Which is your favourite Linux promo ad?

[Blondie]

Between IBM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwL0G9wK8j4), Red Hat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtdnZNYN0MM), Novell (http://www.novell.com/video/media_player_popup.html?id=linuxworld06/are_you_ready.flv) and Chinese 2000 Linux (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MR9LWNf0kg)?

What was it Steve Ballmer said about Linux being communist again? :D

[%hMa@?b<C]

that chinese one was funny!
but the redhat one was my favorite, also when the IBM commercial came out (superbowl 3 yrs ago?) everybody thought I looked like the kid in it, without knowing I used linux!

[BWF89]

I liked the IBM prodegy one.

[bensexson]

The Chinese one is hilarious.

[bensexson]

The Chinese one is hilarious.

[ComplexNumber]

from a point of view of a UK native, the chinese one was pure silly. if i were used to watching chinese adverts, i may be able to get an idea of what their standards are, but i can only judge it by the standards that i know from watching UK adverts.

the novell one was hip and 'cool', and along the same lines of the "i'm a mac" advert....almost as if its trying to appeal to the same crowd.

the redhat and IBM ones were both intellectual and seemed to have too much in common in the way they went about conveying the message.

i voted for the redhat one.

[tribaal]

I liked the Novell one better, for conveying the message in a more conscise way.

Redhat's one was a good idea, but was definately too long.
IBM's make it sound like linux is currently learning for others, without doing anything... I disagree.

And the chineese... well... I guess you just can't compare it to the others. I really don't know if it's satyrical or not...

- trib'

[atrus123]

Oh man, that Chinese video is brilliant.

The Novell video has sort of an Apple appeal, which is a strike against it. Of course, Apple ads are fairly effective.

The IBM and Red Hat videos are both artsy and effective. I'll vote IBM just because it's a long time favorite.

[Blondie]

I liked the Novell one better, for conveying the message in a more conscise way.

Redhat's one was a good idea, but was definately too long.
IBM's make it sound like linux is currently learning for others, without doing anything... I disagree.

And the chineese... well... I guess you just can't compare it to the others. I really don't know if it's satyrical or not...

- trib'

I think it's supposed to be a satire of this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_model_plays). I don't think it's meant to be taking itself entirely seriously.

[Brunellus]

the chinese one can't possibly be serious.

[lapsey]

chinese is awesome, red hat is neat but the IBM and Novell ads are a total turn off. They both suffer horribly from all the 'smiley beautiful people giving real smiley beautiful testimonials'. Come off it guys.

[ComplexNumber]

chinese is awesome, red hat is neat but the IBM and Novell ads are a total turn off. They both suffer horribly from all the 'smiley beautiful people giving real smiley beautiful testimonials'. Come off it guys.
aren't you and others in this thread who think the about the chinese one merely judging it by western standards, though? it may seem different by western standards, but for all we know, it may well be the chinese equivelent of the ferraro rocher or shake'n'vac advert...and they were notoriously bad.

[Brunellus]

aren't you and others in this thread who think the about the chinese one merely judging it by western standards, though? it may seem different by western standards, but for all we know, it may well be the chinese equivelent of the ferraro rocher or shake'n'vac advert...and they were notoriously bad.
I'm still standing by my theory that the chinese one has got to be some sort of parody. the dollar sign leads me to believe it was produced in and for Hong Kong....which explains something.

[Brunellus]

chinese is awesome, red hat is neat but the IBM and Novell ads are a total turn off. They both suffer horribly from all the 'smiley beautiful people giving real smiley beautiful testimonials'. Come off it guys.
the IBM one was pretty good, I think. It creates a positive impression of a product that IBM is trying to sell (Linux for its servers). Moreover, it fit very well with the "corporate style" of clean, minimal IBM advertising. I've actually liked Big Blue's marketing efforts since maybe 1998, though, so I'm partial.

[ComplexNumber]

I'm still standing by my theory that the chinese one has got to be some sort of parody. the dollar sign leads me to believe it was produced in and for Hong Kong....which explains something.
yeah, you may be right. therefore they would have attempted to give it a more global emphesis than if it were produced for the chinese mainland, i suppose.

[Boomy]

If the aim of the ad is to sell a product to the masses, the Novell one is the best. Those first 2 you don't even know wtf they are talking about unitl a few minutes into it. By that time you are bored. The Novell one is simple and concise. It becomes evident immediately that they are trying to sell you some polished, easy to use software. I dunno about the others.

[Blondie]

I'm still standing by my theory that the chinese one has got to be some sort of parody. the dollar sign leads me to believe it was produced in and for Hong Kong....which explains something.

Yeah Chinese 2000 was originally based in Hong Kong though it was then distributed throughout mainland China too. It was Red Hat based. I think you're right that this advert is from Hong Kong. The same people now sell a localised Chinese version of OpenOffice called RedOffice (http://www.ch2000.com.cn/english/product/index.htm), and their Linux version is now branded as RedOffice Linux.