[DG: Open Forum] Jasig and Sakai Announce Name for Proposed Foundation and Membership Vote on Merger

[Jean-Francois Leveque]

While Sakai sounds like the colloquial French "ça caille", Apereo sounds 
like the colloquial French "apéro". What does it sound like in other 
languages?

I wonder what merging the two words the other way to get "merto" would 
have sounded in other languages. In French, it would have been close to 
"marteau". A google search leads to family names and typos on metro.

Choosing a name for international use can be hard, don't you think?

Cheers for the Apereo Foundation! ;-)

J-F

On 20/03/2012 17:03, Josh Baron wrote:
> NOTE: Attached are PDF versions of this announcement in English, Spanish
> (Español) and French (Français) which also include the relevant hyperlinks.
>
> *Jasig and Sakai Announce Name for Proposed Foundation
> and Membership Vote on Merger*
>
> Shortly after the 2011 EDUCAUSE Conference, Sakai and Jasig announced a
> community naming process for the new, merged organization we proposed a
> year before. We wanted suggestions for Foundation names that were
> memorable and reflected the core values of the merged organization which
> we previously articulated in the “ Value of a Common Foundation
> <http://www.sakaiproject.org/sites/default/files/CommonFoundationValue1-1.pdf>
> ”. In announcing the outcomes of this naming process today, it is
> important to emphasize that the new organization will have a strong
> focus on existing software communities and project brands. Names such as
> Sakai and uPortal won’t go away, they will remain an essential element
> of reaching constituents old and new.
>
> The Founding Board, which was elected by the Jasig and Sakai Foundation
> Boards in October (2011)
> <http://www.sakaiproject.org/news/jasig-and-sakai-foundations-finalize-merger-plans>
> to take the lead on merger decisions, is excited to announce that the
> name of the new organization we are proposing will be the *Apereo
> Foundation *( listen to pronunciation
> <https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwZE-GJkLsdmRDNEVVlOQW5RY2FIUE93aWEzZDNKQQ/edit>
> ). The name is a combination of community suggestions, and represents
> the fusion of two Latin words, “ aperto
> <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aperto> ”, which means “open” and “ mereo
> <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mereo> ”, meaning merit. Given the
> importance of openness and meritocracy, in all its forms and flavors, to
> both organizations as well as the larger open-source movement, the
> merging of these Latin words to form Apereo resonated with the Founding
> Board. Combining the suggestions was also helpful in securing the domain
> name.
>
> We will begin to use Apereo as the name of the proposed new organization
> in our communication moving forward. However this is not intended to
> indicate the merger is complete; nor assumed as, most importantly, a
> majority vote by our collective membership is required to gain approval.
> To this end, the announcement of the proposed Foundation name is being
> used to launch a larger communication initiative. Over the coming four
> weeks we will release additional information, the first of which will be
> posted the week of March 26th, and create opportunities for
> conversations about the path ahead. These will include discussion lists,
> webinars, and other opportunities for community engagement on issues
> related to the merger. *This will culminate in a membership vote to
> approve the merger which will take place in late-April 2012.*
>
> Finally, those who suggested the names we selected have generously
> donated the prizes we were offering to participants in our forthcoming
> June conference. We’ll come up with some exciting ideas to put them to
> good use at the event!
>
> If you have questions or comments on the name please post them to the
> Jasig-Sakai Collaboration Google Group (subscribe at:
> http://groups.google.com/group/*jasig-sakai-collaboration* **
> <https://groups.google.com/group/jasig-sakai-collaboration?hl=en> )
>
>
>
> -----------------------------
> Joshua Baron
> Senior Academic Technology Officer
> Marist College
> Poughkeepsie, New York 12601
> (845) 575-3623 (work)
> Twitter: JoshBaron