Hello all, from the first post on our new domain!
Firstly we’d like to apologise for the downtime, confusion and general inconvenience of late. In short we’ve been involved in a naming dispute for the previously named “Evolve OS” project. On April 1st (yep, really) we were contacted regarding a naming dispute over the use of OS. In the past the Evolve OS project had applied for a trademark in the name of “Evolve OS”, which was going through a 2 month period in which those opposing the mark can file their objection.
UK law requires the opposing party to first make contact before filing against a claim, which is what happened here. As our project is based in the UK (primarily due to my
presence here, as its sole legal entity) I must of course oblige with UK law (UK trademark application). Our first thought was to shorten the project name, but of course
game of the same name exists.
Solus
We asked many people for input on Google+, and after hundreds of suggestions we were still stuck for a new name. We’d like to thank everyone who helped in the process! One name came up time and time again, and that was ‘Solus’. For those who are unaware, SolusOS was the predecessor to “Evolve OS”. Not only do they share the same codebase, they also share the same project founder and core developer. It was quite natural to go back to this name, with the exception that we do not use the OS suffix now. From here on, the project is formally known as the Solus Project, shortened to Solus, which is the umbrella project for the Solus Operating System, the Budgie Desktop, and other projects.
Project Impact
As I’m sure most will understand, this has already taken its damage on the project, inflicting significant brand damage (by essentially disappearing). As an early indication, the primary mirror downloads are barely a quarter of the usual monthly downloads. However, applying the concepts of evolution from our prior name, we can but demonstrate survival of the fittest. The events of the last few weeks have, if anything, strengthened our determination. As such, we detailed our timeline recently on Google+.
Going forward, the next beta release of the Solus Operating System will be on May the 14th. Our final release is scheduled for July the 16th. We will mirror this soon to this website. Please note that we are still in the process of rebranding, and as such some links will be dead, some permanently so, and other areas are still being corrected. It took quite some time to deal with the rebrand in terms of domain names, SSL certificates, turning into a costly and stressful process. With that said, we’re more determined than ever to assert our presence, and hope you’re ready for the ride of your life.
It is highly recommended to read this G+ post indicating the alteration of attitude, which will help create the full picture for you. Change is coming, be ready.