How to Sell Linux?

[Jim]

On Friday 14 December 2001 16:48, you wrote:
> Derek Neighbors wrote, Re: Possible project:
> > ... they have a KILLER concept.  They are doing FREE CLASSES
> > on GNU/Linux.  Where they make REAL course material and
> > schedule a semester and require a book etc.
>
> BTW, my son took a course at Paradise Valley Community College
> using the textbook, "Guide to UNIX Using Linux".  There is
> some decent material out there about using the OS.  But I'm
> guessing there is a lot of room for materials on the
> applications and how to get results from them.
>
> When the Colleges offer courses on "Image Manipulation
> Using the GIMP", or "Home Accounting with GNUCash", or
> "Office Computing using Star Office", etc., then you will
> know that minds are opening towards Linux.

It is nice to see that the education community is becoming more aware and 
offering instruction on computing options, but the best way to educate 
students is to teach them concepts, show them the options available, and let 
them make their own choice.
>
> When doing a demonstration of a computer, we need to "put on
> our marketing shoes and our interviewing suits", as it were,
> and not mistake Joe Public for someone who cares about issues
> of monopoly, copyright restrictions, security, and other things
> that we sometimes like to get excited about.  Most people don't
> care at all about ANY of these things, and will be turned off
> if you bring them up.  Now really, REALLY, I mean it, people
> do NOT CARE about these things.
>
> And Linux is not FREE (as in beer) for non-techies, it is just
> less expensive.  Your ordinary user has to go to the store and
> buy a boxed set of RedHat, and hope that it will install;
> or they have to pay someone to install it for them.  But
> Windows came pre-installed with the box, so there's a chance
> they have already bought it.
>
But we can give them much better, much more responsive answers to any issue 
that they might come up.  You can get an answer to a question right here in 
less than an hour.  If that doesn't work fast enough for them, there are 
plenty of members who look forward to the chance to go over and help and 
teach in person.

> So why should they switch?  That's what we need to be ready
> to tell them.  I suggest that we practice our answers here
> on the list ...

I suggest that anyone involved in something like this meet and make sure that 
each person is aware of the message that we want to get across.  That message 
is directly related to the kind of computer user that you are addressing.
>
> Any demonstration of Linux for the public had better be done
> by people who respect people's practical respect for Microsoft,
> for that ease of use that allows them to do their jobs without
> becoming nerds.  If Linux is being demonstrated for the desktop
> or for gaming, its selling points to the public will be ease of
> use FIRST -- just to get into the running -- and THEN the
> advantages over Microsoft:  lower cost, better stability and
> (way in the background) the freedom and antitrust issues.
>

We are a PRO-Linux/OSS/FS group not an anti-anyone group.  More people are 
willing to listen to positive statements than to negative ones.  Most people 
know what they use their computers for and want to see if they can do their 
kind of computing (usually only loosely defined in their own mind) with any 
OS.  If XP did not allow users to connect to the web and allow users to read 
e-mail and surf, I guarantee that it would sell fewer copies to the public 
than OS/2 ever did.

> Of course you can take a different tack with a business person
> who knows what a server is.  That's a different application.
> Or maybe a business person who is paying license fees for
> Microsoft for 10 or 20 office desktops doing more or less the
> same things, so that a single Linux setup could cover all of
> them for much less cost.  Embedded devices running Linux can
> also be much cheaper in quantity since there are no licenses.
> Linux is probably the world's most portable operating system,
> and is becoming so ubiquitous that the available support skills
> will become more and more available and affordable.
>
Again, knowing your audience is critical.  You cannot address a group of 
small business computer users with the same tactics and approach as you do 
with a class of seventh graders.  It almost begs us to design two different 
demonstrations - one for people who use computers at home and one for small 
business computer users.  We should probably leave the big company users to 
the big kids like IBM because they have the resources and the budget to 
address those users.

Making sure that you know the answers to the kinds of questions that you are 
likely to get is the secont most important factor.  The biggest turn-off is 
the "M$ SUX" attitude.  The second biggest is "I don't know" or "I think so". 
 If you don't know, admit it, but make sure to mention the rest of us PLUG 
members, where you can be sure that someone knows.

> All these are things you can say to a business person, but
> not to the casual computer user who will just have one
> machine for word processing and Internet browsing.
> Frankly, Scarlett, ...
>
> And we should be prepared to say cheerfully, to some people,
> that they probably should stay with Windows for now.
> <ducking in anticipation of brickbats>
> <hmmm, what's a brickbat anyway?>
>
> Bottom line:  If we want to increase public awareness of Linux,
> we need to make sure we keep our perspective in line with the
> potential new users' interests, and work from there.  And the
> first step is to LISTEN and understand where the person's
> interests and needs lie.
>
Well said, Vic.  PLUG has the people who can do the proper kinds of advocacy. 
 All we need is a forum or two (or three or more) to get our message out to a 
broader audience.  We preach to the choir at meetings.

> Vic
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