Derek Djons
April 12th, 2006, 08:40 PM
Today I surfed across an article which discussed some differences and pros / cons between Microsoft Windows and GNU/Linux. Since these kind of articles are plenty around I started to skip more and more text until I came across something interesting.
Microsoft will be investing millions alone this year on PR and advertising. That's nothing new. We all know that Microsoft Windows Vista is coming out and companies in general need PR and advertising in order to sell more and make profit.
Also on this forum there have been some discussions related to possible PR and advertisement being done by GNU/Linux developers, distributions and communities.
I wonder if such campaigns are needed and what would it mean for GNU/Linux.
Reasons to start PR and advertisement:
- Inform more people about GNU/Linux and what it can mean for them.
- Persuade more people to use a specific distribution.
- Openly attack Microsoft, touching it's monopoly position (though I don't consider this a goal of much GNU/Linux communities).
In my opinion the first two reasons are most likely going to be chosen if PR and advertisement becomes a part of GNU/Linux and communities. Projects such as Mandrake and Linspire have really good reasons to invest in PR and advertisement in what ever way available, possible and affordable. It's not unlikely that when these projects start to play with PR and advertisement other distributions will follow.
Would their be any consequences for all of us? Well, I personally think that distributions and communities will not be spending time and money in PR and advertisement if it doesn't benefits them. Benefiting these days doesn't necessarily means you have to sell 100% of truth. Let's face it. How much is literally true of what Microsoft writes down, how much is true of what other companies are writing down and how much will be true of what distributions write down. Advertisement, marketing and PR has everything to do with telling a bit of truth and expanding it with a lot of glamorous glitters which are subjective and sometimes even a lie.
Possible results of GNU/Linux PR and advertisement:
- A lot of information will be written down and presented with more glamor than bare facts.
- Distributions and communities may become struggled in overwriting each other.
- People could start to see GNU/Linux as a long waited for Microsoft Windows replacement operating system.
I personally think that GNU/Linux, it's distributions and communities and products are of a new breed. Advertisement and promotion isn't needed since what the community uses is being made by the community itself. Within the community there are always people who are looking for new grounds to explore or feel the urge to spread the word.
Alongside opensource products, services and knowledge feels almost natural and doesn't request any advertisement and promotion. You just have to be interested in it all and you have to dare to ask for it. That's all.
Microsoft will be investing millions alone this year on PR and advertising. That's nothing new. We all know that Microsoft Windows Vista is coming out and companies in general need PR and advertising in order to sell more and make profit.
Also on this forum there have been some discussions related to possible PR and advertisement being done by GNU/Linux developers, distributions and communities.
I wonder if such campaigns are needed and what would it mean for GNU/Linux.
Reasons to start PR and advertisement:
- Inform more people about GNU/Linux and what it can mean for them.
- Persuade more people to use a specific distribution.
- Openly attack Microsoft, touching it's monopoly position (though I don't consider this a goal of much GNU/Linux communities).
In my opinion the first two reasons are most likely going to be chosen if PR and advertisement becomes a part of GNU/Linux and communities. Projects such as Mandrake and Linspire have really good reasons to invest in PR and advertisement in what ever way available, possible and affordable. It's not unlikely that when these projects start to play with PR and advertisement other distributions will follow.
Would their be any consequences for all of us? Well, I personally think that distributions and communities will not be spending time and money in PR and advertisement if it doesn't benefits them. Benefiting these days doesn't necessarily means you have to sell 100% of truth. Let's face it. How much is literally true of what Microsoft writes down, how much is true of what other companies are writing down and how much will be true of what distributions write down. Advertisement, marketing and PR has everything to do with telling a bit of truth and expanding it with a lot of glamorous glitters which are subjective and sometimes even a lie.
Possible results of GNU/Linux PR and advertisement:
- A lot of information will be written down and presented with more glamor than bare facts.
- Distributions and communities may become struggled in overwriting each other.
- People could start to see GNU/Linux as a long waited for Microsoft Windows replacement operating system.
I personally think that GNU/Linux, it's distributions and communities and products are of a new breed. Advertisement and promotion isn't needed since what the community uses is being made by the community itself. Within the community there are always people who are looking for new grounds to explore or feel the urge to spread the word.
Alongside opensource products, services and knowledge feels almost natural and doesn't request any advertisement and promotion. You just have to be interested in it all and you have to dare to ask for it. That's all.