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From: Antony Blakey <antony.blakey@gmail.com>
To: dev@couchdb.apache.org,
 user@couchdb.apache.org
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Subject: Re: Introducing CouchDB Ltd.
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 02:03:30 +1030
References: <E655FB0B-5D0D-43F8-9590-0A778471D82B@apache.org>
 <b7cd8ed10903080617x77da86dfhe6394576259a0b6e@mail.gmail.com>


On 08/03/2009, at 11:47 PM, Benoit Chesneau wrote:

> Launching such service is a good idee, and I would say "bravo".

Indeed, a commercial culture around CouchDB is a good thing when  
trying to sell this technology.

> But I think this is unfair to use couchdb name as a company and using
> the "couchdb.com" as website. Unfair for all other projects coming or
> existing that (would) provide such service or any commercial service
> based on couchdb.

<snip>

> That said. I just would like to add i'm not against such service.
> That's not the point. I like this idee and I hope it will work for
> you. What I dislike, and I'm strongly against it, is that you use
> couchdb name for **your** service. For me that mean i have to
> reconsider the way I endorse couchdb in my projects and I feel bad. I
> really hope you don't already make any legal administrative stuff
> about it and that your are ok to change/think about another name.

This issue has had an immediate impact on my first deployed CouchDB  
project.

To date I have had a 'Built with CouchDB' link on every page.  
Unfortunately, having a company called CouchDB Ltd, at couchdb.com  
turns that link into an advertisement for a competitor to our  
consultancy and development business in this space - specifically, the  
space defined by our use of CouchDB (albeit a branch version). We feel  
this way because co-opting the name and domain name for a consultancy  
business is a form of implicit endorsement, so we will no longer be  
including such a link, nor promoting CouchDB. This will be an ongoing  
problem, because simply mentioning the name advertises a competitor.  
C'est la vie.

I understand the attraction - if I owned the name, I'd be tempted, and  
I'm not being critical of Jan or Chris - I'm simply saying that this  
is one immediate impact. I also have no basis for saying whether this  
opinion will be widespread or not, nor whether it will have any  
significant effect, but my company is at least one data point.

Cheers,

Antony Blakey
-------------
CTO, Linkuistics Pty Ltd
Ph: 0438 840 787

He who would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy  
from repression.
   -- Thomas Paine