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IBM's Upcoming Linux Ad Campaign

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the with-the-torvalds-seal-of-approval dept.

Chris Soghoian writes: "According to a Wired News story, IBM is going to feature Tux as part of it's 'Peace, Love & Linux' ad campaign. Apparently, the campaign is going to kick off with a 6-story Tux billboard in Times Square next week." I'm looking forward to seeing the CG Tux TV ads.

7 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. I already got the bumper stickers by Ross+C.+Brackett · · Score: 5

    One of the marketing guys here at work (we resell for IBM) got some of the promo materials for the campaign, and I have to say the bumper stickers at least rock. I don't have a scanner, so I'll describe them: There are three different bumper stickers. They're completely black and white, with the funny e in the "IBM e Server" logo red. The background is black, and there are three white circles with the peace sign, a heart and Tux's head on them, respectively. On one of the stickers, Tux is huge, no logo. One the other two, the white circles are all the same size, and they say either LINUX LIVES or LINUX POWER in huge letters.

    Still, they're very plain and non-detailed. There's no flower power feeling. In fact, the impression I get is more making fun of the sterotype of Linux hippies, especially on the one with Tux dwarfing the peace and love signs, kind of a manic celebration of the fact that yes, Linux was founded on the principles of sharing and goodwill, but it makes a damn good solid OS right now for your business.

    Perhaps I'm reading too much into it :-).

    Still, the one with the big Tux is going on the car.

  2. IBM Linux commercial by AntiBasic · · Score: 5

    IBM Linux commercial. It has got Captain Cisco in it but I haven't seen it on TV with that line of commercials with him in it. I guess they've been saving it.

  3. IBM should do a Linux distro! by PRR · · Score: 5

    It's nice that IBM supports Linux in general, but I've said it before here, and I'll stick by it... IBM should do a Linux distro. They should probably buy RedHat, which already seems to have close ties to IBM at RTP, and the stock is cheap now anyway (and no, I'm *not* a RHAT stockholder).

    First of all, an IBM Linux distro would become sorta like the "IBM PC" in that it would be a quasi-defacto standard that everyone rallies around, but IBM doesn't really control. This already happened with the PC. The GPL would ensure it further, and IBM's emphasis on being a *hardware* company would also help ensure it's impartiality even further. I believe IBM would be a good citizen with it's own Linux distro.

    Secondly, IBM's good name would help it's acceptance with the PHB's :) This already happened with IBM's name on small PC's which were still seen as curiosities by management types when they first appeared years ago. Once you get this kind of acceptance, the momentum builds, more folks get involved, and things get even better.

    Finally, let's face it.... there's really only one company big enough to stand up to M$'s bullying and that's Big Blue. I'm sure some of the older OS/2 engineers at IBM don't need to be reminded about M$. Without any *major* competition, M$ will just do whatever they please. A very successful IBM Linux would keep them in line. M$ also has the advantage in that it has one standard API for developers to shoot for whereas there's still a bit of fragmentation with Linux with a variety of packages and little discrepancies. I really wouldn't mind a "defacto standard" Linux distro that an IBM could provide as long as it's GPL and open standards compliant. There would still always be specialized distros like Debian and Slackware.

  4. They are the ones making the decisions... by Carnage4Life · · Score: 5

    I wonder: the analogy to the 1960s may work, but should ex-hippies really be the target audience? Are they the ones running all the servers nowadays?

    They aren't running the servers but they are the ones telling the server jockeys what to run. They are the CTOs, CIOs and CEOs. They are the ones who need to be convinced that "Linux is ready for the Enterprise" and who better to do that the the behemoth from their earlier years, IBM, the Microsoft of their generation

  5. Re:Wonderful by grappler · · Score: 5
    Between putting a "Linux" billboard in Times Square and calling it "open source", I would not like to be the one to bring this news to one Richard Stallman.

    --

    --
    Vidi, Vici, Veni
  6. Wonderful by Uruk · · Score: 5

    "Peace, Love, and Linux"?

    That will go a long way to getting rid of the "hippy" stereotype that comes with GNU/Linux.

    --
    -- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx
  7. Link to the online IBM ad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5

    http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/linux/passpor t.swf