Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 13:56:08 -0400 From: Michael Lucas <mwlucas@blackhelicopters.org> To: Chris Coleman <chrisc@vmunix.com> Cc: Arjan van Leeuwen <avleeuwen@piwebs.com>, advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FreeBSD PR Message-ID: <20020913135608.A1934@blackhelicopters.org> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0209131345180.2425-100000@vnode.vmunix.com>; from chrisc@vmunix.com on Fri, Sep 13, 2002 at 01:50:19PM -0400 References: <20020913103642.A74684@blackhelicopters.org> <Pine.BSF.4.21.0209131345180.2425-100000@vnode.vmunix.com>
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Thanks, Chris! Especially for the review copies, we'll hopefully need them. :-) On Fri, Sep 13, 2002 at 01:50:19PM -0400, Chris Coleman wrote: > I have two venues available to me to send PR stuff to, but it would have > to be wrapped into the form of an article. ie, I can accept articles for > daemonnews.org and oreillynet.com/bsd and get them published. This isn't > direct PR, but writing about a product and how it works in actual usage is > really very good PR. > > Daily.daemonnews.org is pretty good for posting PR relates stuff to, but > its mostly preaching to the choir and I'd like to see this get beyond the > current congregation. (But don't forget to post it to daily afterward!) > > Oh, and if we need to send copies of FreeBSD to press people to review, > just let me know. > > Chris Coleman Editor in Chief > Daemon News E-Zine http://www.daemonnews.org > Print Magazine http://magazine.daemonnews.org > BSD Mall http://www.bsdmall.com > > On Fri, 13 Sep 2002, Michael Lucas wrote: > > > Hello, > > > > You know, I don't think I kicked this anthill hard enough; not many of > > you are stirring. > > > > I'm picking Arjan's response to reply to in a general context, rather > > than replying to everyone. This might make it seem that I'm talking > > only with Arjan, but that's not my intent -- I simply am not writing > > this several times over. I also received several personal replies, > > and am going to respond to some of the issues raised in general here. > > > > First off, I'm glad some of you give a dang. We agree that PR is > > important. (In related news, we agree that Pluto is a bit chilly in > > the summer.) > > > > One issue I'd like to address right off is summarized nicely by Arjan > > here: > > > > On Thu, Sep 12, 2002 at 09:09:39PM +0200, Arjan van Leeuwen wrote: > > > I'd love to see a PR team, and I'd love to be part of it too (if that's > > > possible). > > > > Yes, it is possible, and yes, we would love to have you. > > > > One comment that was frequently raised was, "I can't help, I'm not a > > committer!" > > > > Well, I am a committer, and I have to say that being a committer is > > not necessary to do any FreeBSD work. But a commit bit is considered > > a benefit for FreeBSD contributors, so: you want a commit bit, you can > > have it, more easily than most. Here's how: > > > > One of our first tasks needs to be updating > > http://www.freebsd.org/news/press.html. > > > > I want this page updated with links that show FreeBSD mentions in the > > press, especially those that demonstrate FreeBSD technology uptake by > > other companies (i.e., Apple), not just ones that say "wow, FreeBSD is > > kewl." Snippets on personal Web pages don't count, sorry. These need > > to be "real" press articles. I'm not going to go and define what real > > press is: I know it when I see it. > > > > Install /usr/ports/textproc/docproj and /usr/ports/textproc/ispell. > > CVSup the source for the www tree (collection www). Edit > > www/en/news/press.xml to include the links and blurbs. Spellcheck the > > file, validate it with the DocProj tools, and build it to see that it > > works. Check the links to be sure they work, too. Then submit your > > changes as a PR. > > > > Pardon the self promotion, but: > > > > Installing user tools: > > http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2001/02/08/Big_Scary_Daemons.html > > > > Changing the docs: > > http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2001/02/22/Big_Scary_Daemons.html > > > > Submitting the PRs: > > http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2001/03/08/Big_Scary_Daemons.html > > > > You can also find this info scattered throughout the FreeBSD web site, > > especially in the Docproj Primer, but you cannot say I don't make it > > easy for you! :-) > > > > So, here's the deal: > > > > Submit updates to the "In The Press" page. rwatson sent out a nice > > list of links, which I'm going to count as one set of updates. Make > > sure your patches are clean, meaning that they apply cleanly, and > > don't break the Web build. > > > > Submit twelve clean patches in a row, through proper FreeBSD channels, > > and I will sponsor you for a commit bit of your very own. Do us all a > > favor, though, and post here that you have a press PR in the queue on > > story such-and-such; that will save others here the time and trouble > > to do it. > > > > By accepting this commit bit, you will also accept the responsibility > > to maintain the FreeBSD "In the Press" page. > > > > It may take you a couple patches to get right, and you may have to ask > > questions, but that's OK. Really. If you wind up submitting fourteen > > patches total because the first two needed correction, that's the > > learning curve. I went through it -- heck, Robert Watson went through > > it, and he's now one of the Core members and a highfaluting', > > respected kernel security guy. > > > > In case of dispute, the person who gets to decide is me; if I'm > > sponsoring you, that means I'm putting my good name behind you, so you > > better measure up to my standards. (I'm not that bad, ask Tom Rhodes > > about rewriting the NFS chapter of the Handbook. Actually, on second > > thought, don't. ;-) > > > > If you're too late, don't sweat it. There will be other tasks that > > can earn you a commit bit. > > > > > More press coverage would help FreeBSD a great deal. > > > > This is the crux of the issue. > > > > It looks like this is our "to do list." > > > > a) A way to inject press releases into the PR stream. > > b) A way to catch PR-worthy stuff within the Project. > > c) Actually writing press releases. > > d) More articles in the press, especially paper press. > > e) People to review FreeBSD 5 DP2 and 5.0-R > > f) presentations > > g) posters > > > > I had some private email suggestions for a), but I'd like to drag > > those people out into the open and see if they'd be willing to take > > this on for us. If not, some of you with a bit of spare time and > > Google could make some good suggestions on how to do this. > > > > b) is comparatively easy. Watch -hackers, cvs-all, and -current, and > > pay attention! > > > > Actually writing press releases, c) is fairly straightforward. We > > have some old press releases in the tree now, in the press directory. > > I would absolutely love to have a professional PR person to write > > these, but we can do it ourselves. It must be done, so we must do it. > > > > d) rides on people writing articles. I did this for years, until I > > got "promoted" into writing BSD books. But press releases will get > > other people to do the writing for us! > > > > Review copies, e) can be had from our corporate sponsors. Rather than > > have everyone harass our corporate sponsors with suggestions, it would > > be good if we here on -advocacy built our own comprehensive list of > > people to contact. I'm sure we could get some info from our sponsors > > on what contacts they have, and we could work on expanding that list. > > > > Presentations are fairly straightforward. I'm going to push > > MagicPoint (/usr/ports/misc/magicpoint) as a tool here, because it's > > very low-overhead. Yes, StarOffice has a nice presentation tool, and > > I'm sure KDE and Gnome do as well, but I think it would be a bad idea > > to require such big-ass programs for people to run a presentation. > > Besides, the MagicPoint format is easy to edit. If you want to create > > a presentation on FreeBSD, go right ahead! I don't care if it sucks, > > it's a start. Remember: "If it sucks, rework until it sucks less." > > > > To show how easy MagicPoint is, I have my BSDCon 2002 presentation > > available at > > http://www.blackhelicopters.org/~mwlucas/presentation2k2.mgp. > > > > Posters, g), are actually the most difficult thing here. We could > > probably ask one of our corporate sponsors for a poster in electronic > > form. What format would be best? > > > > > With version 5 coming up, we have a great chance to get people to look at > > > FreeBSD, and to get a lot of positive press. We'd be fools to let that chance > > > pass by. > > > > We could be something worse than fools. > > > > We could be lazy. > > > > ==ml > > > > -- > > Michael Lucas mwlucas@FreeBSD.org, mwlucas@BlackHelicopters.org > > http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/q/Big_Scary_Daemons > > > > Absolute BSD: http://www.AbsoluteBSD.com/ > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > > with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message > > -- Michael Lucas mwlucas@FreeBSD.org, mwlucas@BlackHelicopters.org http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/q/Big_Scary_Daemons Absolute BSD: http://www.AbsoluteBSD.com/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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