[ubuntu-marketing] Importance of marketing, and its lack etc (Thesis) (Ecuador)

[alan c]

Open Source, Linux and the importance of marketing and public perception
by Rudd-O — published on September 20th, 2006

http://rudd-o.com/archives/2006/09/20/open-source-linux-and-the-importance-of-marketing-and-public-perception/
This is a pro Open Source item, and is worth a look.

snipped extract:
'A fairly sizable part of our work was identifying Linux and Open
Source weaknesses, and finding out how they fared in practice. Mind
you, we fare pretty poorly, guys. We’re all tech, and no heart.

Do you know what my thesis’ first and foremost conclusion is? Linux
and Open Source lack marketing. Ergo, we lack brand recognition. Ergo,
we lack public trust. Ergo, misconceptions abound.

One of our interviewees said (in connection with Ubuntu) during a
focus group: Oh, I see what they’re doing, they’re offering the
software for free, so they can later change their policy and start
charging us for updates. I’d rather pay a set amount of money upfront
than having “them” change the game rules on me later on.. Being that
we were conducting a focus group, the methodology forbid me from
evangelizing on the true philosophy underlying Ubuntu (or Open
Source). But I felt this nearly uncontrollable fit of anger when I
heard that comment.

Almost all of our interviewees found Ubuntu Linux easy to use (no
surprises there). Most of them were truly astonished as to how much
punch Ubuntu packs in a single CD. A large portion of the interviewees
were actually willing to try it, especially if the BSA threatened to
crack their businesses down (that they were using pirated software is,
of course, not a surprise as well). Just a single person, who seemed
to hate computers, did not find anything to like about Ubuntu (and
this person fits the reproductive learning profile — she memorized
procedures instead of learning concepts about computer usage).'
[end of snipped extract]

-- 
alan c

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[ubuntu-marketing] Planning for my absence: UWN and the Beta page

[Corey Burger]

Hello all,

Work periodically requires me to be away for a week or more and that
time has come again. I am headed to Colorado from Sunday the 24th of
Sept until Saturday the 30th. Normally this is not an issue, but I
have been doing two time critical things recently: the UWN and the
Knot/Beta release pages. As the W in UWN stands for week and the Beta
release is scheduled for the 28th, we need to plan how to get these
two things done while I am away.

UWN:
I arrived back in Victoria at 7pm on the 30th local time and release
is usually midnight. Thus I will be back to send it out. However, the
content is the more important bit. I would love it if people could
step up and get large parts of the UWN written before Saturday.

Beta:
Given we are into feature freeze already, I don't expect much to
change from now to the release on the 28th. The biggest piece that
nobody here but myself can do is moving it to the website. For that we
will need Matthew Nuzum. Both Henrik Omma and Matthew East are
currently away, but if you see them, they can also help us.

As for the content, it can largely be gleaned from the previous Knot2
and 3 pages. Jason Liquorish (Bassetts on IRC) has begun to do this as
I write this email.
The wikipage for this is:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EdgyEft/Beta

As for how to write both of these, if you have any questions, I will
be available by email while away, but I don't guarantee anything.
Also, there are lots of great people and previous versions to compare
to.

Cheers,

Corey

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