Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 16:52:11 -0500 (EST) From: Robert Watson <rwatson@freebsd.org> To: Narvi <narvi@haldjas.folklore.ee> Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: RE: Where is FreeBSD going? Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.3.96L.1040106164719.87887h-100000@fledge.watson.org> In-Reply-To: <20040106234532.L32387-100000@haldjas.folklore.ee>
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On Tue, 6 Jan 2004, Narvi wrote: > On Tue, 6 Jan 2004, Robert Watson wrote: > > > On Tue, 6 Jan 2004, David Schwartz wrote: > > > > > FreeBSD does need more advocacy if it wants to get the kind of > > > visibility and credibility that Linux has in the public perception. > > > Frankly, I'm kind of baffled that it doesn't. I've always found the two > > > OSes more or less interchangeable and tend to install whichever one > > > whose CD I can find first. > > > > The best advocacy FreeBSD can get is to have happy users explain to the > > rest of the world how much they like our cool aid. Or rather, one of the > > greatest contributions end-users can make to FreeBSD is to tell their > > friends (and then help them get up and going :-). It's also one of the > > greatest compliments you can give. Developers are typically fairly bad at > > advocacy, and perhaps it's better that the developers work on what they're > > good at (since it always seems a few more hands can help). So if you (in > > the general sense, not you specifically) like FreeBSD, and feel like > > documentation or code aren't your fortes, go out and give a talk at your > > local Linux user group about FreeBSD. Or explain to the people at your > > company that they could go out and buy Windows, Solaris, or Linux with > > support, or they could rely on your own expertise in-house and get the job > > done at a fraction of the cost. > > i'm not quite sure this is a replacement for a postgersql / gnome / > openoffice style marketing team though. Agreed. It's just a starting point, but one particular benefit of it as a starting point is that it would bring to people's attention the people who's contributions to advocacy are most effective, as well as build a base of marketing materials and volunteers. High on my wish list of marketing materials are some 2-page "white papers" on deploying FreeBSD. Particular, short 2-pagers on FreeBSD as a network appliance or storage appliance base, as a firewall, and as a database server. Nicely laid out, business-like, and appropriate for distribution as PDF or on paper at conferences. Another thing I'd like to see is a retrofit on the "Power to server" brand, which I think was one of our more effective slogans. A nice logo and slogan can go a long way, because people stick them on everything. One of the ideas I've been poking at is moving to a logo that slightly deemphasizes the Daemon, and instead connotes "power and reliability" -- perhaps some sort of train-based logo. Something like: F r e e B S D [train in motion logo] The Power to Serve Robert N M Watson FreeBSD Core Team, TrustedBSD Projects robert@fledge.watson.org Senior Research Scientist, McAfee Research
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