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Re: [LUG] Advertising (or lack of)

 

On Sunday 20 January 2008 14:17, Neil Williams wrote:

> Ads on the web just annoy people. Why advertise a piece of software on
> the web that includes software to remove ads from web pages?

Firefox is "advertised" all over the web and press as an alternative browser 
to IE, and it provides an add-on ad remover for those that want it.

> What would you want a GNU/Linux advert to say?

Depends on what you mean by "advertising".  By using the word "advert" you are 
inferring commercial practice. Anyway, some bright spark could make a better 
stab at how to achieve this that than I :)  Books aren't advertised in the 
sense you mean.  They sell by word of mouth, reviews in the daily press, 
bookshelf displays, circulars and library copies.

However, I have always smiled at the signature block which says, "M$ sells you 
Windows, GNU/Linux gives you the whole house"

> Who do you want to reach?

The tyro, the frustrated and the impecunious :)

> (and is the software ready for use by those 
> people?)

There are perhaps the odd million or so users out there who think so.  

> Customer requests will tail off if the hardware is unsupported.

Just as they have for Vista.  Only for different good reasons. Does anyone, 
apart from M$ and their lacky's, have a good word for Vista?

> Advertising only works if the product works. 

(Again) There are perhaps the odd million or so users out there who think so.
  
> Our problem is that not 
> enough Windows-users care about freedom because changing consumer demand
> will impact on the hardware providers who will have to support free
> software for their latest hardware devices at source. Add to that the
> fact that GNU/Linux still has problems working with a variety of other
> proprietary hardware in the form of peripherals and you get a
> chicken-and-egg scenario. We need mass consumer demand to change the
> mindsets in the boardrooms of hardware corporations; ....

And how is that going to happen?  Other than by advertising the fact.

> ..... we need hardware 
> corporations to support free software drivers to fuel consumer demand
> with devices that work.

Agreed but, icing on the cake for many users.

> Note that this is *not* about simply getting support for GNU/Linux with
> more proprietary crap - that is the NVidia method and it just causes
> problems elsewhere in the OS. GNU/Linux works best when the entire
> software stack is free software because problems in one device can lead
> to an instability in the kernel that can only be fixed if both sides can
> see the source code. The Broadcom wireless drivers are a case in point.
> 2.6.24 will have free software support which will replace the flaky
> proprietary firmware and widen the usage of the bcm driver. That only
> happens when the chipset is supported with free software drivers.

A lot has happened in the past few years.  Remember when either you were 
lucky, or had the skills to get your mouse, vdu, printer, scanner, usb and 
sound-card to work? Now most of it is PnP.  

> Freedom is the most important element in the whole mechanism.
> Compatibility is insufficient because only free software can provide
> support for the future.

This I humbly submit has little to do with advertising the existence of 
GNU/Linux.  Build up a "huge" user base and we could well see a change.  
Leave it to bumble away as a perceived system for "nerds" and it will 
stagnate, in the N. Hemisphere anyway. 
>
> That is the message we need to get across - it's not easy to fit that
> into a radio ad slot. It would be very easy to come across as either
> "just another charity begging" or as some kind of rant (which would be
> rejected).

By advertising I am not thinking of slick imaging, jingles etc.  Just a few 
facts in plain words would suffice.
>
> > > .... generate requests which generate orders which generate
> > > stock-on-shelves which generate sales wich generates more
> > > stock-on-shelves.
> >
> > Selling cheap low spec' boxes with oss installed. "Didn't somebody who
> > became awfully wealthy once say "pile it high, sell it cheap"
>
> The product has to work or you're left with a pile of unsold boxes.

In the meantime people like PCWorld quietly cease selling distros such as 
SuSE, Mandriva, Debian (yes Debian) and Star Office which is cross platform, 
so there is no choice left for the discerning user.

> Just what do you want to advertise?

My original question was why, not what. Personally it doesn't matter to me 
wether to advertise or not. I'm content to have used GNU/Linux for the past 
decade and if others want to pay a small fortune for M$ it's nothing to do 
with me :)  /smug

> Ubuntu isn't a product, it is a concept - it's about freedom, not
> bums-on-seats. Merely increasing market share without increasing the
> understanding of *why* Ubuntu et al are important will get nowhere. (All
> that would happen is that the % of Ubuntu users needing the Restricted
> Drivers section would outstrip those who don't, concentrating effort on
> the wrong part of the stack.)

Depends what you want.  Joe/kate Bloggs aren't into the ethics of open/closed 
software and will use whatever is to hand, being "free as in beer" is a huge 
bonus/attraction when they can't afford their mortgage or whatever, let alone 
M$.

> OLPC are having a hard time against Intel because Intel are just
> concerned with units-sold. Currently, the way to sell more units is to
> make things proprietary - *that* is what has to change.

What has OLPC got to do with advertising GNU/Linux? 

>
> Neil Williams
> =============
> http://www.data-freedom.org/
> http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/
> http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/

-- 
W. Devon
-----------
A GNU/Linux user

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