> > IMHO, the Open Solaris community needs more than > just > > programmers. > > Sure, but if someone that does documentation or > marketing can > code at least to the extent of the "bite-size" stuff, > can in the > former case read code without the need of constant > consultation > with the programmers, and in the latter case can > comprehend > documentation at least, then you don't have a bunch > of disconnected > functions all separately doing their things. They'd > be capable of > speaking about something to one another in common > terms, even if > when talking to consumers, they might use different > language.
Quite right. The traditional problem of marketing has been an apparent (and often frustrating) disconnect between the marketing people and technical understanding. I've myself sat on many a presentation of product that were potentially an excellent match for my company but the sale didn't go through because it became obvious very fast that the marketing guy (or girl) didn't really know the product beyond the layman abstraction and a few marketing terms. Marketing people have a tendency to want to abstract what they are presenting into layman's terms. This is fine and seems to work when one is selling a car, a toaster, or a washing machine. But for a highly technical, specialized market it is extremely frustrating! I want to know about the bucket you're trying to sell me, the makeup of the polymer chains and the strain factor of materials used. Meanwhile, the marketing guys keeps repeating that "yes, it's a bucket, and it's a really great bucket that just has no equal in the market." But it wasn't a yes or no question! It was a concrete question on detail that will determine whether the bucket that guy is trying to sell to me will hold up when I fill it up with freshly mixed cement! Know your market. The managers might have the final say by signing the contract, but even the most non-technical manager has enough brains to at least probe the technical guys on their opinions before he signs that sales contract. This message posted from opensolaris.org _______________________________________________ opensolaris-discuss mailing list opensolaris-discuss@opensolaris.org
