What if Debian runs out of Toy Story characters?

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^rooker
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What if Debian runs out of Toy Story characters?

Post by ^rooker »

I knew I wouldn't be the first or the only one asking this question:
Since Debian uses Toy Story characters for their release names, what happens once they've used all of them in the past?
During my "research", I found a nice entry on the Debian mailing list archives that dates back to July 2002 :D
I'm still gonna check for an answer to my initial question, but I'd like to quote Luke Seubert's reply to Hereward Cooper's question:
On 07/21/2002 3:28 PM, Hereward Cooper at zadok@phreaker.net wrote:

> On Sun, 2002-07-21 at 19:18, Leonardo Boiko wrote:
>>> The next stable will be named 'sarge'.
>> Is this a Toy Story character too? Wich one? What we will do when we run
>> out of Toy Story characters? :)
> Toy Story 2 Characters?
A bit of research on the Internet Movie Database reveals that there are a
few Toy Story related names still available for codenaming Debian releases;
but realistically only if one includes Toy Story 2 - a most worthy sequel
and successor to the original Toy Story movie.

Let us assume that the names of human characters are excluded, sid being the
one obvious and sole exception.

The following character names are thus available to Debian:

Names available from Toy Story:
( http://us.imdb.com/Credits?0114709 )
Lenny the Binoculars
Three Eyed Alien

Admittedly, these aren't such hot choices - really minor characters all in
all those two. Sarge was the last really good choice available from Toy
Story. Debian 3.1 lenny and Debian 3.2 alien don't quite cut it. I think
even the most marketing-phobic Debian developers would agree that those
names aren't slick enough ;-)

Names available from Toy Story 2:
( http://us.imdb.com/Credits?0120363 )
Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl
Stinky Pete the Prospector
Mrs. Potato Head
Tour Guide Barbie
Wheezy
Heimlich the Caterpillar
Evil Emperor Zurg

Debian jessie is a good name. Hmmmm, redheads. . . . . . hmmmm.

I'm not so sure about Debian stinky or Debian stinkypete, but maybe Debian
pete or Debian prospector? Of course, Stinky Pete was a bad guy, and so
maybe that choice should be tossed entirely. That, or rename sid as pete.
Just kidding.

Debian mrs-potato doesn't really work, and it might cause too much confusion
vis a vis Debian potato for the clueless. Best forget that one too.

Debian barbie could have some *very* cool logos and graphics, but Mattel, or
whatever the name of the gigundous conglomerate that owns Barbie these days
is; would sue Debian and SPI into oblivion if Debian barbie released. I
know that they don't own the word "barbie", and that they might not win the
court case, but the suits have far, far more money available to waste on
lawyers and years of dragged out court cases than Debian could ever afford.
John Lasseter and the geeks at Pixar might have a tolerant sense of humor
about the expropriation of Toy Story character names for Debian code names,
but I seriously doubt that Mattel does. Besides, with Debian jessie, Debian
already has a redhead, so who would ever need a blonde? Bye bye barbie.

Wheezy. Debian wheezy. Yes, I can see it now - in big lights on Times
Square - Installing Debian wheezy is Breezy! Good name. And OK, OK, maybe
a bad slogan ;-)

Debian heimlich. Yes, Heimlich was in Toy Story 2 - it was a brief cameo -
he got crushed in the weeds. Not a good name. Besides, Debian heimlich
sounds like software that chokes and barfs up a chicken bone all over the
keyboard. Nah.

Debian zurg. Now that is a cool name. And remember, at the end of Toy
Story 2, Zurg turned out to be a good guy, so using the name is cool.
Personally, I think Debian zurg should properly honor Zurg, Emporer of the
Universe, for the Debian release that includes not just the Linux kernel;
but HURD, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD as kernel options too. THAT Debian
release will truly be one to rule the universe :-)

So, in summation, the Toy Story 2 names available to Debian include:

jessie
wheezy
zurg

Not a bad set of choices.

For the next batch of code names, how about main characters from the
original Star Trek TV series? Debian kirk, Debian spock, Debian scotty,
etc. That should give debian-devel something pointless to debate for a
while in the post-orgasmic afterglow of woody's release.

Cheers,
Luke "Too Much Time on My Hands and Fussin' 'bout Silly Things" Seubert
Jumping out of an airplane is not a basic instinct. Neither is breathing underwater. But put the two together and you're traveling through space!
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