back to article Oracle's Sword of Damocles forces open source fork rename

With Larry Ellison dangling the sword of Damocles over their heads, the leaders of the Hudson community have decided to rename the popular open-source software-build project and move it to a new code repository on GitHub. If their proposal is accepted by the rest of the community, Hudson will be rechristened Jenkins. Late last …

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  1. Captain DaFt
    Coat

    I think I understand...

    The community is changing the name of the original project to get out from under Oracle's heel, and informing Oracle that;

    "With all due respect, you can keep the name, and go fork yourself. Feel free to keep in touch though!"

    Is that about it?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Hudson renamed

    "... the leaders of the Hudson community have decided to rename the popular open-source software-build project and move it to a new code repository on GitHub. If their proposal is accepted by the rest of the community, Hudson will be rechristened Jenkins."

    Meanwhile in New York, Michael Bloomberg said the heaviest snowfall is expected just before rush hour in New York on Wednesday morning and asked commuters not to drive if possible. In other news he proposed renaming a major river between New York City and New Jersey to "My Fat Arse" to avoid possible trademark violations with Larry Ellison.

  3. Stan Smith
    WTF?

    Unintentionally funny?

    ... or an intentional meme reference? Leeeeeeeeeeeeeroy Jenkins!

    1. Quxy
      Pint

      At least he'll have chicken

      (Larry, that is.)

    2. dogged

      Possibly

      my first thought was "is that Jenkins as in "'Ear'"?

      Either way, a very stupid battle approaches.

  4. windowlicky

    Oracle

    So when Oracle purchased Sun what did they actually get for their money? Solaris? Anything else?

    1. Squirrel

      The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

      mysql enterprise support contracts

      java support contracts

      and erm, well, a huge bunch of patents and trade marks apparently.

  5. ScissorHands
    FAIL

    No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now...

    The more you tighten your grip, Oracle, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    If Oracle has applied for the trademark - can't they object?

    It may work differently in the US and EU, but here in AU the trademarking authority follows this process:

    - verify the mark or name is eligible for trademark

    - do a quick search to make sure there isn't an existing trademark in the same category

    - publish the trademark application

    - allow time for 3rd party objections to be raised (usually a few months)

    The trademark is only granted if no sustainable objections are raised. In this case, I would assume that the Hudson community has a legitimate and sustainable objection to the registering of the trademark due to their use of the term.

    If the trademark has not yet been granted then there should be time to register an objection and hopefully avoid the need to rename the project

    1. TeeCee Gold badge
      Alert

      Trademark process

      You missed the important bit of that process, where the well-stuffed brown envelope turns up at the office with no return address and only the enigmatic phrase: "Lose the 'Hudson' objections!" written on it.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Objections are costly..

      The Hudson community could object and the objection might get upheld and then appealed by Oracle.

      All of this costs money in legal fees which means that in the long run Oracle would probably win since it has deeper pockets.

      1. Tom 13

        Re: Objections are costly

        Also, Oracle can assert the claim that because they purchased Sun which started the project, they own the project from the start and are only now applying for the trademark. It's clearly counter to the intentions of Sun at the time, but I expect that as a legal claim they could sustain it. And yes, that would be more legal fees.

        And given that most folk consider normal legal fees to be exorbitant, its important to realize that IP legal fees are exorbitant compared to normal legal fees.

    3. Kevin Johnston

      A big boy made me do it....

      I suspect the community are using the much simpler, and from Oracle's viewpoint more damaging, route of saying "Fine - you want the name then you can have the name, we will just call the product something else which you have no claim on". This has already happened with OpenOffice/LibreOffice and once someone shows the way then anyone who believes strongly in the community approach to software will just follow suit.

      Bullying only works in a closed environment, if you can walk away and take everything you want with you then they lose their power.

    4. Magnus_Pym

      Cost money though

      Why should they bother to pay lawyers to fight litigious Larry when they can have a new name for free (virtually)

  7. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    The beginning of the end for oracle?

    - Let your lawyers take over

    - Piss off java developers and community

    - Piss off MySQL developers and community

    - Piss off Hudson developers and community

    - Piss off OpenOffice developers and community

    - Convince random technical decision makers in many organizations to never ever touch anything coming from Oracle and to do their best to never, buy, recommend or promote Oracle products.

    That will get you very far. Great job Oracle!

  8. Dave Murray
    FAIL

    Game over man! Game over!

    Since when does the name Hudson evoke an english butler feel? They should rename it Hicks.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Alien

      I think the more appropriate Hudson quote is:

      "How do I get out of this chicken-shit outfit?"

  9. MinionZero
    Unhappy

    Last one out....

    Will the last open source project out of Oracle/Sun/Sunacle please turn off the light. :(

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Under Ellison's icy glare

    the Hudson froze over and the developers walked over the ice to freedom.

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