[Mageia-discuss] Mageia logo proposals and selection

Gamaliel Lamboy Rodríguez gamalamboy at gmail.com
Sat Oct 16 00:11:30 CEST 2010


On Friday 15 October 2010 11:47:07 am Marcello Anni wrote:
> > On 15 October 2010 17:00, Marcello Anni <marcello.anni at alice.it> wrote:
> > >> On 15 October 2010 16:22, Marcello Anni <marcello.anni at alice.it> wrote:
> > >> >> I don't think any respectable Linux distro should go the Ubuntu way
> > >> >> in the branding part. Promoting ourselves as just "Mageia" not as
> > >> >> "Mageia, a Linux distro", even implicitly, is just wrong. People
> > >> >> who contribute to the FOSS world still have ethics and "values" to
> > >> >> uphold. I don't care if it's commercially successful or not, and
> > >> >> we _can be a successful Linux distro_.
> > >> > 
> > >> > i'd prefer a user that chooses mageia as it is and then he becomes
> > >> > interested in linux and in its community (and values) than
> > >> > considering mageia as a linux distro and not to trying it as he
> > >> > thinks it is too diffult...  do you agree?
> > >> > 
> > >> > 
> > >> > 
> > >> > Marcello
> > >> 
> > >> It's the other way around, the user is interested in Linux, for
> > >> whatever reason: - economical, he can't afford windows
> > >> - usability, he's tired of fixing his windows boxes... etc
> > >> - ideological, he wants to use free open source software
> > > 
> > > no, we don't want to search those people. the people that choose linux
> > > for these reasons have already installed linux in their machines, we
> > > must comunicate to the people that think "linux is ugly and  difficult
> > > to use" that there is the best system around the world and that they
> > > didn't try it yet.
> > 
> > Bear in mind that those who searched will put more time/effort into
> > getting it to work, i.e. they're not doing it as a sort of stunt :)
> 
> in fact (in compatibility with manpower and marketing decisions) we must
> offer an increasingly ease of use also for those people (without
> forgetting mentors help)
> 
> > >> then he looks for a distro and start using it.
> > >> 
> > >> Of course seeing an OS on a friend's machine may be an incentive to
> > >> give that "thing" a shot, but he should know what he's about to use.
> > > 
> > > more than seeing an OS from their friends (that is really useful
> > > anyway, overall in the first steps), i would like to change the
> > > synonim linux=difficult. if you change it (as it happened often to
> > > me), they say to you "ah, cool", but they won't ever install it .
> > > 
> > > cheers,
> > > Marcello
> > 
> > I don't see how that contradicts my point of _not_ promoting "Mageia"
> > but ""Mageia" the Linux distro"....
> 
> it is only a different POV. (but interesting in my opinion).. you say
> linux-
> 
> >mageia, i say mageia->linux : )
> 
> cheers,
> Marcello
Sorry to meddle, but as part of the marketing team I really want to synthesize 
both of the views exposed here instead of choosing between them. And the key 
is Graham's proposal: different branding. This does not mean reinventing the 
wheel for every single audience, as some elements can possibly be shared, but 
rather that we need to approach the kinds of users at large differently. That 
is why we look for a "target" market and create a brand for it. And this 
branch of the discussion fits nicely into such a proposal.

You see, non-technical users, of which I am an acquaintance as I maintain tons 
of Windows boxes in my university (informally, but it's still work), barely 
have even the knowledge necessary to choose an OS. Therefore, the branding for 
them cannot possibly insert Linux or other technical details; it is more of a 
simplified picture of what Free Software is and how we insert ourselves into 
that. This is seen in our Core Values, where the main focus is showing people 
that we are a Community, not a corporation, and that we care about our users. 
On the other side we have the intermediate-to-advanced Linux users, which CAN 
and/or DO choose a Linux OS and FOSS Technologies. To these users we can 
introduce a branding that includes our special characteristics in the Linux 
world and the advantages of using our development branch, etc. But Graham's 
point still stands, that we need to define these target markets more fully so 
we can better assess the Mageia reputation in each of them.

I hope this can help us reach a consensus without splitting ourselves.

P.S. Sorry if I break the thread, I am not very familiar with nettiquete and 
my current mail client. IT WAS NOT INTENTIONAL, if it happens... :)


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