[Linux-aus] Marketing Linux

[Paul Wayper]

linuxaus.1.tracyanne at spamgourmet.com wrote:
> My Name is Tracyanne Barlow, I've been a fulltime Linux user for the
> last 5 years I live in the Hervey Bay area. 
>
> I'm involved in a project that is attempting to raise funds to begin a
> marketing campaign to market Linux to a wider audience. This project is
> mainly the work of two men Ken Stark (who Blogs as Helios
> http://blog.lobby4linux.com/) and and Bob Moore a Linux Admin and prime
> mover of this project. They have engaged the services of Acceleration
> Marketing ( http://www.accelerationmarketing.net/ ) a marketing company
> that works with the US Motorsport industry. They have a car and a
> driver, all they need now is the help of the Linux community to raise
> $US350,000 to race an Indy car in this years Indy 500
> ( http://www.tux500.com/index.php )
>
> If you would like to help, by making a donation, please go to the tux500
> site. If there is anything else you would like to do please contact
> Helios (Ken Stark) at lobby4linux.com.
>   
My personal reaction to this is that that's a lot of money that's
basically going to be poured right down the drain.  There are a lot of
things that $350,000 USD could do to improve open source and to market
it to wider audiences - that's a team of developers paid for a year or
more to work full time on improving the UI, for instance.  It's probably
enough for a campaign of well-presented TV or YouTube ads.  It's enough
money to make a lot of hardware vendors sit up, take notice and give us
detailed specs to fully open-source major components (Wifi and video
drivers, perhaps).

Instead, it's going to go on one more car in a race full of cars
sporting copious quantities of advertising, in another festival of
excessive consumption and waste.  It might as well be sporting
advertising for health care or saving the Bilby, for all the relevance
to actually contributing to the performance of the vehicle.

I think it's great, Tracyanne, that you're inspired by Linux and want to
promote it.  I feel exactly the same way.  But this, to me, isn't the
way.  I've donated money to send people to Linux.conf.au
(http://pleasesendustolinuxconfau.info/), to support the development of
the Nouveau driver (http://www.pledgebank.com/nouveaudriver), and to the
MythTV DVB Multiplexer project (http://mythtvmultiplex.osp.fi/).  I've
given CDs of Ubuntu and Open Software away at Software Freedom Day
(http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/).  But I wouldn't support an Indy
500 race car.

Have fun,

Paul