Freespire's Google ads: "What is Ubuntu Missing?"

[Melissa Draper]

Eric Dunbar wrote:
>> I'm not stating that the actions of freespire are ethical. IMHO, they
>> are not. Smart? Yes. Ethical? No. Quite often, these sorts of campaigns
>> are not ethical, and for a reason. The potential defamation compensation
>> might well outweigh the benefit that the unethical technique generated.
>>     
>
> Why are they unethical? They aren't distorting the truth.
>   

If Pepsi was to launch a campaign "Is Coca-Cola missing stuff?", do you
think it would be ethical? No? My point exactly. What freespire has
done, is not really much different to that.

Lets not start on the 'legal' mp3 ad that was going. Licenced support
for mp3 fails to make mp3 usage legal in quite a number of places.

>> In my opinion, this is the second time freespire has gone
>> below-the-belt. This time, they can't call it an accident [2].
>>     
>
> Why has freespire "gone below the belt"? Simply because their
> comparing themselves to another distro, albeit a popular one? They
> were presenting themselves in a positive light (it might behove you to
> read through their list). I see Fedora-core bashing all the time by
> Debian purists and vice-versa (and, then there's Debian-bashing by
> Ubuntuites and vice versa and...). The response on sounder seems to
> suggest it's the same kind of jealousy at play here too :-( :-( :-(
>   

Did you even read the link for that comment? Google ads pointed to the
freespire DistroWatch.com page. The freespire firefox and NVU also
pointed there. This was deemed attempted tampering. Consequently,
freespire is not popular in that part of the web right now. Attempting
to undermine independant statistics that popular distros use, is low.

In case you didn't notice it at the bottom of my previous email, here it
is again:
[2] http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20060904#freespire

>> Canonical is, no doubt, aware of this. They're the ones who can decide
>> what the effect of the campaign has been and they're the ones that will
>> sort it out, if they deem it necessary.
>>     
>
> I'd be surprised if Canonical is shaking in their boots.
>   

Personally, I would be also. That was the point of the 'if they deem it
necessary'. If they were worried, I'm sure we would have heard something.

>> In closing, I repeat. Please, leave this topic alone. Please, do not
>> give them what they want.
>>     
>
> Why? You're the one that appears to be making wild statements
> regarding an OSS-based distro that actually don't seem to follow from
> the public actions of said distro.

I wish this was the case. I really do. I'd love to be wrong.

I will try again: Can we please drop this subject?

-- 
Sincerely
Melissa Draper

http://www.meldraweb.com

Phone: 0404 595 395

P.O Box 1412
Lavington, NSW 2641