"From the perspective of brand management, Open Source is a
failed re-branding effort over which its creators lost control,
followed by brand degradation through abuse and over-extension into
areas such as business and development models. This has become
another beginner's mistake in Free Software, as highlighted in
"What makes a Free Software company?".
"In a recent article, Jeroen van Meeuwen raised the point of
brand awareness, and the fact that a brand can never be strictly
controlled or managed, because it ultimately refers to "anyone's
gut feeling" about something. But this does not mean that branding
issues should be ignored, because it is possible to influence
anyone's gut feeling, as some corporations have demonstrated over
the years. But there is no brand manager for Free Software, and
there is no communication discipline on issues of brand among the
many people, projects, organisations, companies and governmental
bodies that make up the Free Software ecosystem."
