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Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired)
The Linux Foundation (LF) is sponsoring a contest to answer the recent Apple and
Microsoft
advertising campaigns as reported
by Wired. It is soliciting videos that are supposed to demonstrate the
"I'm Linux" theme
to counter the "I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC" ad wars. The winning entry will
be shown at the LF Collaboration Summit in San Francisco in April.
"But unlike
Microsoft's campaign that paid Jerry Seinfeld $3 million for two
commercials and acquired user videos for free, the Linux Foundation plans
to compensate the winner of its contest with a free trip to Tokyo to
participate in the Linux Foundation Japan Linux Symposium next October."
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Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 23, 2008 13:33 UTC (Tue) by lbt (subscriber, #29672) [Link]
Wouldn't Stephen Fry (http://www.stephenfry.com/) be good in this role?
He has close ties with the FSF: http://www.gnu.org/fry/
And I suspect he has a few connections in the TV/film making world...
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 23, 2008 17:14 UTC (Tue) by dmarti (subscriber, #11625) [Link] It's been done. And Novell did a version too.
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 24, 2008 0:59 UTC (Wed) by dmaxwell (guest, #14010) [Link]
That's a bit on the snarky side. I'dve had a guy in a polo shirt, slacks, and soft work shoes for the "Linux guy". The idea being to make Linux come across as casual but professional.
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 23, 2008 18:02 UTC (Tue) by ccchips (subscriber, #3222) [Link]
Do we need this?
Linux is known by its users and developers as a stable, secure, and open system. What sort of marketing would help us attract people who would support stable, secure, and open operating systems (and still be funny enough for TV?)
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 27, 2008 0:08 UTC (Sat) by dps (subscriber, #5725) [Link]
Would it make sense to try a "business" angle? Given the wording of most license agreements there should be a lot of things to target. The key message would be that no sane businessman should accept a standard license agreement.
One obvious thing to target would be the "one backup copy" language, which is a feature of many licences. One idea a split screen.
Tagline "Linux: for those that value their data." or maybe even
(I would not make a decent fist of this, but someone else might.)
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 23, 2008 19:03 UTC (Tue) by iabervon (subscriber, #722) [Link] They should have a place for people who have ideas but don't want to make videos to post scripts that other people could film.My idea (if someone wants to make it): Usual white background, usual music. PC guy on the left; on the right, a largish desk with a computer with a big monitor facing away from the camera and a printer next to it. PC: I'm a PC. sounds of typing, pause for the usual conversation turn PC: I can help you do all sorts of tasks. sounds of typing PC: I can play games. sounds of typing PC: I can update your system software. sounds of typing PC: Configure your printer. printer starts printing PC: I can... A schoolchild, previously hidden behind the computer and desk, jumps up and runs off-camera to the right. Child, off-screen: I'm done with my report, can I go out and play? PC: stares at computer Penguin logo, with text: "Want to get stuff done without all the interruptions?"
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 23, 2008 22:31 UTC (Tue) by socket (guest, #43) [Link]
I like it. That has real potential.
I keep a virtual machine of Windows around so my wife and I can occasionally watch Netflix's "watch instantly" stuff when our DVDs are en route. Almost nothing is installed in that VM beyond what Netflix requires, and one of the most frustrating things is all those interruptions from the system. No antivirus installed nag - *sigh* - which won't matter until Netflix is a vector. Updates available nag, which I don't care about. Do the updates automatically nag, which is even more irritating. Every time I run the system, there'll be new updates, which will inevitably require time-consuming downloads and reboots, just so I can watch TV. I might eventually get annoyed enough to try to find the registry options to shut the thing up.
XFCE doesn't nag me. Neither does Firefox. I've become accustomed to using AdBlock, so seeing an animated advertisement-laden website on someone else's computer has become downright shocking.
The only program that nags me on Linux is one that I explicitly *want* to nag me: Workrave, to remind me to take breaks.
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 27, 2008 9:17 UTC (Sat) by Cato (subscriber, #7643) [Link]
You can get Windows to download and apply updates automatically for all Windows-included software - see the Automatic Updates item in the Control Panel. However, this is probably more annoying than the default, as it will then nag you to reboot much of the time.
On the other hand, Linux generally doesn't nag you enough to ensure that security updates are actually picked up. Some security updates require a running application to be restarted and others require a reboot, but at least with "apt-get" updates on Ubuntu/Debian there's no reminder to do this. I think that the normal Ubuntu interactive updates do remind you about this, but I'm not sure if they check which applications are running to cut down the list of reminders.
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 28, 2008 22:55 UTC (Sun) by pr1268 (subscriber, #24648) [Link] However, this is probably more annoying than the default, as it will then nag you to reboot much of the time. Heck, I've been burned (in the middle of a presentation, no less) by the update that won't even ask you to reboot—it just pops up and informs you that it'll reboot in 15 seconds without any way to abort or cancel. My audience got the impression of just how incensed I was with Windows for doing this when I extricated the battery from the laptop and yanked the power cord with 5 seconds to spare. After all, why should Gates and Ballmer get all the satisfaction? :-\
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 29, 2008 3:11 UTC (Mon) by socket (guest, #43) [Link] I attended a class this past fall that used Windows Media for broadcasting video to remote sites. The person in charge of the local site was using Parallels on her mac, to run Windows to receive the broadcast.Every other presentation, we were informed that the system would reboot in 15 seconds unless told not to, every 10 minutes or so, in a popup in front of the video stream, for the duration of the hour and a half lecture. Everyone was pissed, but what were we going to do? Reboot in the middle of the lecture? The user ultimately needs to be in control of the computer. Nags, pop-ups, "helpful" suggestions and reminders make for a miserable computing experience, and everyone knows it.
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 29, 2008 3:02 UTC (Mon) by socket (guest, #43) [Link] You can get Windows to download and apply updates automatically for all Windows-included software - see the Automatic Updates item in the Control Panel. However, this is probably more annoying than the default, as it will then nag you to reboot much of the time.As opposed to being nagged to download updates and reboot every single time I start the VM anyway? No, my point was: Windows told me about updates, I ignored it. It then told me about updating automatically, and I ignored that, too. (Both times by clicking the x - the universal "Go Away" gesture.) I've done this every time the system boots. Perhaps at some point it could come to the conclusion that I'm not going to change my mind and just stop nagging me? No, of course not. Can I easily tell it, "Stop nagging me?" Naah, the security updates are so important that it couldn't possibly matter what you're using the computer for, you should always do the update anyway, so we won't give our users the option to not be nagged. My point is: Windows doesn't make it easy to configure what you're nagged about. That's the point of the original ad script that I agree with, and why I think it'd make a great ad. Everyone hates being second-guessed. Clippy is dead for a reason, and good riddance.
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 29, 2008 6:56 UTC (Mon) by dvdeug (subscriber, #10998) [Link]
Given the number of entry-level users who would skip updates and then blame Microsoft (or have their IT people blame Microsoft), it's probably averages out to be less problematic to force the updates. Keeping Joe Six-Pack's computer working is more important then keeping the handful of highly skilled people who are running it only to play Net-Flix movies happy.
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Dec 29, 2008 13:13 UTC (Mon) by nye (guest, #51576) [Link]
Perhaps this will do what you want (or perhaps it's overkill):
Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services Set 'Automatic Updates' and 'Security Center' to 'manual' or 'disabled'.
I always have Security Center set to manual because I have no desire to install an antivirus or software firewall, and that seems to be the only way to silence the complaints.
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Jan 3, 2009 21:40 UTC (Sat) by BackSeat (subscriber, #1886) [Link] Of course, none of the MythTV Linux users will ever see the advert. Maybe that's the ultimate in advertising: only advertise to those who have not yet bought (in whatever sense) your product.
Linux Steps Into the Operating System Ad Battle (Wired) Posted Jan 3, 2009 23:12 UTC (Sat) by mlankhorst (subscriber, #52260) [Link]
I have seen 'user created' ads before, and they were nothing special. An advertisement
campaign for a company that wanted to let you create your own advertisement and win a price for it in holland was cancelled because all submissions were rubbish. Why would it be different here?
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