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   The ROCK Linux project has been discontinued in 2010. Here are the old data for the historical record!

The Symbology of the Rock

I was at a Linux exhibition a few years ago, where we had a little ROCK Linux booth. This, by the way, was in Singapore, a tiny Asian country near the equator, where Open Source and Free Software are still pretty much known only as "that thing that's cheaper than Microsoft but really complicated".

Anyway. The question I was most frequently asked was "Why the name 'ROCK'?" Now, this is the sort of question that people ask when they don't understand anything you told them, don't want to know anything, and just want to get away from you, but feel that they ought to be polite and show some interest. So the fact that I was asked it so much (twice) ought to tell you something either about the people that were there, or about me.

Back then, of course, ROCK Linux hadn't yet evolved into the sublime, dynamic, awe-inspiring, heart-stopping Distribution Build Kit that it is. Back then, it was still just a distribution. And I had no idea what symbology Clifford really had in mind--but the idea of a rock is usually associated with solidity, stability and dependability, so that's the sort of answer I'd usually give. (Incidentally, in the USA, the Chevrolet brand of heavy vehicles has a really catchy jingle, "Like A Rock", which always comes into my head when I think about this.)

So now that ROCK has made the painful metamorphosis from a lowly distribution with 5 potential users to a shimmering, multicolored, Distribution Build Kit with slightly more than 5 potential users, what new meanings can we dream up for our beloved cuddly mascot--the rock?

Well. Everybody knows that when builders construct buildings, they usually anchor the foundation to the layer of rock deep beneath the building site. This, at least in theory, means that nobody has to worry about the building wandering away to the bar next door, or falling over (presumably after too many drinks at the bar). The rock, in other words, is a fixed point, a beginning, from which a thousand insouciant marvels of architectural genius--or, if you're in France, breathtaking ugliness--may soar. ROCK is a starting point and framework for building your own distributions.
But rock is more than just a place to start building. Rock can be found in Nature in hundreds of different forms--with internal structures shaped by varying pressures, varying chemical components, varying climates. From vast, echoing limestone caverns full of braying tourists, to a tiny, secret diamond destined to grace the hand of a lover--rock exist in forms so different that the only thing they have in common is the earth from which they sprang. Many predesigned ROCK targets are available. These include the Desktop, Generic, Router and Minimal distributions.
Yet Man, not content with the variety provided by Nature, found too that rock could be shaped in startling ways. Thousands of years ago, we made stone tools and weapons with edges whose sharpness rivals modern surgical steel, and strength rivalling the spirit of the makers. We built stately monuments, public works, modest homes and imposing castles with it. Even now, in the age of mass-produced, unionized, commercialized steel and concrete, stone retains its prestige as a building material. It imparts an air of refinement, an aura of true craftsmanship, and identifies its owner as a person of taste. The uses and forms of custom-designed ROCK targets are limited only by your skills and desires.
So clear to me now; like a vision the answer has come. Never again will I be lost for words when asked for the meaning of 'ROCK'. With tears in my eyes and a heart full of joy, I say to you, my friend--ROCK on.