(Translated and adapted, up to date to rev.289199 of the original document. Cheers.) Luchogulix 16:13, 23 May 2012 (UTC)
Marketing Fedora
(By: User:Netsys)
I would like to request a bit of your time to explain the overall idea of this small project, plan, or whichever name you would like for it.
As of 2012, Linux is still a "big unknown" for many people and is in need of a means of marketing that is simple, of high-quality, adequate for all audiences, able to draw attention from the spectators and able to highlight the best features of this system without delving too deep. Who here (A/N: of Spanish-language audience) does recall the Castillian Language subject index? That serves as a clue).
It is true that a good marketing produces a good "motion", as can be seen with the over-the-top campaigns Apple utilizes to promote their products, not only by official announcements but also by third-party, indirect announcement placement such as in a travel agency... this essentially generates irrational demand as it prompts people to do notable things like selling their own homes if they want to buy one of their products.
I don't expect from this that we would sell Fedora in a capitalist, scam-worthy way by deceiving users as Apple and other companies do, but still to use marketing principle to "sell" Fedora along the concept of freedom, of Free Software or of Open Source.
How to Sell?
Nowadays one of the most effective means to publicize a product is via videos. The Fedora graphic design team could work up, for example. A video featurette would sell, either "professionally" or not, the good things our renowned Linux distribution has to the community in general, that is, to the widest audience ranges possible.
All in all we should be able to use "smart devices" like smartphones, tablets, etc..., linking and encompassing the different facets of the Fedora Project via the FAS system including the wiki and up to (though not possible at the moment) the Ask Fedora system, to essentially create a Social Fedora platform usable by all audiences, though this requires much more time, resources and dedication.
Where do we Start and What do we Add?
The basic idea is to feature the the most common desktop environments (say, Gnome, KDE, ...) and their effects and capabilities in broad strokes only, showing how to access from system management utilities (like system-config-*) to social network utilities (anything from Jabber to Identi.ca, etc), as what sells to most audiences is showing that stuff can be done. For system features, SELinux could be mentioned and showed in action as a system securing layer, without delving deeper in anything that "looks like code".
Added to this, showcasing kids actually using Fedora (via eg.: the Sugar environment) can add value cross-audiences as this shows parents that their kids can take advantage from the home system or even from a USB device, plus the "things can be done" factor.
What do we Earn?
Let's start with the satisfaction of the contributors and the gratification of having collaborators and contributors actively connected to us and to the Fedora Project in a constructive, meaningful way, adding to the renown of the project itself.
Off-topic
As it is somewhat known, many people won't make the jump to Linux because they want to run games like WoW, Crysis 2, etc..., games that are developed for the Windows platform and for whose correct implementation under Linux a multitude of layers of work is still required. Because of this, giving the "Linux has no games" myth a crushing blow by clearly showcasing the collection of games available for Linux, like OpenArena, Frozen Bubble, etc..., can constitute a good entry vector. Added to this, we can and should emphasize that big companies like Valve and Electronic Arts are now, thanks to the showcased interest, starting to open themselves to the Linux world, which should eventually lead to gaming hardware providers like Nvidia to improve their support, creating a positive feedback process for the Linux gaming experience.
(A/N: original conversation, discussion and brainstorming hanks to RyanChile.)
Credits
See the Spanish version of the article for up-to-date attributions.