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Re: SmartSVN - a new Subversion client.

From: <kfogel_at_collab.net>
Date: 2005-02-20 07:37:21 CET

Brian Behlendorf <brian@collab.net> writes:
> Any particular reason you are using the "SVN" abbreviation in the name
> of a product that isn't part of the Subversion project, or even open
> source?
>
> I guess the rest of us will keep using "DumbSVN"...

Marc, just to clarify:

I think what Brian's objecting to is not the mere presence of the
string "SVN" in your product's name. Plenty of Subversion-related
projects already have that, as a glance at our Links page will show.
The issue is more the *combination* of that name, "SVN", with the fact
that you're offering something that takes the place of the 'svn'
client already offered by the Subversion project.

Now, we have no objection to people offering alternative clients --
unsolicited competition is the norm in open source, no problem there.
But there is a potential for identity confusion here: the prefix
"Smart" is fairly generic (unlike, say, "Tortoise"), and since the
product is not open-source, it would be difficult to integrate it into
Subversion's loosely-organized support community. For example, bug
reports could not be responded to with fixes, nor even with pointers
as to how to make fixes.

Thus the software doesn't distinguish itself from mainline Subversion
with complete clarity (although the prefix "Smart" does have some
distinguishing effect, I admit), and may surprise some users by not
being open source (since most things which bear the string "SVN" are
open source).

I realize you're building on the earlier name "SmartCVS", just as
"TortoiseSVN" did on "TortoiseCVS"; and that all the objections I
mention above could equally be applied to "SmartCVS". Personally, I'm
not sure how worried I am about the situation -- but I did want to try
to clarify Brian's comments, since they might have seemed surprising,
given the number of other projects that contain "SVN" in their name.
His point is subtle, but not without merit.

Hope this helps,
-Karl

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Received on Sun Feb 20 07:53:38 2005

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