Linux Advocacy mini-HOWTO

Paul L. Rogers, Paul.L.Rogers@li.org

v0.5c, 3 May 2000


This document provides suggestions for how the Linux community can effectively advocate the use of Linux.

1. About this document

2. Copyright Information

3. Introduction

4. Related Information

5. Advocating Linux

6. Canons of Conduct

7. User Groups

8. Vendor Relations

9. Media Relations

10. Acknowledgements


1. About this document

This is the Linux Advocacy mini-HOWTO and is intended to provide guidelines and ideas to assist with your Linux advocacy efforts.

This mini-HOWTO was inspired by Jon ``maddog'' Hall when he responded to a request for feedback on guidelines for advocating Linux during NetDay activities. He responded positively to the guidelines and observed that they were the basis of a list of ``canons of conduct'' that would benefit the Linux community.

This document is available in HTML form at http://www.datasync.com/~rogerspl/Advocacy-HOWTO.html.

Nat Makarevitch <nat@nataa.fr.eu.org> has translated this document into French.

Chie Nakatani <jeanne@mbox.kyoto-inet.or.jp> has translated this document into Japanese.

Janusz Batko <janus@krakow.linux.org.pl> has translated this document into Polish.

Bruno H. Collovini <buick@microlink.com.br> has translated this document into Portuguese.

Mauricio Rivera Pineda <rmrivera@hotmail.com> has translated this document into Spanish.

The author and maintainer of the Linux Advocacy mini-HOWTO is Paul L. Rogers <Paul.L.Rogers@li.org>.

Comments and proposed additions are welcome.

If you need to know more about the Linux Documentation Project or about Linux HOWTO's, feel free to contact the supervisor Tim Bynum <linux-howto@sunsite.unc.edu>. Tim Bynum will post this document to several national and international newsgroups on a monthly basis.

A personal note: Due to various circumstances, I have not been able to dedicate as much time to maintaining this mini-HOWTO and interacting with the Linux community as I would have desired. I apologize for this and if you have attempted to contact me and I was slow in responding, please forgive me being so inconsiderate. While I still have many other commitments, I am anticipating that they will start requiring less time to meet and allow me to catch up on other parts of my life. I appreciate your patience and would like to extend a special thanks to all who have taken the time to suggest additions and corrections.


2. Copyright Information

This mini-HOWTO is Copyright © 1996-2000 by Paul L. Rogers. All rights reserved.

A verbatim copy may be reproduced or distributed in any medium physical or electronic without permission of the author. Translations are similarly permitted without express permission if it includes a notice on who translated it.

Short quotes may be used without prior consent by the author. Derivative work and partial distributions of the Advocacy mini-HOWTO must be accompanied with either a verbatim copy of this file or a pointer to the verbatim copy.

Commercial redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however, the author would like to be notified of any such distributions.

In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through as many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright on the HOWTO documents, and would like to be notified of any plans to redistribute the HOWTOs.

We further want that all information provided in the HOWTOs is disseminated. If you have questions, please contact Tim Bynum, the Linux HOWTO coordinator, at linux-howto@sunsite.unc.edu.


3. Introduction

The Linux community has known for some time that for many applications, Linux is a stable, reliable, robust (although not perfect) product. Unfortunately, there are still many people, including key decision-makers, that are not aware of the existence of Linux and its capabilities.

If Linux and the many other components that make up a Linux distribution are to reach their full potential, it is critical that we reach out to prospective ``customers'' and advocate (being careful not to promise too much) the use of Linux for appropriate applications. The reason that many a company's products have done well in the marketplace is not so much due to the product's technical superiority but the company's marketing abilities.

If you enjoy using Linux and would like to contribute something to the Linux community, please consider acting on one or more of the ideas in this mini-HOWTO and help others learn more about Linux.


4. Related Information

Lars Wirzenius, former comp.os.linux.announce moderator and long-time Linux activist, also has some thoughts about Linux advocacy.

Eric S. Raymond provides an analysis of why the development model used by the Linux community has been so successful.

The free software community has recognized that the terms "free software" and "freely available software" are not appropriate in all contexts. For more information about using the term "open-source software" when marketing "free software", please visit the Open Source site.

If you need to brush up on your Linux sales techniques, take a look at the Linuxmanship essay by Donald B. Marti, Jr.

The Linux PR site discusses the importance of press releases to the Linux community. Another way to gain valuable experience in this area is to organize a NetDay at a local school using the guidelines presented in the NetDay How-To Guide.

Linux International's goal is to promote the development and use of Linux.

The Linux Documentation Project is an invaluable resource for Linux advocates.

The Linux Center Project provides a thematical index of resources about Linux and free software.

The Linux Business Applications site provides a forum for organizations that depend on Linux for day-to-day business operations to share their experiences.

Linux Enterprise Computing and Freely Redistributable Software in Business cover resources and topics of interest to those deploying Linux in a business/commercial/enterprise setting.

The Linux Advocacy Project's goal is to encourage commercial application developers to provide native Linux versions of their software.

The Linux CD and Support Giveaway program is helping make Linux more widely available by encouraging the reuse of Linux CD-ROMs.

Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc. (SSC) hosts the Linux Resources site and publishes the Linux Journal.

The linux-biz mailing list is a forum created to discuss the use of Linux in a business environment.

The Linux Mission Critical Systems survey documents successful existing systems which have a large load and are up 24 hours per day.

A number of online publications are now devoted to covering Linux. These include:

Additional links to online publications can be found at the Linux Documentation Project and the Linux Center Project.


5. Advocating Linux


6. Canons of Conduct


7. User Groups


8. Vendor Relations


9. Media Relations


10. Acknowledgements

Grateful acknowledgement is made to all contributors, including:

Kendall G. Clark          <kclark@cmpu.net>
Wendell Cochran           <atrypa@eskimo.com>
Bruno H. Collovini        <buick@microlink.com.br>
Allan "Norm" Crain        <allanc@idea-inc.com>
Jon "maddog" Hall         <maddog@zk3.digital.com>
Greg Hankins              <gregh@cc.gatech.edu>
Eric Ladner               <eladner@goldinc.com>
Chie Nakatani             <jeanne@mbox.kyoto-inet.or.jp>
Daniel P. Kionka          <dkionka@worldtalk.com>
Nat Makarevitch           <nat@nataa.fr.eu.org>
Martin Michlmayr          <tbm@cyrius.com>
Rafael Caetano dos Santos <rcaetano@dijkstra.ime.usp.br>
Idan Shoham               <idan@m-tech.ab.ca>
Adam Spiers               <adam.spiers@new.ox.ac.uk>
C. J. Suire               <suire@datasync.com>
Juhapekka Tolvanen        <juhtolv@silmu.cc.jyu.fi>
Lars Wirzenius            <liw@iki.fi>
Sean Woolcock             <sbwoolco@eos.ncsu.edu>