Tux 500
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| GnuGuy Apr 16, 2007 5:41 PM EDT |
Thanks Roger. I couldn't have said it better. This behavior needs to stop. Especially the more extreme behavior as seen in the recent 'death threat' incident. And I know that the people that tend to display it don't see just how destructive it is. They actually feel that they are exercising some form of power or influence. Please, do not get so emotionally wrapped up in your opinions that you stop respecting others. The really outstanding thing about this community (and what makes it such a real threat to m$) is the way the community explores alternatives while respecting each others efforts. If you can't be constructive in your comments regarding someone's efforts, then at least respect them for trying. This Tux500 campaign has the potential of raising awareness just like the big Firefox ad. When people see this kind of support for something like this, they are impressed. Then they begin to wonder what's so special about Linux that it can generate this type of support; not from some big commercial organization, but from a loosely-knit community of ordinary people. I've already made my donation and I'm not a big race fan. Now come on and show the Penguin a little love. |
| bundy Apr 17, 2007 11:08 AM EDT |
Well said, Roger. I also couldn't agree more. God help the next person with an idea, motivation and contacts to pull off a bold Linux marketing program if people deliberately throw wrenches into any plan that doesn't match their own idea of marketing. Who would volunteer to step forward to take this kind of abuse next time around? Make a contribution and give this a chance or risk a bleak future of Linux community marketing. |
| jimf Apr 17, 2007 11:34 AM EDT |
> Make a contribution and give this a chance or risk a bleak future of Linux community marketing. Two of valid choices really. Either make your contribution, or shut the heck up and give it a chance to work. Anything else is mean spirited beyond belief. |
| bigg Apr 17, 2007 11:39 AM EDT |
Yeah, and if it "fails", we have lost...what, exactly? I'd be out $1.34? I'd be banging my head for a week over that... |
| DarrenR114 Apr 17, 2007 11:44 AM EDT |
Personally, I'd prefer to see some sort of ad campaign comparable to the one done by the Firefox folks. Something along the lines of a full-page advertisement featuring Tux in the Wall Street Journal ... but hey, I'm not a fan of sponsoring race cars anyway (you can take this post as my *positive* offer of an alternative idea cuz I don't wanna be just another naysayer.) |
| bigg Apr 17, 2007 11:53 AM EDT |
> Something along the lines of a full-page advertisement featuring Tux in the Wall Street Journal ... My hope is that after seeing this, there will be other projects, leading to just such an advertisement. If Helios, et al are putting in their time, I guess we have to live with what they offer. By the way, do you know what a WSJ ad would cost? |
| DarrenR114 Apr 17, 2007 12:07 PM EDT |
@bigg, I'd have to see what the Firefox people spent for their ad to get an idea about the costs involved. |
| Abe Apr 17, 2007 2:22 PM EDT |
Quoting:I'd have to see what the Firefox people spent for their ad to get an idea about the costs involved. I think it end it up about $50,000. after a special discount for FOSS project. The donations exceeded that by a lot. |
| devnet Apr 21, 2007 2:43 PM EDT |
Too bad it's falling on deaf ears of one person who is vocally challenging anything tux500. He doesn't get the fact that this project isn't small, that it's big. He doesn't understand it's a grass roots effort and that ROI doesn't matter...if Linux goes to the Indy500, it's won. My son understands it. He's 9. Odd that this person (who first shouted scam, then shouted ok, maybe it's not a scam, but it's still stupid, and now shouts ROI! There's no ROI!) can't pick up on it. |
| tuxchick Apr 21, 2007 3:10 PM EDT |
Huzzah! Great article. I don't believe PPete has any objective loftier than generating clicks. No evidence, no coherence, no interesting arguments. Just heat and noise. |
| Abe Apr 22, 2007 7:11 AM EDT |
Quoting:He doesn't understand it's a grass roots effort and that ROI doesn't matter...if Linux goes to the Indy500, it's won. Absolutely, ROI in this big ocean of advertising is incalculable in advance , but we are giving it a sincere effort. Companies spend millions on TV ads and on every other medium there is without knowing anything about its effectiveness. They won't know anything in advance about whether it is going to be effective or not; they determine that after the fact. What they know for sure is that they are going to get exposure and publicity at the least, and depending on how big the audience is. Indy500, as we all know, has a huge audience. May be it is not going to be effective on the people who are informed, but those aren't the ones we are trying to reach. It will be effective on people who still haven't heard of Linux yet by intriguing their curiosity, that is a huge audience. Word of mouth works, but it takes a long time to see results. Events on TV like Indy500 could give us quick and massive results. No wonder why ads during a Super Ball game half time are so expensive! |
| dinotrac Apr 22, 2007 7:27 AM EDT |
HUZZAH ALL AROUND!! This is why I like Lxer -- the peeps is so durned smart. Absolutely right. ROI is a straw man. It matters for any individual/organization choosing between alternative approaches. It doesn't much matter for something that is, among other things, an effort to get the community interested. It is the saga of free software itself -- Lots of I, little r. Many projects that fail for every gem that rises to the top. So what? Everybody wins anyway, even those folks who tried their chops on projects that fold in the end. |
| devnet Apr 22, 2007 7:41 AM EDT |
dino: Exactly. Say that we were donating to any charity or communal effort to raise money for hunger or a cure for a disease...do we ask for our money back if hunger isn't solved? or if a cure isn't found? In this effort, there isn't any negative at all and there is a chance for a major positive. Just like donating to a charity...you have a chance to add your dollar into something that can do for the community. In the beginning of his silly diatribe, he shouted SCAM! Now that there is too much evidence contrary to that, he shouts ROI! To me, he's just trying to always counter anything helios...all because helios raised the plagiarism flag on him a few years ago....it's personal. For me, anyone that would let a personal problem get in the way of the Linux community isn't a true member of said community. |
| dinotrac Apr 22, 2007 8:33 AM EDT |
>For me, anyone that would let a personal problem get in the way of the Linux community isn't a true member of said community. A TRUE member of the community would SHOW us a better approach by DOING it, rather than WHINING about what WE are DOING. That is one of the big reasons why free software has become such a force. |
| chalex Apr 27, 2007 10:38 AM EDT |
"It is the saga of free software itself -- Lots of I, little r." I disagree with that statement. The whole point of releasing your code is that for what little effort you put into writing that code, thousands of people can benefit. That's little investment (from you), BIG returns (for society). Personally, I think the money would be better used supporting a distro directly. But if you insist on spending it on stickers on cars, perhaps you can spend $350,000 on Linux stickers and give them out to anyone who will put one on their car. |
| helios Apr 27, 2007 10:56 AM EDT |
chalex - semantics are important here "Personally, I think the money would be better used supporting a distro directly." You Think it would or you believe it would? There are millions of Linux users who think it would. Unfortunately, there seems to be only a tiny fraction of them that Believe it would. There is little effort that goes into Thinking something. You can easily recognize the Believers because they are putting forth the effort to perpetuate and solidify that belief. Perhaps you can organize the movement needed to pay for, manufacture, sell and distribute those stickers? I'd be more than glad to help you with all resources at my disposal...but not until the first of June. h |
| tuxchick Apr 27, 2007 11:00 AM EDT |
Goodness, and the empty complaining continues. Is it a lack of reading comprehension? " A TRUE member of the community would SHOW us a better approach by DOING it, rather than WHINING about what WE are DOING." Seems pretty unambiguous to me. Go ahead chalex, do stickers. Do something. Anything. Show. Don't talk. Do. |
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