Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 11:12:07 -0500 (EST) From: hoek@freenet.hamilton.on.ca To: dennis@etinc.com Cc: hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Commerical applications (was: Development and validation Message-ID: <199701181612.LAA28366@james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca>
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In Email, dennis <dennis@etinc.com> wrote:
>
> You need to align yourself with commercial vendors. Bookstores
> aren't going to get you what you want, you need good products that run
> FreeBSD.
Are you suggesting we try to convince IBM to sell all their new Aptivas
with FreeBSD?
> Microsoft isn't popular because of all the books that are written about
> it, books are written because their products are popular. You get popular
> by having good products and telling people about them.
I would suggest that Microsoft is popular for three reasons...
1) If you buy a new computer, chances are it has Win95 on it.
2) ZD Magazines == MS Magazines (Don't flame me -- I'll admit I'm not
being fair, but the point is that the ZD Magazines have built up a large
distribution and if they were to suddenly cover 100% FreeBSD, the
-questions list would suddenly increase in volume a LOT).
3) MS markets itself to large corps well. Witness the Corel vs.
Microsoft wordprocessor suite fight.
You suggest that MS is popular because it tells people about its products.
This is certainly part of it, and is reflected in point #2 above.
Now, FreeBSD can try to use the above methods to become popular, but Linux
shows us that there is yet another method that works well --
word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth will generate interest ("Hmm... that person
sounds like someone smart, and they said they run Linux. Maybe I should,
too"), but many people will still be very hesitant to try a new OS ("what
if I screw-up my computer?"). If, however, they are given some kind of
assurance that they won't screw-up their computer, they're much more
likely to try it. This, of course, is where the books and HOWTOs come in.
I doubt that Win95 books increase Win95 sales much, but I really do
suspect that Linux books increase Linux sales a lot.
Of course, this implies that FreeBSD also needs word-of-mouth
advertising...
That said, the users attracted by this are likely to be more novice, and
needing more support. Users attracted by magazines probably have more
experience and too much ego to need as much support.
> The problem with the current FreeBSD approach is that you get your noses all
> bent out of shape if someone else makes money off of what you perceive to be
> your work. Your short-sightedness in your failure to realize that the
> resulting popularity will make your skills more marketable and valuable
> is something to consider.
I think you're confusing FreeBSD with Minix.
--
tIM...HOEk
"You really sound as if some XEmacs user has raped your favourite gnu and
you want to go with a large flamethrower after all of them."
- Erik Naggum
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