Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 16:56:06 -0800 From: Dave Yost <Dave@Yost.com> To: freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: The Linux PR firestorm disaster (w.r.t. FreeBSD) Message-ID: <v04104408b2fc8ab8acfc@[205.219.69.138]> In-Reply-To: <4966.919983496@zippy.cdrom.com>
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=46orgive me if this has been endlessly hashed and rehashed here. I've just= joined the mailing list. Some young lone wolf in Finland writes a barebones unix kernel called linux,= and it captures the imagination of the world. Later, the press latches on= to linux as THE alternative to Windows and NT and creates a firestorm. = Every time they do a report on linux, they neglect even to mention FreeBSD. This is a disaster, and it must be attacked with full force as soon as= possible or FreeBSD will become hopelessly marginalized. =46irst order of business, I think is that http://www.freebsd.org/ must have= a prominent main heading: FreeBSD vs. linux and others which leads to some simple, forthright information suitable for nontechnical= journalists and TV news people. It should also have a big, forbidding= table with lots of X marks for stuff FreeBSD has that linux doesn't and as= much technical backup material as possible. Once that foundation is in place, the work can really begin. Second order of business, I think, is to make as much of a P.R. splash as= possible that FreeBSD is looking for a new, flashy name so it can better= compete for mindshare with linux. A write-in campaign to the press on this= matter would be great. The end result of this may in fact be to stick with= the name, but the PR attention will be good. Third order of business Get FreeBSD visible in stores. Fry's _doesn't= carry it!__ We will all have to work to force it to begin flowing through= the retail store channels. This will have a major impact. Pester every= store that carries the Linux box to get them to carry the FreeBSD box, and= BUY IT THERE, not on the web or on the 800 number. Walnut Creek:= discourage phone orders in favor of store purchase, and explain why you're= doing it. There is a lot more that can be done, but these three are the high-order= bits in my mind. I suggest that there should be a public advocacy newsgroup: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.advocacy which should be put in process at once. In the meantime, someone can create alt.comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.advocacy immediately so work can begin. Thanks Dave Yost To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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