Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1999 09:25:53 -0500 (EST) From: Louis Bertrand <louis@signalpath.on.ca> To: Jim Mock <jim@corp.au.triax.com> Cc: eT <eT@KryptoKom.DE>, FreeBSD Chat <freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG>, FreeBSD Advocacy <freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: what's in a name? Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9903030847300.1372-100000@tronix.signalpath.on.ca> In-Reply-To: <19990303224958.A3681@corp.au.triax.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Pardon an interloper from OpenBSD. I just subscribed and caught this thread which echoes a draft of an opinion piece I was going to do for DaemonNews. On Wed, 3 Mar 1999, Jim Mock wrote: > > could it be that the word linux just 'sounds' more like a friendly > > operating system than FreeBSD? and that because of this new users > > are more susceptible to using it? > > > > Eh? How does Linux sound more user-friendly? > 1) Because it's associated with a real person's name, whose hype as a philantropic boy-genius from Finland catches the attention of non-techies (may it's that Mozart thing...). I'm not running Linus down -- he is articulate and media-savvy and has a lot to do with the success of Linux. <humour> But if you changed the name of FreeBSD to Jordan, you'd get in trouble with Nike. </humour> 2) Because a name is one of the hardest things to remember about a person -- it's an arbitrary choice by parents, and not tied back to a physical characteristic. Hence you try to make the name representative and associated with mnemonic clues (Linux -> Linus) A big no-no in marketing is using initials (IBM is big enough to get away with it -- a freenix OS isn't). Try explaining BSD to a non-techie, then quiz him/her the next day. If they even remember the name, you'll get DBS, BBS, BSB... Hence you use something that evokes a warm fuzzy response and you're more likely to be remembered. Media scribes are like the rest of us: over-worked and underpaid. You need to catch their attention. > > i mean, just all the different versions of linux out there would > > make me think twice about even starting off with it? > > > > There's different *BSDs too. > > > is linux perhaps a more 'marketable' name than FreeBSD? > > > > Doubtful. Why would it be? One word: Marketing. Have you ever seen the movie "The Shawshank Redemption"? Good movie, lousy name; it flopped at the box office. Same with Isuzu automobiles: their sales took off when they started sub-branding (RODEO by Isuzu, in North America). > > > why not let's change the name FreeBSD to some variant of linux? i > > agree that the time for advocacy has come upon us more than ever > > before! > > > > I think you've spent too much time "phoning home" eT. There's nothing > wrong with the name.. the problem is getting the word out that there > are alternatives to Linux. I mean you can call a lump of shit sugar, > but it's still a lump of shit right? The point is, the name's got > nothing to do with it, doing something about the situation is what > it's all about. There is something wrong with the name but I agree that calling FreeBSD a variant of Linux is a very bad idea. However, we could use some better marketing. It's a conundrum of the open source groups that there are more developers than marketers (exact opposite in large software companies). Another problem is that there are no applications aimed at non-expert users. By non-expert user, I mean someone who is an expert in a non-computer field but has to use a computer to get their job done, like a graphic artist, a stock market analyst, a writer, a sales person, etc. They're treated like boobs by the hackers in the open source movement. If you want respect from the community at large, you have to earn it since, unlike Nike, MS and Camel, you can't buy it. You won't solve the problem by going into denial. Ciao! --Louis Louis Bertrand, Bowmanville, ON, Canada <louis@signalpath.on.ca> OpenBSD: One fish, two fish, blowfish http://www.OpenBSD.org/crypto.html To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?Pine.BSF.4.05.9903030847300.1372-100000>