<!DOCTYPE html><html><body><div dir="auto">Hi Russell<br><br>On February 7, 2026 3:27:51 PM GMT+10:00, Russell Coker wrote:<br>>https://flounder.linux.org.au/2026/02/07/feb-2026-meeting-report/<br>><br>>This is a blog post briefly summarising some of the discussions at the meeting<br>>today.<br>><br>>One thing that might be of particular interest to members of this list is the<br>>discussion about having a LA subcommittee for promoting Linux. We have MS<br>>communicating with journalists to make sure that their stuff gets mentioned,<br>>maybe we could try to compete in that area.<br><br>Interesting idea.<br><br>Long ago in this very galaxy, LA used to have a Press team, approx between 2004 and 2007. Some of the people involved at the time were Pia, Rusty, Michael Davies, and myself. There were others. We even got press/media training from an external person, which was very useful.<br><br>We responded to issues in the press, did parliamentary submissions, and helped LCA organisers with press releases.<br>From OSIA (Open Source Industry Australia) we did something similar, taking the business angle, noting the benefits of open source to Australian businesses and our economy.<br><br><br>I think it was useful, and I'm still sad that the LA press team wasn't continued at the time. While times have changed, I think that there could be a great benefit to having such a team again. They could respond and initiate as deemed necessary, as well as acting as a point of call for media people in case they want a quote or are looking for expertise.<br><br>I think it makes sense for such a to promote open source in general, rather than only Linux. Just like Everything Open does.<br><br>I also think that we shouldn't specifically go after Microsoft, or any other particular vendor or product. I know you didn't suggest that, but best if it's explicitly stated now.<br>Strategically, it's best to not be directly compared as people always find something they don't like. Asymmetric competition (in our case, promotion) is usually much more effective and also cannot be easily countered.<br><br><br>The big question is of course, who would have time to do this. Having a team means that the load can be spread out, but there will be a load and often at very short notice. All of the instances I described above have a very short window of opportunity, and then the world has moved on.<br><br>I might know some wise people who might be willing to do this... Perhaps others do too.<br><br><br>While I can't commit to it myself right now, I'd be happy to assist and advise as I do have experience with some aspects. I haven't done things like parliamentary submissions though.<br>While it's unlikely you'd get Pia on the team, she might be willing to do a coaching session, which would be awesome.<br><br>My 3c (inflation)<br><br>Regards,<br>Arjen.</div></body></html><br><p>Message protected by MailGuard: e-mail anti-virus, anti-spam and content filtering.<br /><a href="https://www.mailguard.com.au/mg">https://www.mailguard.com.au/mg</a></p>
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