RFC 343 (v1) New Perl Mascot

This and other RFCs are available on the web at
  http://dev.perl.org/rfc/

=head1 TITLE

New Perl Mascot

=head1 VERSION

  Maintainer: David Grove <[email protected]>
  Date: 28 Sep 2000
  Mailing List: [email protected]
  Number: 343
  Version: 1
  Status: Developing

=head1 ABSTRACT

Perl has no common symbol usable by the public at large to state to
the world "I am a Perl Programmer, and D**n Proud Of It!"

=head1 DESCRIPTION

The symbol that would be commonly used for this is the Camel, of course,
but that symbol has strict trademark restrictions, and is unsuitable for
the purpose of identification. O'Reilly allows only its commercial
friends and allies to use it, and any other use is strictly prohibited.
This presumes in a way to commercialize the public face of the Perl
language as an O'Reilly-owned commodity. No other symbol is currently
recognized to symbolize Perl and its community.

The concept is simple. People rally around a common symbol for their
common goals.

Linux has Tux, the cute little Penguin.

Christians have a cross, Jews have the Star of David, Muslims the
crescent moon.

Perl programmers have nothing, unless they're on special terms with
a trademark holder. They only have the text of the word "Perl",
which may (and probably should) be trademarked as discussed in the
perl6-licenses mailing list.

Additionally, the Perl community as a whole should have a single
symbol to stand behind. Currently, two such symbols exist, representing
Unices and Win32, which is a mentality split that has been targeted
for termination since 5.005. These symbols are the Camel and the
Gecko, respectively. If there is ONE Perl, there should be ONE
symbol representing all of its people.

=head1 SYMBOL SELECTION

The selection of a particular symbol should be left to Larry Wall,
though I personally hope it isn't chartreuse because that particular
color doesn't go well with most website color schemes. ;-)

The use of religious symbols should be avoided, as should any symbol
that could be more identifiable with one of Perl's cliques, such as
a particular operating system or architecture.

=head1 COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK

This symbol should be representative of the perl community, and not
of the Perl language. It should not be copyrighted or trademarked in
such a way that it could be discouraged or limited by licenses. It
should be known to have no official connection to the Perl language or
software itself, or any special saction from Larry Wall or any entity,
except that it is recognized as a symbol for the entire
perl community, and makes a statement, "Perl Programmer Here", or,
"Proud to Perl". (The essence, not the text.) It should not be used
to represent a I<stamp of approval> from Larry Wall or any Perl
organization or entity.

Also, displaying the symbol on a website should not require a link
to any website, commercial or non-commercial. Displaying it in other
places should not require legal disclaimers, trademark acknowledgements,
or other such legal nastiness.

=head1 USE OF THE CAMEL

Use of the Camel, LLama, Gecko, Owl, Panther, and other such trademarked
animals in association with Perl in any of the above contexts should
be discouraged, regardless of any relationship with O'Reilly and
Associates. Failing to discourage such uses could lead to an elitist
mentality, where a select few could use a camel, and everybody who
is not I<special> would use a [insert new symbol name here]. Perl is
already too cliquish to worry about that.

=head1 SAMPLE USES

This symbol should be available to all members of the perl community
in its original form or a derived form for use on websites, books,
jewelry, clothing, flags, software, icons, and all other places where
the user would like to be recognized as proud of being a member of this
community. This symbol is one of advocacy and community, not one of
official sanction.

=head1 VARIATIONS

Variations on the symbol should be tolerated in color and content.
However, no use of the symbol or a variant of the symbol should be
allowed to be copyrighted or trademarked to represent Perl, any
software related to Perl, or any company or entity, to the extent
that such copyright or trademark would be restricted to that
usage or entity or unavailable for public usage.

=head1 REFERENCES

Tux: The Linux Mascot