Marketing Xubuntu

Fri Jun 3 11:06:08 UTC 2011

On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 4:40 AM, Charlie Kravetz
<cjk at teamcharliesangels.com>wrote:

> On Fri, 3 Jun 2011 09:33:51 +0800
> Jason Wee <peichieh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > start by spreading the news to the general public users and also only
> > consider users which is interested and responded to you. Then held
> > workshop on xubuntu on what it is and what can it do for users for
> > daily chores. I think users would want to know which opensource
> > software can replace the software that they use in windows and you
> > might want to consider that by teaching through the workshop.
> >
> > /Jason
>
> You have some good points here. Of cource, we have start somewhere,
> and perhaps that is by identifying our users? Who is the target
> audience of Xubuntu. I have long maintained that it is not the
> beginning Linux users. Ubuntu targets that group, and is well designed
> to meet their needs. We are in a good position to look towards those
> intermediate and expert users, I think.
>
> Now, how do I get news to the general public?
>

Not really Xubuntu-specific, but for projects like Xubuntu in general the
problem is that for people new to the open source world, the concept of
"free because we are volunteers that run this project for fun" is a bit hard
to grasp. When people see free they have learnt to associate it with handing
over address details or getting lots of advertising, but as long as they
don't see what "the catch" is, they will assume it must not be good.
Therefore it might be good to focus on the kumbaya-feeling of open source,
so as to make people "wanting to be part of it". (This is, all, of course,
completely unscientific. I have no experience/training in marketing, this is
all just gut feeling.)

When it comes to Xubuntu, start thinking about the reasons you actually use
it. Is it because it's free of charge, because of the freedom/control it
gives you, that you use it as opposed to one of the proprietary OS's? And is
it because of its light-weightness/usability-combo, the flexibility of Xfce,
the traditional desktop interface, that you use it as opposed to the easy,
popular choices of Linux distros such as Ubuntu? If you prioritize such a
list you can end up at the strengths of Xubuntu that will appeal to a group
of people that might not have heard of Xubuntu yet. (This is a bit hard for
me to do since I don't use Xubuntu anymore.)

Then of course the next step is to get the word out to those people. I think
you should try to focus on existing Ubuntu users, as e.g. Windows users are
hard to reach. For the latter group, you want to make sure that if they go
looking for an alternative to their Windows installation with the before
mentioned characteristics, that they can find Xubuntu. However, when
actively reaching out, it would probably be easier to focus on people that
are already using Ubuntu and might be happier using/trying Xubuntu. A way
that I think Lubuntu is getting a lot of attention is because a fan of them
is in the OMG! Ubuntu team - it might be an idea to see if someone from the
Xubuntu community can nudge his/her way up there? ;-)

There, I weighed in on a discussion on xubuntu-devel :)

>
> >
> > On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 9:24 AM, Charlie Kravetz
> > <cjk at teamcharliesangels.com> wrote:
> > > I have given marketing a lot of thought. I am by no means an expert in
> > > marketing, and may need someone to set me straight. However, I am
> > > hoping to at least get some discussion started.
> > >
> > > How do you market Xubuntu? It is free, it generates no revenue, and it
> > > must be given away. This seems to present a dilemma.
> > >
> > > How would you market Xubuntu if it were a new product to be sold today?
> > > Unfortunately, at the present time, the advertising budget is empty.
> > > But, that does not mean it can not be done.
> > >
> > > I would start by telling people what a great Operating System this is.
> > > It can replace Microsoft Windows 100% and it won't cost you anything.
> > > If you would like to use Xubuntu, we will GIVE it to you free. Along
> > > with Xubuntu, we are going to allow you to install any application
> > > included free. There are thousands of programs you can use. What's the
> > > catch? You must tell two (2) people about it.
> > >
> > > I would expect a session about this fantastic operating system given a
> > > couple of times a year. That could generate a lot of good will, and new
> > > users for Xubuntu. (That is called UbuntuOpenWeek and Ubuntu User's
> > > Days)
> > >
> > > What can you do to help market this great OS? Give us your ideas,
> > > please. What do we need to change to make this the best selling
> > > distribution available? (Every user we gain "buys" this distribution,
> > > every user we lose "throws away" this distribution).
> > >
> > > Can you sell this product? We are looking for great Marketing people,
> > > the position pays *lots* of self-satisfaction. It also provides great
> > > experience in Open Source marketing.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Charlie Kravetz
> > > Xubuntu Project Lead
> > > Linux Registered User Number 425914          [http://counter.li.org/]
> > > Never let anyone steal your DREAM.           [http://keepingdreams.com
> ]
> > >
> > > --
> > > xubuntu-devel mailing list
> > > xubuntu-devel at lists.ubuntu.com
> > > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/xubuntu-devel
> > >
> >
>
>
> --
> Charlie Kravetz
> Linux Registered User Number 425914          [http://counter.li.org/]
> Never let anyone steal your DREAM.           [http://keepingdreams.com]
>
> --
> xubuntu-devel mailing list
> xubuntu-devel at lists.ubuntu.com
> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/xubuntu-devel
>

-- 
Vincent
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