openSUSE Slowroll is a distribution yet in its infancy and whose first stable release even its developers do not bother to predict when it will be ready. Still, it is nevertheless attracting serious attention in the Linux community.
But it couldn’t be otherwise when we’re talking about one based on the much-loved Tumbleweed and a possible (almost) replacement for Leap, which is set to change the rolling-release model as we know it. More on that here.
Recently, the openSUSE community held an online poll to consider changing the name of its still-in-development Slowroll distro. The proposal quickly gained attention, sparking a passionate discussion within the openSUSE users.
To decide the fate of the Slowroll name, users had a wide choice between 50 options. But when the poll results were tallied, it was evident that the community had spoken loud and clear.
Surprisingly, most users voted in favor of keeping the name Slowroll. Here are the results of the top 8 options with the most votes.
- Slowroll – 46.33%
- Driftwood – 25.91%
- Snowroll – 21.04%
- Drift – 20.51%
- Wave – 16.36%
- Orbit – 13.44%
- Lunar – 12.56%
- Tide – 12.47%
As is clear from the results above, Slowroll will continue to be called Slowroll, which we warmly welcome, considering the name original enough and, at the same time, giving a clear idea of the nature of this Linux distribution.
But that is not what is most important in this case. Far more significant is openSUSE’s highly democratic approach to letting users define something as meaningful as the distribution’s name – the defining trait by which it will be identified for years to come.
This process of seeking community input and acting upon it reflects the essence of open-source principles. So, dear openSUSE, I have nothing but admiration for that! Something that some other Linux distributions can take a cue from.
The poll was supposed to stay open until October 8, but after reaching 1,000 votes, the decision was made to close it, and that figure was taken as providing a clear enough picture. More details here.
Too bad they didn’t change the name. I really preferred Driftwood instead of Slowroll.