
WordPress names their 3.1 release: Reinhardt - yahelc
http://wordpress.org/news/2011/02/threeone/
======
photomatt
Hey guys -- for the past 7 years we've named every release after a jazz
musician, as you can see here:

<http://wordpress.org/about/roadmap/>

Usually no one notices, and the codename isn't even in the tweets or
announcement email, just a sentence that clearly links to the jazz musician's
Wikipedia page. (It's not like Ubuntu codenames that are widely used.) We also
put a fun plug for djangoproject.org to the end of the "future" section, which
hopefully will also introduce some new people to their project. I haven't seen
anyone tweeting the codename except to complain, so I don't think this is
going to confuse anybody think we're rewriting in Python. (However much they
may want that.)

That said, apologies for the unintended controversy. In hindsight, we probably
should have used "Reinhardt" to have the same effect of honoring one of our
favorite musicians without anyone getting confused with a fellow Open Source
project.

Now to work on 3.2 Sinatra! (Kidding, Ruby folks.)

~~~
photomatt
And just updated the post to change the codename to "Reinhardt," just as a
sign of good faith and before anyone else gets the wrong idea.

~~~
JonnieCache
Dispute resolved - in under an hour, to the satisfaction of both parties. And
not once were the lawyers called.

This is one of the major secondary benefits of OSS in action.

~~~
jseifer
Your username made the comments on this so much better.

~~~
aw3c2
Please do not start with this. Look at what has become with Reddit's "novelty
accounts" making thematic comments that do rarely add to the topic but rather
distract from them.

------
frankwiles
They might want to check the footer of djangoproject.com _ahem_. "Django is a
registered trademark of the Django Software Foundation.", pretty sure this
infringes.

~~~
ohashi
Well, I guess their lawyers will have some work to do.

~~~
francoisdevlin
How about someone sends a polite but firm email before calling a lawyer?

~~~
runjake
Orrr... they could just deal with it, because it's just a version codename and
it's not like people are going to start calling WordPress, "Django".

This shouldn't be a big deal, it's two OSS projects.

~~~
mckoss
On the other hand, names are meant to be used, otherwise why have one at all.
So there would have been people referring to the Django release of WordPress -
at least for a while. That would be very confusing.

------
yan
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2061877>

"The obvious answer is to rewrite WordPress with Django"

Done.

~~~
skbohra123
Ease of installation is one of the biggest SOP of WordPress. I am sure
anything written in Py would not have that level of ease for common
developers, at least for a few years to come and it become more tough in
shared hosting environment.

~~~
Ixiaus
_Au contraire_ \- it is the implementation details (create database tables for
you? handle install exceptions gracefully? blablablabla) and not the platform
(in the case of PHP/Python/Ruby/Perl from personal experience) that makes
installation "easy". There are a large set of shared hosts that boast Python
and Ruby support - fact of the matter is, WordPress exists and it was written
in PHP and nobody from the other language camps has cared to do anything like
it in x language.

No need to go sowing seed like this!

~~~
alloallo
The platform does make a difference in this case. With the way PHP is set up
on most servers, you can have static files and dynamic files (PHP files) in
the same folder (although you'd probably separate them into subfolders). This
makes everything easier installation-wise.

I'm a big fan of Django, but you'd have to admit that Django's "one virtual
host for Python, another for static files" would over-complicate installation.
Even on a made-for-Django host like WebFaction it would still be easier to
install PHP-WordPress than Django-WordPress.

~~~
Ixiaus
I still disagree. I don't use Django so I actually don't know what you have to
go through in order to install it but a python app can be packaged and
installed on a shared host with mod_wsgi installed. All you need is an
index.wsgi to act as your front controller.

Setting that up? You just have to install a python egg in the app directory
and you should be good to go.

Like I said, it's implementation details - a python application could be made
easy-to-install. It's just that no one has built a special purpose application
with a single minded install path (Django can be self-hosted, mod_python, or
mod_wsgi but it is a _framework_ and not an _application_ in the sense that
WordPress is an application and CakePHP is a framework) that is relevant to
WordPress, closest probably being Plone.

~~~
jdunck
Your level of knowledge in administration is not common. PHP wins on
deployment because every $5 host your average beginner programmer uses already
has PHP on it, and deploy is just ftp/sftp. By comparison, a beginner in
python will probably also need to learn some *nix and/or get a root account.

When wide acceptance is the goal, even small frictions can be material.

~~~
jrockway
Uh, nope. You definitely don't need root to use Django.

~~~
jdunck
I know. I think you're missing the point. The fact that one may make an
informed decision does not change the fact that many make uninformed decisions
and judge the situation based on their perception rather than independent
reality.

This matters, facts or no.

------
trickjarrett
The code name is only ever used in these posts as far as I know, it's the
version number which is most used for referencing the install type. It's not
that big of a deal.

------
mmaunder
In July this year the Django (as in framework) mark, assuming it's the one
below, becomes incontestable, which strengthens it's case a lot if they sue
Wordpress.

It's also generally a strong mark as it is what TM attorneys call "arbitrary"
- like Apple computer.

If Django doesn't sue, they weaken their trademark. You have to enforce your
rights to your trademark if someone infringes or a later infringer can use
your lack of enforcement as an argument against you.

The reality is that Django probably won't sue and it doesn't matter because
few people Google for Wordpress releases by release name.

From the USPTO:

Word Mark DJANGO Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S:
DOWNLOADABLE OPEN SOURCE COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH INTERNET
PUBLISHING AND WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT. FIRST USE: 20050719. FIRST USE IN
COMMERCE: 20050719 Standard Characters Claimed Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD
CHARACTER MARK Serial Number 78680396 Filing Date July 28, 2005 Current Filing
Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1A Published for Opposition April 25, 2006
Registration Number 3117015 Registration Date July 18, 2006 Owner (REGISTRANT)
THE WORLD COMPANY CORPORATION KANSAS 609 NEW HAMPSHIRE, P.O. BOX 888 LAWRENCE
KANSAS 66044 Attorney of Record Michael B.Hurd, Warren N. Williams, Stephen D.
Timmons, John M. Collins, Thomas H. Van Hoozer, Thomas B. Luebbering, Andrew
G. Colombo, Scott R. Brown, Tracy L. Bornman, Tracey S. Truitt, Michael
Elbein, Joan Optican Herman, David V. Ayres, Kameron D. Kelly, Gregory J.
Skoch, Jennifer C. Bailey, Cheryl L. Burbach, Matthew P. Harlow, and Sam M.
Korte Type of Mark TRADEMARK Register PRINCIPAL Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

~~~
jacobian
"If Django doesn't sue, they weaken their trademark."

I'm not a lawyer, but I'm nearly certain that this isn't true. Trademark
holders are required to defend their trademarks, but "defense" does not mean
"lawsuit." The law requires us to do whatever's necessary, which can run the
gamut from polite notes to suits. Happily, as I knew it would, the former was
perfectly sufficient in this case. Score one for open source.

------
yafujifide
Android names their 3.1 release: Windows.

~~~
leftnode
Is Windows a form of dessert now?

~~~
mdwrigh2
Android 3.2 - Apple

Okay, so maybe apples aren't your stereotypical dessert...

~~~
pluies_public
"Apple pie" instead?

------
sebastianavina
damn, they really want to contaminate google search results...

------
ecaroth
They weren't unaware of the Django project, as their link for 'on using PHP'
actually points to django's homepage. Friggin weird.

------
imgabe
Isn't this just asking for a trademark lawsuit from the Django software
foundation?

------
code_duck
What's with the edited title on HN? Now most of this doesn't make any sense.

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alloallo
Okay, so everyone thinks that WordPress shouldn't use the name of a well-known
jazz musician, but they're perfectly fine with the fact that the Django
Software Foundation has trademarked Django, a common Romani word/name?

WordPress certainly doesn't own the name Django, but the Django Software
Foundation shouldn't have any particular right to it either if things were
fair.

(Oh, btw., I'm a happy Django user - but I'd still be pretty upset if someone
decided to trademark my name).

~~~
OstiaAntica
The Django trademark is for a specific context-- downloadable CMS software.
You are free to use Django in other contexts, such as naming a car, a band, or
whatever.

~~~
alloallo
Except Django isn't a CMS, it's a framework (a CMS is a piece of software that
allows non-technically-minded people to manage the content of a website. A
framework, on the other hand, is made for developers).

But my main point is that, while I understand that the Django Software
Foundation has a trademark on the name Django in a specific content, it ought
not to be possible to trademark a common name at all.

~~~
mckoss
Are you suggesting that the only trade marks be totally made up words? That
flies in the face of hundreds of years of tradition. People have been using
their own names in their business and need to be able to keep others from
unfairly trying to confuse customers.

If Roberts and Sons Cleaners is an established brand in a community, we would
want a legal mechanism for that business to protect their brand - without
having to change every business name to XYZZY, etc.

~~~
alloallo
I wouldn't have a problem with a name like "Roberts and Sons Cleaners"
because, after all, it's a fairly unique combination of words. I would,
however, have a big problem with someone trademarking the name "Robert". And
that is the issue here: Django is a first name.

~~~
mckoss
I agree it would be nice to be more cut and dried. In practice, I think it
would come down to a court deciding if their was the possibility of misleading
the consumer, by mimicking a well-known brand in a particular market.

So I think businesses can get trademarks for English words and common names -
with the understanding that they might be geographically or market-segment
limited in their protection.

------
eddanger
The guys behind the Reinhardt framework are going to be mad!
[http://www.sitepen.com/blog/2008/10/09/reinhardt-a-client-
si...](http://www.sitepen.com/blog/2008/10/09/reinhardt-a-client-side-web-
framework/)

------
cabalamat
Absurd.

I'm currently working on a blogging/messaging website. Maybe I should call it
Wordpress? :-)

~~~
podperson
Only if its auto-update mechanism mysteriously crashes.

------
beaumartinez
Off-topic: Poor title rename; it should include that it was renamed
"Reinhardt" from "Django" so as for the discussion to make sense.

------
joelhaasnoot
Didn't even know they had codenames for wordpress, but this one sounds
surprisingly similar to something python-y people claim to be great (can't
judge it myself)

~~~
yahelc
To be fair, they follow a tradition of naming their releases after Jazz
musicians, and have been since before Django was released.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPress#Releases>

But still. WTF.

~~~
rararational
They should have been kind enough to use his last name if they were going to
name the release after him.

But I've never heard of release names for wordpress before so I don't expect
this to mess google search results up when searching for django (python)
related things.

~~~
mayank
Or even his real first name: <http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt>

------
fluorescentLAMP
I would have loved to sit in on this meeting ...

~~~
citricsquid
"We've got these lawyers on retainer doing nothing! Let's get sued to give
them something to do!"

------
EGreg
I believe it now says "Reinhardt" on their page, and not "Django". So you can
rest easy. Sure, there might be a guy named Django Reinhardt, but surely of
someone called their project "George" and another person called their project
"Washington", it would be ok right?

------
silent1mezzo
Will Wordpress 3.2 be named Rails?

------
mwg66
Rather poor judgement.

------
rdtsc
If they were in a completely different area, for example if they were selling
baskets, Django would have been perfectly acceptable.

But calling a blogging platform Django is just stupid. It might also be
unethical as some pointed out Django is a registered trademark.

I can see this happening:

\- "So how do I get started with WordPress?"

\- "You have to download the latest Django release"

\- "Oh, ok"

(downloads latest from djangoproject.com ...)

~~~
kingsidharth
The only difference is ghat they usually say "you have to download the latest
version of WordPress from their website."

~~~
rdtsc
But what is the latest version called?

Django, of course! o_O

------
nir
So what? What makes this a #1 story in HN?

------
tomlin
This has influenced me to name my releases after Ninja Turtle characters.
Hoping for a ROCKSTEADY RC opportunity.

------
forgotAgain
Is it April 1st already?

------
kongqiu
Wow. I'm going to start using this approach with my own app...

ParkGrades 1.0 codename "Hotpot"

ParkGrades 1.3 codename "Yelp"

ParkGrades 1.5 codename "Reddit"

ParkGrades 2.0 codename "Apple"

~~~
jarin
Next release of Set For Marriage, codenamed: PlentyOfeMatchCupidHarmonyOK

------
masklinn
OK this page makes no sense whatsoever, how much edition has been going on in
this thing?

Let me see if I understand what happens from the apparently still available
press releases and puff pieces on the web: WordPress 3.1 was actually released
using the codename "django"?

------
iamdave
At first I was like "Heh.."

But then I looked at my calendar and realized it wasn't April.

------
rhizome
Is this evidence that WP is feeling the heat from frameworks?

I can imagine that after years of using WP there would be a significant
portion who are looking for something more full-featured or performant or
whatever, there are myriad reasons for changing platforms. That reasonably
intelligent (or moneyed) people can so easily learn or hire to write a
completely custom site seems uncontroversial. The enterprising RoR or Dj coder
would do well to sniff around WP site owners.

In other news, WP has a new version coming out, which I imagine was the real
point of WP starting this controversy. Cheap publicity, blog mentions, yadda
yadda. Learn from history: upgrade early and often!

~~~
ceejayoz
> Is this evidence that WP is feeling the heat from frameworks?

No.

~~~
rhizome
You may be wrong.

~~~
ceejayoz
I might be wrong that WordPress continuing their long standing naming
convention for releases isn't a sign that they're seeing competition from
frameworks?

They may be seeing competition, but naming it Django - and quickly renaming
once they realized - is hardly a sign of that.

~~~
rhizome
True story: today I got Chinese takeout for lunch from a restaurant I've been
going to for over 15 years. Every single lunch special they offer and have
_ever_ offered comes with rice. When I got home, I found that there was no
rice in my lunch special. No rice... _from a Chinese restaurant_.

I'm pretty amazed at how well this provides an allegory for WP people somehow
not knowing about Django, and for what it's worth there are 188,000 Google
results for "Wordpress vs. Django." I'm not trying to lie with statistics, I'm
just trying to provide an illustration that they aren't worlds apart.

But it's not a huge deal, it's been fixed, no harm no foul, and only a
controversy among tetchy nerds. I'm fine with that, but I can still say
something's weird about it. ;)

------
juddlyon
Does anyone else find is amusing that a framework named after a human being is
complaining about someone else sorta-not-really using their name?

Lame. Who cares.

------
pfarrell
WordPress 3.2 release: "Microsoft" just announced

------
hackermom
I smell trademark infringement. I really do wonder if this wasn't a "prodding"
on purpose after all.

~~~
code_duck
Considering how agressive Automattic was in competing with SixApart a few
years back, I wouldn't be surprised.

