Ethereal changes name to Wireshark
Ethereal is probably the most popular protocol analyzer available today. It is an open-source project that spans multiple platforms, allowing the software to be used on Windows, OSX and Linux. Due to trademark ownership issues Ethereal changed its name to Wireshark.
John R.’s synopsis is essentially correct. Several years ago, my former employer (NIS) registered trademarks for the Ethereal name and logo. At the time this provided valuable legal protection for the project. Unfortunately, when I left we weren’t able to come to an agreement on the trademarks and they stayed behind.
There are several details about this that I can’t discuss, but I will say this: There was no “fight” between NIS and I. Although I’m deeply disappointed about the trademarks, I understand their decision. NIS is a great company and I still hold everyone there in high regard.
My reason to leave had more to do with the opportunities available at CACE (for the project, my family, and myself) than anything. The “good stuff” that will come from moving to CACE will far outstrip any “bad stuff” from the name change.
No matter what the name of the product is, it will surely remain the best protocol analyzer around. I have no doubt that the core development team knows what they are doing, and opted to take the best route for the product.