Fun Pidgin

are there any plans to change the name? if so i suggest calling it "Falcon" for the following reasons:

they are bigger faster and cooler than pidgins
Falcons eat pidgins

assuming that pidgin was named so because pigeons where once used to carry messages, Falcon still works because they too where used to carry messages.

PidginCommunity Wiki
What's with the name Pidgin, anyway?
Pidgin is not, in fact, named after so-called "rats with wings," but rather it refers to a special type of "broken" language used by speakers of different languages to communicate. We thought this name fit well with the purpose of Pidgin.

Of course, Pidgin is a homonym for pigeon, so we couldn't resist taking advantage of the pun to create a cartoon mascot.

Many have subsequently pointed out that the use of carrier pigeons for transmission of messages fits nicely with Pidgin's functionality as well.

Also see the Dictionary

Now that you know the origin and meaning of the original name Pidgin, do you really want to change it?

I see that the Windows version still works with ALL 32bit Windows... thanks for this, as there are still quite a few of us whose internet machines run Win98!!

Also, thanks for the user-responsive attitude, it's very refreshing :)

Names... PidginPie, maybe ... something that you can eat with a fork. ;)

I think falcon would be a fun name and drive people who are motivated by rivalries. Unless a rivalry is something you'd want to avoid, I'd vote for it.

The down side is that it would probably lead to a bigger rivalry with the oldpidgin crowd. I'd like to think that this fork would push pidgin developers to reconsider their positions and maybe, in time, the funpidgin improvements could be merged with pidgin and everyone could get along again. If that isn't something funpidgin developers would ever be interested in, then I think a name change could be a way to go.

-Mario

We, the developers of Funpidgin, would much rather see this outcome than compete long-term with Pidgin. But if that's the only option they give us, then so be it.

Are you or you dev team, previous members of the pidgin dev team, or not?

Haha, I like Falcon. Sounds a lot better then funpidgin. Also I like competition and that might stir up the boringpidgin folks.

I'd hope this project would help get the developers of pidgin to get more in touch with their user base. Ideally, the outcome would be some thing like what happened with Compiz/Beryl merging into Compiz-Fusion.

If this didn't have the desired effect, a fork is needed really.

Thanks very much for putting the effort into this! I am truly disgusted by the response of the Pidgin developers. They haven't changed one bit since Gaim. Their attitudes have driven me away and I ended up with better software by doing so.
I plan on writing a detailed blog of my own on this and will praise your efforts and product!

i think that a name change is essential to let the devs of oldpidgin know that you are serious and will permanently fork off, if the userbase continues to be ignored, instead of them thinking this is something that will just blow over after a few days.

also keep in mind that Beryl was able to merge back into Compiz even after they changed their name. in fact doing so probably helped them to be taken more seriously.

AFAIK we are all new people, not pidgin developers.

Please concentrate on improving the program, not on the naming of the project. If it ever becomes necessary to change the name, it can be decided then. Changing the name just for the sake of "sending a message" just throws oil on the flames, and doesn't make for a better product.

Let's stop arguing, and start coding.

I for one, agree. We chose a quick and silly name because we had no other ideas, but I don't think it'd be very nice of us to try and incite bad blood with the Pidgin team with a name. Or anything else for that matter. We can all get along.

I agree. The name of the project seems like such a small thing, but it can really help (or hinder) the image of the software. Falcon sends the image of a strong project while "funpidgin" could seem to say "oh we're just doing this for fun, don't take us seriously".

The new name is Carrier, but I think the fact that we're doing this for fun, remains :).

Thank you for taking the time to add the changes and make them available to everyone.

I actually kinda hate the name Carrier...it kinda makes sense if you know it's a reference to carrier pigeons, but on its own not such a good name. What about calling it Squawk and changing the icon to a squawking parrot? It fits with the theme of communication, and it's still a bird.