/srv/irclogs.ubuntu.com/2007/11/29/#ubuntu-marketing.txt

somerville32@schedule atlantic02:29
somerville32erm02:29
ubotuSchedule for Canada/Atlantic: 29 Nov 10:00: Desktop Team Development | 29 Nov 12:00: Community Council | 01 Dec 07:00: Kubuntu Developers | 01 Dec 15:00: Art Team | 04 Dec 12:00: Server Team meeting02:30
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poningru_come help with release notes14:54
BHSPitMonkey... everybody?15:14
poningru_BHSPitMonkey, yes15:57
=== MrM is now known as mrmonday
TopAgenthello everyone... Can someone advise me as to what program that I can use in ubuntu to track clients and the buy sell transaction that would be a similar program to the "top Agent" in the Windows platform... I have recently converted to linux and really like it but other than Openoffice I need something geared a little more towards the real estate industry... Any Help would be appreciated16:50
somerville32TopAgent, I can't see anything in the repository16:52
TopAgentWell I appreciate you at least looking\16:53
somerville32However, I see somethign on gogole16:53
somerville32ugh16:53
somerville32*something on google16:53
TopAgentwhat?16:53
somerville32http://mtechit.com/linux-biz/realestate_and_construction/ <-- List of companies using Linux in Realestate and construction16:53
somerville32http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Information-Management/Real-Estate-Management-Software-2900.shtml <-- Real estate management software for Linux16:54
TopAgentwell it's something... maybe I can catch a lead from them... thx for the help16:54
somerville32The second one is a web-based solution16:54
somerville32"Real Estate Management Software is the perfect real estate management solution for real estate professionals.16:55
somerville32Get all your listings on the web with free, easy to use web-based real estate management software.16:55
somerville32Create your areas, school districts and property types and even upload images. Full featured searching available. 100% free license. Uses PHP and MySQL."16:55
TopAgentNow thats what I call help.. Thx a bunch!16:56
somerville32Also, an article of interest here: http://www.linux.com/articles/1922416:56
somerville32TopAgent, See #ubuntu-server for help setting that software up. If it works well for you, let me know and I'll package it so other people can download it like normal :)16:56
TopAgentreally cool, but being new to the os I am not exactly sure how to get it up and running.... 16:57
TopAgentwhat is the software name and where can I download it16:57
TopAgentI will be spending some time going through what you have given me...16:58
TopAgentWhat do I need to do for ?? PHP ?? and MySQL??  remember I am an agent.. Unfortunately not a linux hacker/16:59
somerville32TopAgent, :)16:59
TopAgent:)16:59
TopAgentBut I can sell ya a house hahaha16:59
somerville32TopAgent, :D16:59
somerville32TopAgent, Are you an independent?16:59
TopAgentwill soon be, going on the last leg of my Broker training17:00
TopAgentIf I ever figure out how to use this stuff, How can I contact you with a review?17:01
somerville32cody-somerville@ubuntu.com17:01
somerville32I also hang out on here all the time.17:02
somerville32If you have any trouble at all, please feel free to contact me.17:02
somerville32I'd be happy to assist you anyway I can.17:02
TopAgentthx17:02
somerville32also, I'd check out #ubuntu - lots of great people in there looking to help other users.17:02
TopAgenti use the KDE version and they tell me to go to another page17:02
TopAgentbut thx and i have some homework to do now... Bye17:03
MenZajenda17:24
MenZaplease tell me you're here17:24
BurgundaviaMenZa: haven't seen jenda in a long while17:33
MenZaI've seen him pop in every now and then17:34
Specso this channel is designed to help coordinate evangalism via our LoCo cells?17:45
MenZaNo.17:45
MenZaIt's designed to coordina-WORLD DOMINATION17:45
Specor is it just UWN?17:45
MenZa:P17:45
SpecI'm particularly interested in defeating bug #1 in the realms of k12 edu17:46
Specit's cool though, google's helping. they just announced a new high-school-programmers-thingy for open source.17:46
MenZaawesome17:46
MenZameh17:46
* MenZa must dash17:46
MenZaI have ANOTHER meeting now17:46
MenZajebus17:46
SpecI think since it's based on pre-college/highschool, they're focusing on bug fixing/tracking/reporting/etc17:46
Specso perhaps we can get more people working to squash bugs via google.17:47
=== Spec is now known as x-spec-t
K_DallasGood evening folks!23:25
K_DallasI have chosen Ubuntu to present as a company with successful marketing strategies for an mba class of mine23:26
Burgundaviahello23:26
K_DallasI have been using Linux (as a simple user) for many years and been using Ubuntu for quite a while 23:26
K_DallasI am trying to find some information about your strategies, segmentation, targeting, positioning sort of thing23:27
K_Dallasboth qualitative and quantitative23:27
Burgundaviaright23:27
Burgundaviawell, from the perspectivie of the community side, we pretty much don't do any of that23:27
K_DallasI would greatly appreciate if you lead me to the right direction and information23:27
Burgundaviawe are all bottom up, grassroots driven23:27
K_Dallasi understand23:28
Burgundaviabasically, we provide a great OS and people just use it23:28
Burgundaviaand then they talk about it23:28
Burgundaviathere are a few concerted efforts done by various groups23:28
K_Dallastrue but you have chosen to make the installation way different and easier, to make it work better with the majority of components23:28
Burgundaviaand some of our development actually creates "market segmentation"23:28
Burgundaviaright, exactly23:29
K_Dallasi used to use debian but each time i had to configure my display, mouse, etc23:29
Burgundaviabut in terms of marketing as a specific entity, we do a few things different from other Linuxes23:29
K_Dallasbut ubuntu does it right out of box and that is maybe not that important to gurus but for someone with limited knowledge or time, it means a lot23:29
Burgundaviawe have fairly good release notes, graphically done23:29
K_Dallasi see23:30
BurgundaviaI would say that Ubuntu is a case in "unmarketing"23:30
K_Dallaslol that is not good for me ;)23:30
Burgundaviano, it is quite interesting23:30
K_Dallasi have convinced my prof that it is otherwise23:31
Burgundaviaespecially for MBA types, no offence23:31
K_Dallaswell, please elaborate23:31
Burgundaviabasically, open source orgs/companies spend almost nothing on advertising or marketing23:31
Burgundaviathat includes time by volunteers23:31
Burgundaviathey do a fair amount of passive marketing (producing collateral) but little active stuff23:32
Burgundaviagiven the nature of the software (free to get), you instantly get people playing with it and they create your buzz for you23:32
BurgundaviaI do have one lesson about marketing23:32
K_Dallasbut the fact that you have focused in ease-of-use and desktop users, isnt it targeting special segments of active population23:32
Burgundaviabasically, Ubuntu decloaked and had a working product already23:32
* K_Dallas all ears23:32
Burgundaviaso that initial "oh, interesting" turned into users23:33
Burgundaviaif you announce and then have the release days|weeks|months|years later, you lose those initial people23:33
Burgundaviabut you need a solid product at the time as well23:33
Burgundaviawhich comes to my second point about what Ubuntu does well: get good people23:33
Burgundaviafrom the very getgo Mark has hired excellent people, communicative talky people who can also develop well23:34
Burgundaviathis has built a community of similar and like minded people23:34
K_Dallasi see23:34
Burgundaviabound together by strong social institutions such as the CC and the CoC23:34
K_DallasCC ?23:35
Burgundaviacommunity council and code of conduct23:35
K_Dallasoh23:35
Burgundaviabasically, it is a classic case of "if you built it, they will come'23:35
Burgundaviaand "if you keep them happy, they will stay"23:35
K_Dallastrue but have you been successful in converting windows users into ubuntu users?23:36
Burgundaviawhich boils down to the fact that marketing can rarely really be stripped away from development, community building, etc.23:36
BurgundaviaI would assume so23:36
K_Dallasany data, survey ?23:36
Burgundaviadistros in general have been fairly successful recently, mostly due to better tech23:36
Burgundaviathe recent linux foundation one is pretty crappy data, but it might have23:36
Burgundaviaafaik, nobody has done any formal marketing studies, or at least that are released publicly23:37
K_Dallastrue but i am just wondering if the number of users has grown considerably?23:37
K_Dallasi see23:37
Burgundavianow, Canonical has their own marketing department that does a lot of the traditional things23:37
Burgundaviaadvertising, case studies, etc.23:37
K_Dallasanything for ubuntu?23:37
K_Dallasor it is just shipit23:37
Burgundaviaall of that is for ubuntu23:37
K_Dallasoh23:38
Burgundaviacanonical is the corporate sponsor of most of Ubuntu development23:38
K_Dallastrue23:38
Burgundaviabut then again, the biggest thing they have done is foster the community around Ubuntu, via building that initial social framework I mentioned and then keeping it strong with lots of resources23:38
K_Dallasthat would be actually interesting to show the canonical CEO as an astronaut and humanitarian23:38
Burgundaviaone of those resources is the ShipIT program, which is a form of marketing23:39
K_Dallasi am actually very happy with that program as i have seen people from all around the world using it23:39
Burgundaviayes23:39
Burgundaviaall about getting ubuntu into people's hands23:39
Burgundaviathere is no better marketing than word of mouth23:39
K_Dallasand i would add actually getting to experience it23:40
Burgundaviathat is part of getting it into people's hands, but yes23:40
K_DallasI am going to install it on my laptop tonight and do all the presentation with OOo and on Ubuntu and yet say nothing about that until the end of the presentation23:40
Burgundaviaso for your prof, here is what I would say:23:40
Burgundavia"ubuntu has had success in marketing via ignoring most of the 'conventional' rules. By giving the product away for free and shipping it for free to anywhere int eh world, Ubuntu has built a huge user base which provides developers and acrtive users, both of whom talk about Ubuntu, thus marketing via word fo mouth"23:42
Burgundavia"To help build the community, Canonical was very saavy in providing resources and building a social structure, allowing those contributors to feel valued"23:42
Burgundavia"Development has provided much of the market segmentation via focusing on ease of use, something previous Linux distributions have often failed at"23:43
K_Dallasare they being paid?23:43
Burgundavia"and finally, at launch, the product was good enough to use day to day, leading to instant adoption23:43
Burgundavia"23:43
Burgundaviaand yes, Canonical is a company with paid developers23:43
K_Dallasexcellent23:43
Burgundaviathe distro team within Canonical is about 30 or so right now23:43
K_DallasI see23:44
K_Dallasdo you by any chance target certain governmental institute, such as switzerland, or German army, or australia (sydney mayor), ... at all?23:44
Burgundaviahaving that core team paid allowed development to progress quickly23:45
BurgundaviaCanonical might "target" people, but I highly doubt it23:45
BurgundaviaI suspect that they are swamped merely with incoming leads23:45
K_Dallassuch as?23:45
Burgundaviathey have never released any numbers or name23:46
Burgundavianames, rather23:46
Burgundaviawell, no quite23:46
Burgundaviaif people self identify, that gets out23:46
Burgundaviabut most businesses are very publicity-adverse, especially when it comes to their infrastructure23:47
K_Dallasi was also talking to my teammates about the availability of kbuntu, xubuntu, edubuntu, et23:49
Burgundaviaright, of those, the two most interesting are Edubuntu and Ubuntu Server23:49
K_Dallaseven though it is really not hard to convert from one to another, has it played an important part in attracting more23:49
somerville32Burgundavia, :/23:49
K_Dallaswe all know that people have a love-affair with their desktop ;)23:49
Burgundaviasomerville32: sorry, but it is true, but the perspective of an outsider23:50
BurgundaviaK_Dallas: that is a very very very small vocal minority23:50
K_Dallasok23:50
Burgundaviamost people couldn't care less about their computer23:50
Burgundaviait is a thing, it does stuff23:50
K_Dallasare the other flavors of ubuntu all supported by canonical as well?23:51
Burgundaviathat is the biggest challenge and that is one that Ubuntu has done very well at meeting23:51
Burgundaviasome are yes23:51
BurgundaviaEdubuntu, Server and Kubuntu are all supported23:51
K_Dallasgood23:51
Burgundaviato most people, a computer is just a glorified toaster23:51
Burgundaviatoasters do not get "viruses"23:51
Burgundaviaand buying a new one is really not that exciting23:52
K_Dallaswhat about the language support23:52
Burgundaviait therefor follows that most people could care less about what OS is on a compouter23:52
K_Dallasis ubuntu the distro with the most number of language supported23:52
Burgundavialanguage support is key, as a lot of people need non-English23:52
Burgundaviapossibly23:52
K_Dallasi see23:52
Burgundaviawe do make translation easy via Rosetta23:52
K_Dallasoh!23:52
K_DallasI once tried to help debian with their new gui installer and my mother tongue but it didnt go well, there not much of encouraging there23:53
Burgundaviawhat is your native tongue?23:53
K_DallasPersian23:53
Burgundaviaahh23:53
Burgundaviayes, RTL is fun23:53
K_Dallaslol i know23:54
Burgundavialots of assumptions get broken with RTL23:54
BurgundaviaI have a passing knowledge of arabic23:54
K_Dallasbut i wasnt helping them with the technical problems, mainly with the translation as what they had was terrible23:54
Burgundaviatranslation quality is a fairly major issue, one that is not completely solved23:54
Burgundaviait is part a social and part a technical problem23:54
K_Dallasi know a lot of people from iran who have done excellent jobs in the opensource community wrt Persian and RTL23:55
Burgundaviabasically, the technology should empower people to do the right thing socially23:55
K_Dallastrue23:55
Burgundaviacurrently it doesn't really23:55
K_Dallasso if we talk advertising, except for shipit, is there any other activities going on in this domain?23:56
K_Dallasor it is as you said word of the mouth kind of advertising23:56
BurgundaviaCanonical has done a little bit23:56
Burgundaviaa billboard on the freeway in Cali right opposite Oracle (although they have never admitted to that ad)23:57
Burgundaviaand recent server ads23:57
K_Dallasi see. we studied a company in one of the latin american countires which used ordinary women as its ad agent and its seeling agents 23:57
Burgundaviathose can be seen on the -marketing list23:57
K_Dallasi see23:57
Burgundaviathe average person is actually a very compelling advertising/marketing "vechile"23:57
K_Dallasany picture from that, by any chance?23:58
K_Dallasamazingly, true23:58
Burgundaviathe marketing list has links to both of them23:58
Burgundavialists.ubuntu.com23:58
K_Dallasthanks23:59

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