Heads up on the name for Italian speakers

[edodusi]

Nice project, thank you!

Just a friendly heads up from an Italian dev, in case it's useful. In Italy "Dux" is strongly associated with Mussolini, who used it as a title during the fascist era (you still see "DUX" carved on monuments in Rome).

It's not an issue in most of the world, where it just reads as Latin for "leader", but Italian users might raise an eyebrow.

Totally your call, and no pressure at all. I just figured I'd rather mention it than have someone find out later when the project grows.

Thanks again for the work 🙏

[georgestafilidis]

[bbedward]

Thanks for the heads up! We genuinely had no idea about that association when we landed on Dux.

It was really about what the wiki states, keeping the letter D for binary compatibility, short and rhymes with tux. Also sort of works as "dank user experience"

It's unfortunate that it carries the historical baggage, but I hope people can realize that we don't endorse fascism, obviously.

[bobhy]

You could put a one-line disclaimer in readme to forestall future nit-picking. Something like:

We chose project name "Dux" because it's "dank" for "tux". We understand the name has fascist overtones for students of history; we hope to rehabilitate a perfectly good word with our good work here.

[edodusi]

I completely understand @bbedward! It's really just an unfortunate coincidence, and honestly I don't have any strong suggestion besides be prepared if someone complains 😉

Maybe a one-liner as @bobhy suggests, but honestly I would not mention fascism at all.

[purian23]

Thank you for bringing this to our attention in such a respectful way. We genuinely appreciate it.

Over the past year, we've worked hard to grow this project. DMS originally started with the "Dank" branding as a meme, but as we continued to build out the software, it became clear that many users disliked the name or associated it with other meanings. As a result, some people dismissed the project before ever giving it a chance.

That realization led to a rebrand. After exploring countless options, we settled on a name that we felt reflected the positive spirit of Tux, the iconic Linux mascot that has represented the community for three decades. Dux in relation to Tux felt like a good fit and as we mentioned, it helped keep countless binaries in place that started with the letter 'd':) There was a lot that had to happen behind the scenes to make the rebrand possible.

That said, it is genuinely unfortunate to learn about the historical baggage and experiences others associate with the term. Those beliefs and actions do not reflect who we are or what we stand for. We do not plan to elevate the one-line remark by publicly addressing it. Instead, we hope to be judged by our actions, our community, and how we've chosen to represent ourselves. As well as the software experiences we plan to continue delivering to everyone.

[edodusi]

I think everyone will understand, and in case someone raises an eyebrow now you are prepared.

Thank you again for your work in open source 🤟