From the
“
what would
say
”
files:
For the most part, Linux has always lacked good marketing (except perhaps for some great stuff from IBM a few years ago..). The gold standard in operating system ads now seems to be the I
’
m a MAC you
’
re a PC ads
–
and so the Linux Foundation is now kicking off an effort to
‘
mimic them
’
for Linux.
According to a blog
from the Linux Foundation:
While the Linux Foundation would love to spend millions promoting Linux on TV, it’s simply not our style (or in our budget). Even more importantly, Linux isn’t a top-down, commercially controlled operating system. It’s a grassroots product of mass collaboration. That’s why we’re sponsoring a community contest to create a Linux video that showcases just what Linux means to those who use it, and hopefully inspires many to try it.
Certainly this is a good idea for Linux and one that could unleash a torrent of creativity. Creating a copycat I’m a Linux campaign is both good and bad – bad in that it’s a copy (as opposed to being unique), good in that it’s a copy of a campaign that’s well known.
The open source community itself has other examples of community driven video campaigns
–
my favorite to this day remains the Mozilla Firefox effort of a few years back to get Firefox. Just for a good Monday laugh I
’
ve embedded my fav spot from that effort below. Let
’
s hope the new Linux effort produces something as memorable.