Let me spell it out then.

1. The image of the phoenix has been flogged to death as a symbol by
hundreds of companies, products, organisations, publishers for
years. This is what makes it feel old-fashioned and boring.
2. The phoenix symbol was chosen because it signified a product
rising from the ashes of Interbase. Its emphasis is therefore on the
past. This history is only of interest to people who were using
Interbase before Firebird existed. It is inward-looking because its
message is for the community of existing developers, and not for new
potential customers.
3. Because of the emphasis on the troubled past, the negative
aspects of the phoenix message are more powerful than its positive
aspects. It may be very difficult for people who have been involved
in the project for a long time to see this, especially if they have
some romantic notion about the moral superiority of a group of
independent developers over a commercial company. Perhaps these
people want to sell the history first, and the product second.
4. Firebird seems to me to be a great name. It is easily
remembered, it is powerful, it has energy. It can only work, however,
if the phoenix connection is dropped.
5. Firebird would be greatly helped if, in addition to a good name,
it had a powerful and memorable symbol. The word "Firebird" carries
a meaning, so there is restricted freedom in choosing an image.
("Linux" has no meaning, so its fine to use a penguin, but if Linux
was called "Walrus", the penguin would look very odd). If Firebird
is not to be associated with the phoenix, then we are left either
with some other interpretation of "fire", such as "bright red", or
some abstract symbol, which is as literally meaningless as "Linux".
6. If a red bird is to be the symbol, then it will be infinitely
more powerful if it is anthropomorphised. This requires a human-like
expression, which in turn requires eyes and a mouth.

So keep your hash browns down Jason. It was America that gave us the
Muppets and Walt Disney. It was you guys that taught the rest of us
to express the whole range of human emotion by means of the cuddly
toy.

--- In IBDI@y..., "Robert F. Tulloch" <tultalk@a...> wrote:
> > The image of a Phoenix looks and feels very old-fashioned to me.
And
> > anyway, it carries a rather boring political and inward-looking
> > message.
>
> Hmm. A rather boring an inward-looking message composed by you.