Professional =/= emotionless or product. I'd argue that early Linux, with all of Linus' rants, was more professional than most companies today.

I suppose it all comes down to what your definition of "professional" is.

>Adhering to a narrow definition of a "professional" look signifies immaturity, stemming from a desire for approval from a stereotypically "adult" third party.

I'm not looking for anyone's approval. If I was, I wouldn't be publicly disagreeing with people on an internet forum, would I? Relax with your armchair psychology.

> Personally, I wouldn't take seriously anyone who has a problem with Anubis but doesn't blink when presented with people drawn in the corporate Memphis style.

I don't like either and find them both ugly.

Whole countries of comparable size to the US happily put similar mascots all over their products, and pay other companies big money to use their characters. They're all over busses and billboards. The Korean ramen brand I buy has Kpop Demon Hunters on it now. (And Buldak usually has their little chicken dude.) Casio and Fender have expensive products with Hatsune Miku on them...which has been used in ad campaigns by petroleum and rail companies in Japan.

American corporate culture is dehumanizing and dystopian, not a standard for professionalism.

> likely for political reasons.

You're engaging in bad faith here. Nobody has brought up politics at all. If an almost identical clone of myself (with the same opinions on everything but mascots) developed a software project with an anime mascot I'd still disapprove.