When Derek Higgins started the tool to build OpenStack packages based on latest upstream aka “trunk” changes, the name Delorean seemed like a good choice: the tool is keeping older builds so you could “go back in time” like with a time machine, it’s geeky enough and there’s Irish connection.

Fast forward earlier this year, when this tool is used and maintained by the RDO team to build RDO trunk repositories, it was felt the time is right for the first release. And here is the first lesson when naming a (Python) project: check that name is available in PyPI and reserve it! Unfortunately, it turned that name Delorean was already taken by another project. Next, lesson two: check if there is an active company using that name to avoid any possibility of trademark issues! In this case, a new company got rights for the original DMC (TM).

On RDO community meeting we decided to start collecting new name proposals and came up with the list more or less in the same time travel and BTTF theme. The first proposal was fluzo by our Spanish-speaking folks but that was dismissed after finding out there is a company with exactly that name! Next was OUTATIME, the DeLorean time machine’s license plate text, but there’s actually a real movie with that name coming soon, so it was discarded to avoid confusion and possible trademark issues. Finally, staying with the license plate idea, DLRN was chosen: written as DLRN but you can read it Delorean.

The RDO community has already started work towards replacing mentions of “Delorean” in documentation, websites, code, and repositories. As a special case references mentioning “Delorean repository” will be renamed as “RDO trunk repository” to better describe the content.

P.S. The answer to the question in the title is dprince! 1