New name for Freeciv

[cazfi]

Orbs most closely sounds like orbo to my mind.

Same word, definitely. There's not such a big difference between eye-ball and ball of rock.

[Davide]

In what languages can "orbs" be understood?
I tried Google translate for Finnish, Norwegian, German, but I cannot match the word "orbs".

I'm not sure if this is being perceived as a joke, but I for myself have no language connections which link the word "orbs" with the meaning of "world", or anything round. "Orb" to me recalls the meaning of "lack", and "blindness".

Edit: eventually I researched the etymology of Italian "orbo", similar to "orphan", derived from Lat. "orbus" (=lack).
http://etimo.it/?term=orbo&find=Cerca

[cazfi]

Hmm.. There seems to be a game by name "Alea Jacta Est" so using Latin phrase everybody knows might seem like following the trend. I already were a bit concerned about having too similar name with another high-profile Open Source strategy game by name "0 A.D." though I don't know if people read A.D. there just as two letters or do they speak about Anno Domini?

[Davide]

Anno domini is common italian too, however from my experience nobody understand its meaning beside italians.
Alea iacta est is also a well-known proverb in italian, thought far from being commonly used. I have no idea how far this is understood outside Italy.

Edit: beside, just for curiosity, I live at 10 km from where Caesar pronounced that phrase, where it is engraved on a headstone

Errata: as explained below, s/Anno domini/Ante Christum/g.

[Alien Valkyrie]

Sorry, my bad, it's "orbis", not "orbs". It's Latin and means "circle", "cycle" and can also be used when referring to the earth's cycle ("orbis terrarum") and the world itself.

[cazfi]

Anno domini is common italian too, however from my experience nobody understand its meaning beside italians.

I expect at least most English-speakers, who actually use "A.D." in daily basis to understand what they write. Even among my Finnish friends this much Latin is considered common knowledge.

Alea iacta est is also a well-known proverb in italian, thought far from being commonly used. I have no idea how far this is understood outside Italy.

In Finnish elementary school it was about the only foreign-language quote we learned in history lessons (all others were translated to Finnish). Almost 30 years later I cannot remember where exactly Ceasar was...

[Davide]

Oh sorry, English commonly uses A.D. in dates in fact.
It is "Ante Christum" what my thoughts were referring to, which means "Before Christ", and is perfectly intelligible in Italian, which becomes "avanti Cristo" (a.C.), though "ante" is still contemporary Italian and bears the same meaning. However, I have been asked several times for its meaning from foreigners.

[AndreasR]

I would suggest that the Freeciv maintainers and developers discuss, decide and agree on changing the
Freeciv project name, and then ask the community for suggestions about the new name.
A good motivation for finding a new name, is to allow the project to move in a new direction away from simply cloning Civ2,
and also to avoid complications with the Civ trademarks. This would mean checking if the new proposed name is actually available,
no existing trademarks are registered on it, and that an available domain name can be found.

That being said, here are some suggestions:
The Free Strategy Game Project - fsgp.org
The Open Strategy Game - OSG
Free Turn Based Strategy Game - FreeTBS.org
Open Source Turn Based Strategy Game - OpenTBS.org
Open Source Strategy Game - OSSG
The Free Open Political Science Game - FOPSG

[cazfi]

My point (2) that there must be a plan about getting the work done before we can possibly make positive decisions stands. All active maintainers are so busy with our existing responsibilities (I assume freeciv-web will keep you too busy) that in practice we would need a new volunteer to take active role in name change issue.

[AndreasR]

My point (2) that there must be a plan about getting the work done before we can possibly make positive decisions stands. All active maintainers are so busy with our existing responsibilities (I assume freeciv-web will keep you too busy) that in practice we would need a new volunteer to take active role in name change issue.

Sure, I realize that there is a lot of work with changing the project name. I think the most important thing is that we all agree that we want to change the project name, and then decide to implement the name change. I can help with the work of changing the project name. And the name change could be a gradual process where the most important things are changed first, and then the rest over time.