If the Linux community were to observe, study and respond to the marketing strategy, there might be less frustration. The community seems to be experts via Halloween Documents, where Microsoft is concerned.

Okay, what to observe:

1. Branding - when someone says indows, people

tend to think of MS Windows and associate good and bad

things in their heads. In this case, the owners are counting

on good associations for features and bad associations

for pricing.

2. People are looking for "good enough" and "free". Does

this ring any bells for anyone? The product pitch certainly

sounds good enough for everyday tasks and it's nearly

free - heck, what's less than $100 for a year? Is the

product good enough? Probably for some customers.

Is the product free? Sure, if you get the Xandros

distribution off the net.

3. Ah, my favorite, the Halo effect. If one business was

successful and changed the world, this next one must

be as well - right? People will associate the positives

of "taking on the music industry" with a fight for the

people - which is a good thing. This extends to

a "fight for freedom" from: expensive OS's, expensive

software, etc... For example, the Lindows PC is for sale

at Walmart or Walmart.com? There's a big difference

between the two - do you think that inventory at both

places is the same? Why? Because you do and the

marketer counts on that.

4. Feelings and beliefs and setting what to think about

a product - why bash on others who are using the same

basis for the product? That would certainly degrade your

base - the feeling to be presented is always positive,

always spun towards the positive associations.

5. The niche - desktop linux for normal users. Okay,

who else is in this niche and *advertises* it to the

common man? "Get a Xandros PC at Wallmart!" No

one would bite. Now, getting a PC with Lindows

installed at a lower cost than Windows, what a

deal!

6. Opinion leaders - well, sorry guys and gals, the

current proponents of opinion about linux on the

desktop aren't known well outside their community.

I haven't seen this company pick an opinion leader

just yet... hmm... maybe they missed something.

Aha! They didn't miss this at all. They *like* to talk

to reporters - ever noticed that reporters tend to

report anything that you give them? MS spends

a lot of time and money sending product briefs to

the guys at PC Week.

7. Make news. Press releases are a great way to

drive interest - re-skin your product, call it something

new, and announce it. Get some attention - "Hey,

look at all the new products I have!" Having a

stable of cars makes people think your successful.

8. Exclusives. These are pretty cool mental models

to think about - are you part of the "inside" team?

You are probably missing out because you're not

in the right club. Let's see, insider, builder, educator,

guest, member... hmm.. a club for almost everyone, this

is a good thing.

9. The channel. Getting things into the channel by

pushing them (purchasing placement) is a great

method of gaining legitimacy whether you sell

anything or not. Heck, Walmart.com sold out of

the $199.00 with Lindows installed... What was

the driver for the purchases? Lindows or cheap

hardware? Who knows, but what do people

assume? It's what people perceive that matters.

10. Positioning. The underdog, good for you, free, it's

all about consumers, its easy to install - hey, is it

easy to upgrade? The first Windows class, non-windows

desktop - cool!

The marketing I've read is brilliantly constructed. Read it, understand it, compare it, constrast it, be aware that you are a consumer of marketing materials. Think about what's being said... think think think... it's not about this Linux or that Linux... is it really about the consumer? Isn't it? Why rename kword?

Marketing can expose a lot of positives about a product and, well, that's what I see this marketing doing. Exposing lots of positives without much feedback about the marketing.

Lindows has its detractors, but its ~public~ relations position is fine: has *ANYONE* sold more actual Linux desktop computers to the public than Lindows? Yes, it's a simple and easy version -- they've brought Linux to the people rather than demanding that every potential user pass what has in the past amounted to a competency test. But even that has been part of Linux since Volkerding put together the first distro for "slackers" who didn't want (or know how) to build their own.

The Linux community is composed of a huge number of very gifted people; all that stands between it and the "world domination" we've joked about for years is a strong leader. Lindows can provide that leadership.

Get aboard or wave goodbye -- the ship sets sail either way.

Gary Fisher

My understanding is that Lindows was going to impose a 5 minute time limit on any speakers that were not from Lindows. This is the main reason my employer pulled out of the summit.

I've watched the growing "noise" about Lindows with much disgust. On one hand we have several distributions claiming to be "desktop" friendly and on the other hand we have a few that are actually trying to walk the talk. I have not used Lindows, I now use Xandros, the distribution that Lindows is built upon. As I remember back I cannot think of one negative comment from Robertson concerning the other distributions but I can sure remember all the blowhard bullcrap that has come from some of the users of other distributions. Its gotten way out of hand to the point where these people are damaging the chances of Linux to make its move to the desktop of the average computer user.

So far Lindows has put its money where its mouth is. The rest are just putting hot air where their mouths are.

I thought the GPL had some lines in it about free copying and redistribution of fully GPL'ed software, including the source code.

So why does Lindows tell their users not to redistribute the Lindows operating system? If they're so community-friendly and open, where can I download it to give it a shot?

Oh wait, they don't want that. They only want to skirt around the edges of the GPL and not fully accept it. That's fine with me, but if you're gonna talk the talk, walk the walk folks. Don't try to trick people into thinking you're something you're not. I appreciate a strong NO more than I do a wishy-washy 'maybe'.

I personally believe that Lindows.com has every right to make a summit that they've paid for almost in its entirety anything that they want it to be. I also think that, had they chosen to do so, they could have held a position of prominence at a conference they largely sponsored while still inviting others to invest in whatever time and energy they could muster.

I'm glad to see that Lindows.com has the energy and resources to do something with desktop Linux systems and I truly hope they succeed in every way. My only regret in all of this is that spoken and unspoken expectations and plans were a bit more up front and in the open. Even though things haven't worked out perfectly, in terms of making this event the kind of broad industry wide summit that some had hoped for, I still hope that some really good things come out of it. Perhaps an unplanned positive thing that could come out of it is better interaction between people who compete, but still have many common goals in mind.

After all, quite a bit of the technology out there is shared technology.

I think Lindows is spot on in choosing to stay out of these debates. Linux has been held back for a long time with fighting between themselves.

I agree with Doc that Lindows is the one company that is trying to get Linux to cross the chasm to the broader markets. I disagree, however, that they should invest time in convincing the early adopters of their mission. I'm an early adopter and their good works, products, and marketing are all the convincing I need. Engaging in these debates will just distract them and take time away from producing the products that the majority markets need. My mom doesn't care or know anything about all off this, but she will understand buying a $200 computer at WalMart.

I'm a developer and I fully support Lindows. I want my products to also cross that chasm and I'm looking forward to attaching my work to ANY ship that can cross that chasm. There will be plenty of developers who will support Lindows simply because they are taking Linux to the masses. I don't need Lindows stroking my ego, I just need the thousands of customers who perhaps they will be successful in bringing to Linux.

Mark

Actually, the Desktop Linux Summit is Thursday 20th and Friday 21st Feb.

Because of Robertson's attitudes (projected by his own words/actions), I would not even consider checking out Lindows. Robertson seems to suffer from a psychiatric disorder of some kind, perhaps undocumented in the anals of human quirkiness.

Regardless the quality of Linows, I'll never know what it's good for as long. Too bad Robertson continuously shoots himself in the foot while it's inserted in his mouth. That's awfully close to the brain. Do you suppose he's not a very good shot?