[Linux-aus] Marketing Linux

[Jeff Waugh]

<quote who="linuxaus.1.tracyanne at spamgourmet.com">

> Personally I think Tux500 is an excellent way to get international
> coverage for Linux.

The Indy 500 has regional clout, but very limited international clout. You'd
be hard pressed to use Indy 500 to effectively promote even to Boston MA USA
consumers, let alone Sydney, Australia consumers. Even then, you'd have to
turn it into a story about the advertising itself, which has been done (NYT
Firefox), and is a *very* fleeting strategy.

> Word of mouth has not put Linux on sufficient desktops to even warrent a
> mention.

We're doing quite well on the desktop at the moment. Sure, I wouldn't put it
all down to word of mouth, but if you think Linux is not succeeding, you are
not paying attention. It *IS* slow going. It *IS* regional. You *WILL* have
to be patient. We're *NOT* going to "win" overnight.

> I think this is being pragmatic. It is a project that accepts the reality
> of the perception of Linux and is attempting to address that perception
> problem.

By putting it on a car bonnet? What does that *MEAN*? How on Earth do you
expect to push the needle on perception issues by putting a penguin on a car
bonnet? Does that signal to people that Linux is supported, used by their
friends, easy to use, works with their hardware, and runs their software..?
The answer is a very firm "NO".

For USD$0, we can do stuff that is more effective. I don't want to start
thinking about what we could achieve with USD$350,000, as it will anger me
further that you are asking people to tip so much money down the sink.

- Jeff

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