Pet project

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A pet project is a task undertaken out of personal interest instead of necessity. Lexiconically, a "pet" is a privileged, pampered, or spoiled person, or an animal kept for pleasure instead of its usefulness. A pet project, then, is a project, cause, hobby, craft, etc. that a person becomes involved with out of personal interest (or obsession) instead of its pure utility. A pet project is not necessarily a trivial or unimportant task, but one in which a person is emotionally invested. A pet project is adopted from want not need.

The Linux kernel was (and is today for many people) the pet project of Linus Torvalds.

Pet project ribbon is a cynical term used to describe a colored piece of cloth, typically folded into a loop (similar to the lower-case Greek alpha), intended to draw attention to a particular cause. The cynicism may imply that the ribbons are worn as a fashion statement instead of real concern. It may also ridicule the situation whereby celebrities, chaufferred to an award presentation and wearing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of designer clothing and jewelry, show their empathy and solidarity with the less fortunate by wearing a ribbon.

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