The GNOME desktop guys need to stop acting like they own the word "gnome".
Said the poster quoting executives inside Groupon!
As far as operating systems are concerned, they do in fact "own" the word "gnome." That is by definition of what a trademark is.
The gnome foundation does have a right to be concerned. With an point of sale system that offers a "gnome" operating environment, end users could easily confuse the two. And it seriously could affect the Gnome Foundation's ability to conduct any business in the future as their mark would be seriously diluted.
What is also disturbing is the hubris behind this. Clearly Groupon thought that they could steamroll over the Gnome Foundation!
I am not a user of gnome, and I know that developers and users have had disagreements with Gnome in the past, but that doesn't mean that users of open source software shouldn't stand behind the Gnome Foundation on this issue. As they have made significant contributions to GPL code and promoting open source software. This really is a no-brainer.