Why I Hate The Tux Linux Mascot

Iโ€™m sure most of you know what Tux is, but for the uninitiated, Tux is the unofficial Linux mascot and I HATE him.

Every time I see his stupid bloody face on a website, background image, or anywhere for that matter, it makes me cringe. Look at him, heโ€™s ridiculous!

Why I hate Tux

Now donโ€™t get me wrong here, I love Linux, I just hate Tux. Heโ€™s a ridiculous mascot; he looks daft, heโ€™s childish and honestly, I think he makes a mockery of Linux.

Heโ€™s so bad that when he was entered into 3 different Linux logo competitions, he didnโ€™t win a single one. From Wikipedia:

Tux was originally designed as a submission for a Linux logo contest. Three such competitions took place; Tux won none of them. This is why Tux is formally known as the Linux brand character and not the logo.

Wikipedia

Look at it this way; say youโ€™re exploring Linux for the first time, you look it up and see that stupid penguin staring back at you. Would you take the project seriously? I wouldnโ€™t, and in fact, I didnโ€™t for a long time because of Tux.

Eventually I decided to get over myself and try Linux, and Iโ€™m glad I did. But how many people has the community lost because of this? I dread to think.

Look, I get it, Tux is supposed to be a bit of fun. But itโ€™s gotten to the point where Tux has become synonymous with Linux. Iโ€™m not trying to be a killjoy - I do think there is a place for Tux in Linux land. I just donโ€™t think it should quite so prevalent.

Is there another option?

Definitely. But I donโ€™t know what that is. What I do know though, is that having a gormless looking penguin as the mascot for Linux isnโ€™t the right call. To me, Tux is our Clippy.

What do you think? Am I being a killjoy here? Is Tux the right mascot for Linux? Feel free to let me know your thoughtsโ€ฆ

โœ‰๏ธ Reply by email

๐Ÿ‘ˆ๐Ÿป The one before
Is Windows Unstable? Here Are My Thoughts
Up next ๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿป
Chromeโ€™s Follow Button