you are not an intended recipient, please contact us at once by return email and then delete both messages and all attachments.
participants (8)
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andrew＠bccit.co.uk
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annaj＠hi.is
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devzero＠cox.net
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josh＠imaginenetworksllc.com
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lars.ebeling＠leopg9.no-ip.org
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philwild＠gmail.com
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vadud3＠gmail.com
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Vernon.Everett＠woodside.com.au