[Linux-aus] Re: Volari Linux driver: potential press release?

[Jonathan Oxer]

On Thu, 2004-02-19 at 12:20, Stewart Smith wrote:
> although i'm not quite convinced on the press-release purely promoting
> newcomers - what about those who've been at it for years? hrrm...
> 
> oh, somebody else have that debate for me :)

I'll take that bait  ;-)

The point of the press release exercise is to raise the profile of Linux
within the wider community in a positive way, and to (hopefully)
increase its credibility as a viable alternative to the incumbent
marketshare leader.

This is very much along the lines of what I preached at Debian Miniconf3
in my hijacking of the State Of The Nation address, and previously
pushed as a visibility initiative in
http://articles.linmagau.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=175

(In that article I encouraged people to undertake exercises to raise the
visibility of Linux, which is really just a sneaky way of making them do
marketing without them thinking they have to become a salesman -
anathema to most geeks).

To that end, when Good Stuff happens we should tell the world about it.
If the XGI request qualifies as Good Stuff, we should use it as an
excuse to push the visibility gauge up a little bit. In this specific
case maybe the particular target demographics are gamers ("Linux is good
for gaming, all the latest gear is supported"), hardware vendors ("XGI
are working with the community to develop drivers, why aren't you?"),
and corporate IT decision makers ("Linux enjoys increasing support from
vendors, validating it as a viable long-term solution").

So to get back to Stewart's question, the point of a press release is to
highlight current and upcoming events or achievements. It's about things
happening *now*. I know companies that are long term Linux supporters
might feel like newcomers are getting all the glory, but I'm sure
they'll do things worthy of attention in the future too. If IBM or HP
did something really newsworthy right now, they'd get the limelight.
It's not a matter of who's been around longest, it's about what's
newsworthy *at the time*.

Cheers  :-)

Jonathan Oxer
-- 
The Debian Universe: Installing, managing and using Debian GNU/Linux
http://www.debianuniverse.com/