Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 20:21:51 -0800 From: "Carlos C. Tapang" <ctapang@easystreet.com> To: <current@FreeBSD.ORG>, "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@zippy.cdrom.com> Subject: Re: State of the union, 1999. Message-ID: <007c01be3d19$ea0315a0$0d787880@apex.tapang>
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Wow, that was long, but a good read. Some questions/comments below. Carlos C. Tapang http://www.genericwindows.com >With that in mind, sites like the FreeBSD Mall (www.freebsdmall.com) >have been set up to try and market a wider variety of FreeBSD-related >products and we've also begun exploring relationships with various >companies who can derive measurable value from any PR campaign that >enhances FreeBSD's reputation (translation: we want them to help pay >for it :). Are all companies that use FreeBSD making regular donations? If not, would it be a good idea to have an ongoing donation solicitation program, one of the activities of which would be to send regular mailings (phone call, email, etc.) to all companies that use FreeBSD? more glossies with various handy >comparison charts on them ("FreeBSD and NT", "FreeBSD and Solaris", >"FreeBSD and Linux", etc) I like this idea because I myself could use it. >We need to do more effective PR, that much is inarguable, it's only a >question of picking our targets for maximum effect given a limited >operating budget. Yes, I myself did not know that Yahoo uses a farm of FreeBSD servers until I accidentally stumbled into it. This is a big testimonial that needs to be shouted from the top of mountains. > >Our users also need to become more involved and I'm hoping that 1999 >will be the year when a lot more local user groups and other self-help >type of organizations are formed. The Handbook and FAQ are documents >which are getting better, hopefully another trend we'll see continue >into 1999 as Nik Clayton, our fearless new Documentation Project >leader, continues at the helm. We still have to remember, however, >that for many users the handbook and FAQ docs are just not enough. > >Linux has succeeded largely because of a large grass-roots support and >evangelism network which allows it to reach such people and >communicate the message to them. If FreeBSD's own users want to see >FreeBSD doing better against whomever they most perceive as its >competition, and 1998 was certainly a year where I heard a lot of >complaining about this, then they're going to simply have to get off >their collective duffs and put in more of this kind of work. When was >the last time a bunch of FreeBSD users got together to hand out >FreeBSD literature at a Microsoft product launch, for example, or held >an install-a-thon at a local computer show? > >The Linux folks do things like that all the time, apparently, whereas >only a very few die-hard FreeBSD users currently do it now, so why not >help these people out? Join the advocacy@freebsd.org mailing list and >discuss your plans there so that others with more enthusiasm than >ideas can also learn from and perhaps help you with yours. Write >short articles for the new advocacy sites like www.daemonnews.org or >www.freebsdrocks.com and help promote the success of BSD evangelical >publications. > >Phrases like "this is your FreeBSD" and "it all depends on you" may >seem shop-worn and trite, but they're also unfortunately still true >when there's so few of us and so many of you. If FreeBSD is to >*really* continue to succeed in 1999, it will only be with substantial >user participation and that means you, users! Start a local user >group, donate some of your older CD releases to the local library, try >and convince a local small business or ISP to use FreeBSD, these are >just a few of the many things that can be done if you're truly >interested in putting some energy into FreeBSD and ideas for what to >do will be the least of your worries if you're truly motivated. > Since I am using FreeBSD in Generic Windows, am I allowed to use "Powered by FreeBSD" in my website (www.genericwindows.com)? >Executive Summary: 1999, rah rah rah, let's do it! :) > >- Jordan > >To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org >with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message
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