Linked by Eugenia Loli-Queru on Wed 9th Feb 2005 12:42 UTC, submitted by n0dez
Unfortunately, the cute FreeBSD daemon is sometimes treated with misunderstanding in the religious and cultural
context. That's why The FreeBSD Project is announcing a public competition for the new logo design. You can find the rules of the competition in this document. Update: There is now a petition to keep Beastie, however FreeBSD's own Robert Watson emailed us to inform us that they are "seeking a new logo, but not a new mascot", so that petition is really reduntant. Update 2: Rob Watson writes:
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I think the foundation wants a change to appear more business-like in their presentation to companies. A cartoon character (even as cute as he is) does not sell to businesses very well. People in charge would probably be kicked out if someone thought they enjoyed cartoons. RedHat has shunned the penguin on their front page; they have their own logo.
As for religion, I doubt the reason for change is a group of religious people petitioning against the current logo. If anything, it is PC "police" in other companies that are afraid of offending anyone. The anti-religious (based on their posts) atheists should try to relax.
BTW, I am Catholic and understand the difference between a daemon and a demon. FreeBSD has even "possessed" three of my computers at home. 010100100010101001001... Oh, no! I am speaking in bits.