Hi
I helped write what is described in the front page of what Fedora is for. To quote from http://fedoraproject.org
" Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software. ..."
While I think what follows after that is still useful, perhaps we can start with something like:
"Fedora is a free alternative to proprietary operating systems like Microsoft Windows and provides a easy and powerful graphical environment, office suite, games and more. It is a secure and virus-free experience with brand new releases full of major improvements every six months all for free."
That would be useful for someone new to Linux to understand what this is all about or if we want to be more explicit about the audience (considering http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2009-May/msg00843.html), we can do:
"Fedora is very focussed on free software and does not include proprietary or patent encumbered software applications. Fedora is a leading edge operating system with a rapid release cycle and best suited for free software contributors, free and open source enthusiasts"
Comments?
Rahul
On 05/15/2009 02:57 AM, Rahul Sundaram wrote:
Hi
I helped write what is described in the front page of what Fedora is for. To quote from http://fedoraproject.org
" Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software. ..."
While I think what follows after that is still useful, perhaps we can start with something like:
"Fedora is a free alternative to proprietary operating systems like Microsoft Windows and provides a easy and powerful graphical environment, office suite, games and more. It is a secure and virus-free experience with brand new releases full of major improvements every six months all for free."
I would like to object to the image of Fedora merely being "an alternative", especially in the context of being an alternative to Microsoft Windows. If anything, Microsoft Windows is a very sad (or humorous) alternative to Linux.
--Jeroen
On 05/15/2009 10:36 AM, Jeroen van Meeuwen wrote:
I would like to object to the image of Fedora merely being "an alternative", especially in the context of being an alternative to Microsoft Windows. If anything, Microsoft Windows is a very sad (or humorous) alternative to Linux.
Well, the point of describing it that way is the end users don't necessarily understand the idea of an operating system but most people would know what Windows is. By describing it as a alternative, you get the basic idea across. Try explaining to a non technical person, what Linux is.
Rahul
On 05/15/2009 07:14 AM, Rahul Sundaram wrote:
On 05/15/2009 10:36 AM, Jeroen van Meeuwen wrote:
I would like to object to the image of Fedora merely being "an alternative", especially in the context of being an alternative to Microsoft Windows. If anything, Microsoft Windows is a very sad (or humorous) alternative to Linux.
Well, the point of describing it that way is the end users don't necessarily understand the idea of an operating system but most people would know what Windows is. By describing it as a alternative, you get the basic idea across. Try explaining to a non technical person, what Linux is.
I hear you. I do not necessarily think the description needing an update is wrong, I just wanted to emphasize that positioning Fedora as an alternative to Microsoft Windows is the wrong way to go in my opinion.
Most users actually don't know what Windows is either. They just know they have Foo here, and thus want Foo there. From that perspective, it's almost like the Apple community; once you're hooked, you're hooked, whether you know what it is or how it works doesn't matter.
Then there's those that do look a little further and those probably do know what an operating system is -although they might not (yet) realize that Operating System > Microsoft Windows.
Regardless, previous two paragraphs barely add to the discussion ;-)
I think the Fedora Project is stronger in it's advocacy, then it is in user-perspective expectation management. I also think the Fedora Project is stronger in it's development edge/focus, thriving Free Software innovation by early adoption and being a platform (often? most?) used by upstream developers, yada yada, blabla, <insert other things here>, then it is in spreading Linux out there.
That being said, of course it doesn't mean we shouldn't attempt to improve that situation and what I'm saying is I don't think the angle we should take at that is by positioning Fedora as an alternative to Microsoft Windows.
Kind regards,
Jeroen van Meeuwen -kanarip
On 05/15/2009 08:03 AM, Jeroen van Meeuwen wrote:
I also think the Fedora Project is stronger in it's development edge/focus, thriving Free Software innovation by early adoption and being a platform (often? most?) used by upstream developers, yada yada, blabla, <insert other things here>, then it is in spreading Linux out there.
Reading this back I may have been a little careless leaving out the fact that in spreading Linux we're not entirely doing a bad job, given the recent amount of exposure generated with the numbers we could honestly come up with ;-) These numbers in fact say we're the greatest in spreading Linux, but the question that comes to my mind is;
Do we, or did we, attract these users / achieve this large install-base because we keep true to our original cause resulting in a product they want to and choose to use, or is it because we market Fedora so well it just so happens to be installed on so many machines (although many users might actually not care that it's Fedora)?
--Jeroen
Rahul Sundaram wrote:
On 05/15/2009 10:36 AM, Jeroen van Meeuwen wrote:
I would like to object to the image of Fedora merely being "an alternative", especially in the context of being an alternative to Microsoft Windows. If anything, Microsoft Windows is a very sad (or humorous) alternative to Linux.
Well, the point of describing it that way is the end users don't necessarily understand the idea of an operating system but most people would know what Windows is. By describing it as a alternative, you get the basic idea across. Try explaining to a non technical person, what Linux is.
Rahul
I have installed Fedora to "Linux Newbies", https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-ambassadors-list/2009-April/msg00108....
including those that teach ECDL (MS-Office in actuality) http://www.ecdl.ie/
No problems as yet.
Frank
Rahul Sundaram wrote:
Hi
I helped write what is described in the front page of what Fedora is for. To quote from http://fedoraproject.org
" Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that showcases the latest in free and open source software. ..."
While I think what follows after that is still useful, perhaps we can start with something like:
"Fedora is a free alternative to proprietary operating systems like Microsoft Windows and provides a easy and powerful graphical environment, office suite, games and more. It is a secure and virus-free experience with brand new releases full of major improvements every six months all for free."
That would be useful for someone new to Linux to understand what this is all about or if we want to be more explicit about the audience (considering http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-devel-list/2009-May/msg00843.html), we can do:
"Fedora is very focussed on free software and does not include proprietary or patent encumbered software applications. Fedora is a leading edge operating system with a rapid release cycle and best suited for free software contributors, free and open source enthusiasts"
Comments?
Rahul
How about highlight a bit on "Fedora is not just another linux Distro but a great Community" ? sorry my bad english. Hope you can get what i mean.
Rahul Sundaram wrote:
While I think what follows after that is still useful, perhaps we can start with something like:
"Fedora is a free alternative to proprietary operating systems like Microsoft Windows and [...]
Comments?
Maybe you could just remove the words "like Microsoft Windows"?
Elio
Yeah... I read "Microsoft Windows" and is like "Voldemort" for me.... we just CAN'T say his name xD
But the general approach is correct. We need to have a more "friendly" description of what Fedora and we are, so they can feel attracted for it at first sight
2009/5/16 Elio Tondo elio@tondo.it:
Rahul Sundaram wrote:
While I think what follows after that is still useful, perhaps we can start with something like:
"Fedora is a free alternative to proprietary operating systems like Microsoft Windows and [...]
Comments?
Maybe you could just remove the words "like Microsoft Windows"?
Elio
-- Fedora-marketing-list mailing list Fedora-marketing-list@redhat.com https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-marketing-list
Rahul Sundaram wrote:
Hi
"Fedora is a free alternative to proprietary operating systems like Microsoft Windows and provides a easy and powerful graphical environment, office suite, games and more. It is a secure and virus-free experience with brand new releases full of major improvements every six months all for free."
Having had a few hours to think, maybe alternative may not be best.
How about; "Fedora is similar to proprietary operating systems like Microsoft Windows and provides an easy and powerful graphical environment, office suite, games and more. It is a secure and virus-free experience with brand new releases full of major improvements every six months all for free (both in terms of cost, and ability to change the underlying code to suit your own needs)."
Frank
How about; "Fedora is similar to proprietary operating systems like Microsoft Windows and provides an easy and powerful graphical environment, office suite, games and more. It is a secure and virus-free experience with brand new releases full of major improvements every six months all for free (both in terms of cost, and ability to change the underlying code to suit your own needs)."
Isn't it similar to *BSD too ?
"Fedora is an Operating System, just like Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X or <insert as many as you want, keeping in mind that too few can hurt people and too much will bore the reader> ... "
There's one thing that is concerning me.
When I submitted a game package in fedora, I had a description similar to "this game is in the style of <name of a commercial game>" and I was told to remove the reference to a commercial trademark not owned by the Fedora Project as it could cause legal issues.
Aren't we in a similar case by writing this kind of stuff on our wiki page ?
Regards,
----------
Mathieu Bridon (bochecha)
On 05/15/2009 08:30 PM, Mathieu Bridon (bochecha) wrote:
When I submitted a game package in fedora, I had a description similar to "this game is in the style of <name of a commercial game>" and I was told to remove the reference to a commercial trademark not owned by the Fedora Project as it could cause legal issues.
Aren't we in a similar case by writing this kind of stuff on our wiki page ?
If you have actual legal questions, you should ask them in fedora-legal list. None of us qualified to really answer that. However, the exact wording is important. Describing something as a alternative amounts of fair use in my opinion.
Note, we are not talking about the wiki pages but the home page of http://fedoraproject.org. Instead of just saying, the wording is not right, I encourage everyone to think of better ones. What would you put up, instead? How would you introduce Fedora to a non-technical end user?
Rahul
Hi,
On 05/15/2009 05:00 PM, Mathieu Bridon (bochecha) wrote:
How about; "Fedora is similar to proprietary operating systems like Microsoft Windows and provides an easy and powerful graphical environment, office suite, games and more. It is a secure and virus-free experience with brand new releases full of major improvements every six months all for free (both in terms of cost, and ability to change the underlying code to suit your own needs)."
Isn't it similar to *BSD too ?
"Fedora is an Operating System, just like Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X or<insert as many as you want, keeping in mind that too few can hurt people and too much will bore the reader> ... "
There's one thing that is concerning me.
When I submitted a game package in fedora, I had a description similar to "this game is in the style of<name of a commercial game>" and I was told to remove the reference to a commercial trademark not owned by the Fedora Project as it could cause legal issues.
Aren't we in a similar case by writing this kind of stuff on our wiki page ?
IMO we should NOT use comparisons, the moment you start to do this, you acknowledge that you are a follower instead of a leader. Fedora is what it is, a full OS that you can use for millions of things and this is how we should market it.
Steven
marketing@lists.fedoraproject.org