[Linux-aus] FOSS marketing mistakes (was: a Reality?)

[Brent Wallis]

Hi,
Can't you spot their (MS's) error guys?
The IT market is tough! Most corporates worth any form of salt will look at this one fact:

    Microsoft will run a $US400 million ([AUD]$670 million) public
    relations campaign,

and ask themselves 2 questions:
1. Why? Why spend so much? What's caused them to do this? What has them scared to take so much out of their revenue and do this?
and 
2. Why didn;t they just use this cash to reduce the price of the 200 Office licences I have to buy? My competitor is using OpenOFfice without a problem, can;t they give me something better than a silly esoteric TV ad where everyone has American accents?
 
 
(the more social would ask how that could be spent to relieve human misery in the world...)
 
People/corporates are not stupid ...those that are eventually fail...(Though some take a few years...:)Enron, AMP et al..). IF MS do this campaign, then they wil be literally considering all coproates big and small as fools. Balmers language (hobbyists?) just doesn;t fit with the reality, and displays a zero knowledge of the Open Source method. Let them eat their cake, just stick to our washing and "brightly" point out the real successes.
 
BW