On 27 Apr 2001, at 14:16, markus.soell@... wrote:

> 1. as I said in my previous post, to which you have just replied, I
> have voted on your previous poll and I voted that Firebird is an
> excellent name. So how can you say it was approved by 63% _except
> Markus_??? I just told you that I had "approved it as well.

1.) Note the smile in my remark
2.) My opinion I expressed in my post is that:

a) People what are not in comfort with Firebird name for product
already expressed their opinion in this poll, and they are in minority

b) People who liked the Firebird name will change their mind very
unlikely, despite the (slightly) changed circumstances. I think that
people who can change their mind toward FirebirdSQL already
voted for "It's good bat I can Imagine better name (18.34%). You're
changed your mind, but I'm not convinced that significant amount of
others will do the same.

c) In short, I think that the new poll will end with the same results
as the current poll, i.e. for Firebird.

> Therefore conditions have changed since your last poll and it is
> worth to at least think about whether this minor change to the name
> wouldn't be apropriate.
>
> By the way, I actually think like Paul that polls are not an ideal
> way to make decisions. But maybe it's ok here?

Open Source <> democracy. Polls are source of feedback / advice
collection tool, but it's not decision making. This is not an election
to the senate. Decision are made by "benevolent dictators", i.e.
people who will do all the work and will carry the whole weight of
taken decisions. That is, even if everyone would suggest the name
change, the actual decision would be on Firebird project members,
and they CAN decide to do not do so, because it's not worth the
effort. So, polls has a value in decision making, but the value is not
absolute.

Best regards
-- Pavel