Hi there --
Xubuntu is not my primary distro, but it's one I use more than
occasionally (hence, it's why I'm on this list).
Rather than reinventing the wheel, you might want to take a look at
how other distros handle marketing. One that does a good job of it is
Fedora:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Marketing
This marketing team works hand in hand with an Ambassador team that
promotes Fedora:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Ambassadors
Like Fedora or not, they do a pretty good job in promoting FOSS and
Fedora, sometimes in that order.
[Truth in advertising: I worked with the Fedora Project on the
Ambassador program for about three years, until leaving recently to
pursue other FOSS-related ventures.]
As an aside, we are holding a Lindependence event to coincide with
Software Freedom Day in September. We rent a local church hall and
invite representatives from various distros to come and show off their
work. I would welcome the opportunity to have Xubuntu represented.
Larry Cafiero
The Lindependence Project
On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 4:06 AM, Vincent wrote:
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 4:40 AM, Charlie Kravetz
> wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, 3 Jun 2011 09:33:51 +0800
>> Jason Wee wrote:
>>
>> > start by spreading the news to the general public users and also only
>> > consider users which is interested and responded to you. Then held
>> > workshop on xubuntu on what it is and what can it do for users for
>> > daily chores. I think users would want to know which opensource
>> > software can replace the software that they use in windows and you
>> > might want to consider that by teaching through the workshop.
>> >
>> > /Jason
>>
>> You have some good points here. Of cource, we have start somewhere,
>> and perhaps that is by identifying our users? Who is the target
>> audience of Xubuntu. I have long maintained that it is not the
>> beginning Linux users. Ubuntu targets that group, and is well designed
>> to meet their needs. We are in a good position to look towards those
>> intermediate and expert users, I think.
>>
>> Now, how do I get news to the general public?
>
> Not really Xubuntu-specific, but for projects like Xubuntu in general the
> problem is that for people new to the open source world, the concept of
> "free because we are volunteers that run this project for fun" is a bit hard
> to grasp. When people see free they have learnt to associate it with handing
> over address details or getting lots of advertising, but as long as they
> don't see what "the catch" is, they will assume it must not be good.
> Therefore it might be good to focus on the kumbaya-feeling of open source,
> so as to make people "wanting to be part of it". (This is, all, of course,
> completely unscientific. I have no experience/training in marketing, this is
> all just gut feeling.)
>
> When it comes to Xubuntu, start thinking about the reasons you actually use
> it. Is it because it's free of charge, because of the freedom/control it
> gives you, that you use it as opposed to one of the proprietary OS's? And is
> it because of its light-weightness/usability-combo, the flexibility of Xfce,
> the traditional desktop interface, that you use it as opposed to the easy,
> popular choices of Linux distros such as Ubuntu? If you prioritize such a
> list you can end up at the strengths of Xubuntu that will appeal to a group
> of people that might not have heard of Xubuntu yet. (This is a bit hard for
> me to do since I don't use Xubuntu anymore.)
>
> Then of course the next step is to get the word out to those people. I think
> you should try to focus on existing Ubuntu users, as e.g. Windows users are
> hard to reach. For the latter group, you want to make sure that if they go
> looking for an alternative to their Windows installation with the before
> mentioned characteristics, that they can find Xubuntu. However, when
> actively reaching out, it would probably be easier to focus on people that
> are already using Ubuntu and might be happier using/trying Xubuntu. A way
> that I think Lubuntu is getting a lot of attention is because a fan of them
> is in the OMG! Ubuntu team - it might be an idea to see if someone from the
> Xubuntu community can nudge his/her way up there? ;-)
>
> There, I weighed in on a discussion on xubuntu-devel :)
>
>>
>> >
>> > On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 9:24 AM, Charlie Kravetz
>> > wrote:
>> > > I have given marketing a lot of thought. I am by no means an expert in
>> > > marketing, and may need someone to set me straight. However, I am
>> > > hoping to at least get some discussion started.
>> > >
>> > > How do you market Xubuntu? It is free, it generates no revenue, and it
>> > > must be given away. This seems to present a dilemma.
>> > >
>> > > How would you market Xubuntu if it were a new product to be sold
>> > > today?
>> > > Unfortunately, at the present time, the advertising budget is empty.
>> > > But, that does not mean it can not be done.
>> > >
>> > > I would start by telling people what a great Opera
