[ubuntu-uk] Novell adverts

[TheVeech]

On Tue, 2007-03-27 at 11:21 +0100, gord wrote:
> On Tue, 2007-03-27 at 10:56 +0100, Chris Rowson wrote:
> > 
> > Your average user isn't to bothered about how something works, they
> > just want it to have spangly flashy whizzy buttons and a cool
> > reputation.
> > 
> > It'd be a great idea if Ubuntu was to set up a site where users could
> > contribute videos to advertise Ubuntu - like mozilla did with
> > http://www.firefoxflicks.com
> > 
> > Chris
> > 
> 
> did firefoxflicks really promote firefox all that much? or did it just
> preach to the converted.

There's always Epiphany ;)


>  personally i'm of the opinion that we don't
> need to convince 'your average user', your average user uses what comes
> pre-installed on their computer when they buy it from PC-world or..
> wherever it is the cool kids get their pc's from these days, the people
> that need convincing are the small business leaders,
> government/education leaders and distributes.

Them, too.  But more users mean more eyeballs, which should lead to a
better community along with everything that that entails.  Sure we can
target institutions and organisations, but most of us are better
equipped to be able to influence things at a grassroots level.  E.g. I
don't want my family and friends using junk software and systems, so I
make sure they know they've got a choice (without harassing them with
over-enthusiastic advocacy!) and I offer to help if they want to switch
to Linux.

Most everyday computer users don't really understand the FLOSS world or
how it could benefit them.  They also don't prioritise tech info in
their lives, which puts the onus on us a bit (assuming we want new
users, that is).  It'd be great if we could promote more work at a
grassroots level, using word-of-mouth more effectively and offering
installation help to users where needed and where practical (even though
Feisty seems to be addressing much of that).

Because people usually don't know much about the alternatives on offer,
to me that's a failing of the mainstream media, which most people use.
So the onus is on us, as well as the marketers, perhaps?