In the wake of a trademark lawsuit and its acquisition of Conectiva, Linux seller Mandrakesoft is renaming itself Mandriva. The companies announced their intent to merge in February and completed the transaction 30 March.
Last year, Mandrakesoft appealed a French court's ruling in favour of Hearst Holdings in a trademark dispute; Hearst's King Features Syndicate has distributed a comic strip called Mandrake le Magicien since 1934. "By adopting a new name, we eliminate the liability attached to the Mandrakesoft name and we can focus on what is important to us," developing software, the company said in a statement Thursday.
Talkback
Perhaps "Mandriva" sounds all 1337 in French, but to me it sounds more like a 'male escort service' than a Linux Distro ;)
For the life of me , I cannot understand the merits this dispute, Mandrake the Magician can hardly be confused with Mandrake Linux. One would imagine that it might be Mandrake's image as a magician that could be protected.
Mandriva will not catch on. I agree the first post. Anyway, it sounds ugly.
Trying to appeal to the mass market, that doyen of the road, white mandriva.