[HunterWare]

No, it's because rocky shores were very hazardous to shipping, and a ship "on the rocks" was either close to, or in, immediate peril.

The homage seems lovely, but doesn't (unfortunately) change the fact that to the vast majority of english speakers "rocky" means unstable/dangerous... In fact, one of the most common expressions referring to an unstable/bad relationship is "their relationship is on the rocks" or "they are on the rocks".

[_joel]

Well I'm British and whilst I understand the etymology of the phrase I really don't associate Rocky Linux with being an unstable distro, but each to their own.

[alxlaz]

I think it's safe to say that, between the primary sense of "rocky" being "made of rock" and elementary common sense, nobody does ;-).

People aren't going to think Rocky Linux is unstable for the same reasons why they don't think Apple computers rot if you leave them in the sun. Also, if a product called Red Hat Enterprise Linux was successful despite the name, I'm guessing it can't be that much of an obstacle for Rocky, either.

[cardiffspaceman]

You can't stop people from interpreting names as they will.

My reading of the name "Rocky Linux" is similar to my reading of the name "Rocky Balboa". It could be just a name, like "Foo" or it could signify toughness, as "Rocky" does as a nickname in many cases. In two non-fiction cases of boxers, "Rocky" is a diminutive of "Rock" or "The Rock".