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IBM's New Linux Advertising
Amit Shah writes "IBM is airing a commercial featuring Linux as reported on Economic Times. This could be the first major way to reach out to normal users and explain the benefits of open source and Linux. The ad says, "Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but sharing data is the first step toward community""
In case the site is slow, here is a mirror.
Martin Studio Slashdot Policy
Where's Tux?! Bah! It's not Linux without the penguin...
In Soviet Russia, the television watches YOU!
That's the future. This is a great move by IBM, just to get the mindset to the masses. Eventually we'll get beyond copyright and patent, but this is a start--even if it's by a huge corporation.
-Libertarian secular transhumanist
What about their 'Peace, love, Linux' hippy campaign they ran a while back.
Share the love...
Someone gets it, or is doing a good job of pretending to, anyway.
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
IBM ran a good commercial a while back where some cops were walking around a vacant server room while a PHB-type was explaining that all the servers had been stolen. Then the IT guy walks in and says, that they were not stolen but replaced with one linux server. The best part was as the commercial closed, one detective looks at the other and says: "What's a server?" - Classic :)
You will soon be seeing a line of xSeries certified for Red Hat Linux AS/ES/WS 3.0.
/me thinks IBM should also explain in the ad weather or not it will be compatible with all the built in cup holders that come with computers nowadays.
Last 12 frames of the ad, bottom left "Linux is (C) SCO and used without permission."
naw, I made that up.
Trolling is a art,
"Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Linux may contain intellectual property of SCO. Linux users may be liable for intellectual property infractions. Linux is not to be taken internally. If you have side effects after installing Linux, such as dryness of mouth or shortness of breath, discontinue use and consult a physician. Linux is not for all users. Not all Linux companies go up in value; some go down."
You mean I can make a phone call . . . from my car?!
For my money, I don't know if it gets any better than the IBM Linux ads that Avery Brooks did... particularly memorable was the ad that went something like "In the early ninties, a Finnish college student named Linus Torvalds develops a new operating system, and then he does something remarkable - he gives it away."
That and "Where the flying cars? I was promised flying cars!"
"Adventure? Excitement? A Jedi craves not these things."
Letting other people collect the data, and then saying it's yours and suing everyone that has it without your permission, is the road to profitability.
He's nine years old, bright-eyed and hungry to learn. Meet Linux, or a human embodiment of the computer operating system, in a new television commercial by IBM.
Meet SCO, Linux's molester-uncle.
He's nine years old, bright-eyed and hungry to learn. Meet Linux, or a human embodiment of the computer operating system
I'm going to say it was a wise choice not to use Linus in the commercial.
But how can he type while carrying his security blanket?
Big Blue was the bad guy.
It feels kind of creepy to be cheering IBM on...
Go IBM!!!!
Big Brother Bush is doubleplus ungood.
A lot of people are already "aware" of Linux but they have no clue what it is. Just the other day one of my co-workers in a memo referred to a product that uses Linux and asked if we should "explore Linux Open-Source programming." She had no clue what Linux or Open Source is but she saw them written somewhere and thought they sounded intelligent in her memo.
I will save final judgement for when I see the commercial during football on Sunday but based on that article the commercial doesn't do that. I think most US Open and Football watchers are just going to either ignore it or already be gone flipping.
In the IBM commercial, a blond, blue-eyed boy sits mum as a stream of celebrities ply him with information on everything from plumbing to the mysteries of the universe.
I think the image of a little boy being approached and molested by a bunch of creepy strangers sums up the Linux community and ethos to a T.
But shouldn't it be GNU/Linux?
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Anybody got the movie file for this one?
In July, IBM reached a three-year sponsorship deal with the NFL.
They're going to advertise Linux during televised NFL games? Isn't that sort of like advertising beer during Oprah?
It's all fun and games until someone loses the key to the handcuffs.
"Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but sharing data is the first step toward community"
And knowing is half the battle.
Man I miss that show.
This post cannot be rebroadcast without the express written constent of Major League Baseball.
The Linux commercials migrate from the business world (those commercials featuring the fiction basketball team) to the home user.
I don't know if the average home user will embrace Linux, but in the face of DRM embedded in future versions Windows, some folks may give it a try.
I wonder when Linux-based IBM computers will ship.
The Pigloo
Just picture the two of them together, stoned out of their gourds, with a guy in a big penguin suit behind them.
I hope these commercials will address one simple question... Why would I need Linux? Most users (non-techies), probably don't need to learn how to use Linux because Windows provides them with everything they need. Maybe they are targeting large companies, in this campaign, and hopefully they will realize the benefits of using Linux in the business world. For regular users(non-techies), I just don't see the point of using Linux.
Until it becomes easier to use, more compatible with hardware and less nerdy, the majority of computer users will just not use it. Look at MAC's. People are reluctant to use MAC's because in their eyes, its something that they are not used to.
Its great that IBM is marketing Linux, I'd certainly love to see my family and friends use it, but they are totally shut off to the idea.
They are comfortable with using Windows because they just dont have the interest in the learning curve Linux presents.
100% Insightful
Perhaps it's just that I don't have cable (3 channels that I'd watch out of 60 doesn't justify $45/month) but this is the first I've heard of real Linux commercials. Things in print are fine, but everyone knows TV advertising is as kingly effective as it's always been in getting stuff to sell.
Any information on whether there have been mass Linux commercials before this? We may be witnessing the beginning of a new era of Linux advertising. Marketing, marketing, marketing--we make fun of the people that major in it, and even more fun of the people that work in it, but it's certainly one of the biggest factors that helped propel Microsoft to the very top of the software heap. With a someday-equivalent force of marketing behind it, could Linux perhaps finally obtain the financial and spiritual backing it needs?
The coolest voice ever.
I didn't think PHB's watched televison.
The esteemed P.J. over at Groklaw had an interesting analogy related to this IBM campaign:
AntiFUD is an important part of this battle, which is why IBM is launching an advertising campaign about Linux. But legally they're like circling sharks. Not a sound. Just water rippling ever so slightly on the surface, a brief glimpse of a fin, as they slowly circle. Until it's time to lunge.
I'd like to add to it by saying that SCO is that loud mouthed kid who's splashing around in the water yelling obscenities and other unpleasantries at the sharks, almost daring them to attack.
There are only 10 kinds of people in this world... those who understand binary and those who don't
...who later grew up and, upon reaching manhood, was promptly sued by the RIAA, MPAA and SCO for sharing data with the rest of the community.
More than that, desktop adoption of Linux is going to require a heavy investment in support by a major PC manufacturer. In other words, dropping the price of a PC by $80 bucks and supplying it with Mandrake and no support isn't even going to lure businesses.
I would love to see a IBM sponsored claymation deathmatch of Linus and McBride.
You could have RMS and Bill Gates as commentators, where they also interject personal insults at each other.
Gates: Why don't you get a hair cut, you Hurd hugging hippie!
RMS:Bite my micro kernel!
Gates: Well at least my kernel is bigger than yours!
Are you sure that's not: Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but re-theming your desktop a dozen times while your kernel compiles is the death of productivity."
taken! (by Davidleeroth) Thanks Bingo Foo!
Check this out
Siggy Say, Siggy Do
It should be GNU/Linux as Linux is the kernel, and GNU is the shell.
But most of the general public doesn't even know what Linux is, let alone GNU or the GPL.
It seems that IBM's goal is to make all that change.
I want another round of IBM Advertising with Dennis Leary! Let him go wild on the topic of the SCO lawsuit! Nothing like Leary's special brand of scorn to set the stage for the legal proceedings!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
The ad closes with the slogan "Linux. The Future is Open. IBM."
My jaw is wide open.
Ok, IBM wants to capitalize on Linux, IBM is a company, in the past IBM has been a corrupt monopoly trying to stranglehold their clients with the proprietary ties after fscking them in the first place.
But the memes passed by this particular advertisement are something radically different than those teached by conventional advertisements and pro-capitalist ethos (consume! consume! don't think about tomorrow! spend now!).
Really, this stuff is jaw-dropping. ;D)
It's not like the cluetrain stopping in front of IBM (now we only need an express train passing in Darl McBride's office like that Athlon vs Pentium III commercial), but it's like someone saying that the time is mature for an economy based on Free Software to be born and TRY to impose herself on a wide-open scale.
Not Eazel Gnome Nautilus and crap like that, not the dotcomboom of 121 different Linux distros, but a wide world collaborating on making better, documented, free, opensource and secure systems with minor tweakings among them just to make sure that they suit individual needs. (2414 different Gnu/Linux distros!!!
Hell, also Microsoft is committed to a large-scale opensource initiative.
And I also think that this particular advertisement is what we waited in order to say that GNU and Linux have won.
+ + + + :D (ok, that was a joke)
BSD, on the other hand, is dead...
"I am slashbot, hear me roar!"
"Makes life simpler". Right.
This is valid point; in fact, it's actually oozing validity. If Linux is going to be presented in mass advertising as a device for simplification, it had better damn well live up to that description.
Like as not, many people already consider things plenty simple with Windows, especially XP and Server 2003. If Linux is going to simplify that, there must be some readily demonstrable ways in which it does so. Disillusionment is typically quick to take hold in folks, and once it's settled, it's monolithic to overcome.
The coolest voice ever.
Ford, you're turning into a penguin.
You should use AdiumX on your Mac.
check it out before it gets slashdotted :)
Siggy Say, Siggy Do
The ad airs next week during the US Open men's finals and the National Football League's kick-off on Sunday.
Am I the only one that realizes the NFL kick-off is tonight and not Sunday?
Whatever man, I spelled it write!
I appreciate what IBM is doing. The average computer user seems to think that Microsoft is all there is, when it come to an OS.
The general public needs to be informed that there ARE choice. Imagine if Microsoft were to actually start feeling the sting of lost sales. They might: Lower prices, improve customer service, and wow... focus on stablizing their software!
Urantian -- and proud of it!
Eventually we'll get beyond copyright and patent
::sigh:: I'd like to think you're just being idealistic and hoping people will develop respect for other people's work to the point where copyrights and patents are truly unnecessary. But instead I'll patiently remind you that copyleft is legally rooted in copyright.
this is a start--even if it's by a huge corporation
Answer me this: Who else can afford to pay for such ads?
-Justin
That's enough posting for now lads, there're trolls afoot.
Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but sharing data is the first step toward community.
;). Doesn't foregive IBM from coming up with a slogan that muddys the already murky question of "What is up with the GNU community?"
Nice slogan. Makes me want to put my hand over my heart and stare knowingly toward the horizon.
What's it got to do with Linux though? Data sharing seems to have more to do with databases and web services, neither of which are explicitly Linux oriented traits. It seems to me it's not data, but functionality that's shared in the Linux community.
It's something like this: we both need to build a house. I'm going to need a ladder and a saw, you're going to need a ladder and a saw. If you build the ladder, and share it with me, I'll build the saw and share it with you. It doesn't mean we're going to tell each other what's inside the house, what's going on with the house, etc. No data is shared, just the tools for organizing and arranging it. Sharing the TOOLS makes a community. Sharing data makes, I dunno, an RIAA lawsuit?
I know, I know. The slogan is meant to strike at executives who make snap decisions and watch golf on the weekends. After all, they're the only ones not using OSS already
Hey freaks: now you're ju
So IBM has entered into a sponsorship deal with the NFL... lessee what the League's webservers are running:
yep, NFL.com runs Linux.
is not! Just some blurbs and links to other campaigns.
This page featuring the ad offers it in Windows MediaPlayer format. Is there anyone out there with an MPEG copy?
Join Tor today!
This could be the first major way to reach out to normal users and explain the benefits of open source and Linux
This is a very tough sell, IMO. I'll also add that lumping the two together--"open source" and "Linux"--maybe isn't a good idea.
With perfect honesty, as someone who has used and programmed various OSes and hardware, the differences between Linux and Windows are few. Both are hugely complex from the user's point of view, and both are arguably incomprehensible on the source level. (Remember, you can't just talk about the Linux kernel, but the entire package including XFree86, drivers, the window manager, KDE, etc.) So it's not like either one is a clear winner in terms of ease-of-use or architectural cleanliness. It used to be that Linux was more stable, but with Windows 2000 that's no longer true. UNIX-alikes are generally more virus resistant than Windows, but that's a tough reason to insist that someone change all of his or her work habits and software. Remember, too, that patches for the recent Windows virii were available before infections started. Proper system administration (sadly!) plays a big role in security.
On the "open source" angle, I think that too much of an association with Linux is hurting the term. The Linux kernel is open source, yes, but we need to stop acting like you have to have one in order to have the other. There is a lot of open source software for Windows, for example. The "Chandler" email program, which is attempting to replace Outlook and Exchange, is going to run under Windows. Heck, Emacs and gcc both run under Windows. So do all of the GNU utilities. And Perl. And Python. And Tk.
As much as we all like to think we have the inside track on the superior OS--and, indeed, it may still be slightly superior--it's a case of it not being so far and away superior that it's clearly so.
" This is a great move by IBM, just to get the mindset to the masses."
It ain't that great. The ad doesn't even say what Linux is.
Call me cynical but an 'ad' that doesn't tell you what it's advertising isn't an ad. The people who already know about Linux are the only ones who are going to get anything from it.
(Note: I'd agree with your point if simply the commercial was better at getting the idea across.)
... why'd that kid's parents name him Linux?
Well, not really commercials, but some weird lil cartoons. Enjoy.
i nd ex.html?c=eserver&n=linuxfun_callout_servershome&t =advertise#
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/linux/fun/
-- taking over the world, we are.
i can't wait to see this. it reminds me of the feel of the first mac comercials--not that it's all that similar, but promoting "sharing data as the first step to community."
ironic considering the target of those first mac commercials
!(^((ri)|(mp))aa$)
Here's my idea for a Linux commercial: Jump cuts between a series of shots of geeks, camera placed "behind" the monitor. each of them is bathed in the glow of their monitors, and happily hacking away. Before cutting to the next geek, a caption reads "This [guy|girl] works for you". promote the fact that you've got a virtual army of programmers working on your software. And they're working for free. The target audience is concerned with the bottom line. You can't beat "0".
Football.. crazy strange ad about computers .. ad not showing computer ... ad with lots of symbolism ..
Is this IBM's way of celebrating (slightly early) the 20th anniversary of Apple's 1984 commercial?
Hopefully they follow this up with more TV & Print spots that elaborate as to WHY Linux is better...
Myself and most people I knew thought they sucked ass. Which is true: compared to alternatives, their hardware was subpar, their operating system was miserable. Now I am the happy owner of a 15" TiPB, and it's the best damn investment I've ever made.
My point is: there's can always be a turn-around for an individual or a group. Who knows, maybe one day Microsoft will hop on the open source bandwagon, choose honesty as a new collogne and become a major community contributor.
Join Tor today!
that the harvard prof who says "collecting data .." is called GATES!
IBM has been a long supporter of linux in the past and I am not suprised by this move as more and more companies are becoming aware and using non-Windows OSes. I am finally gratified in seeing free software promoted on major advertising spots, instead of seeing those stupid AOL and MSN internet ads.
-Certified TechnoWeinie
.... can you really envision somebody who's uninformed about Linux watching this commercial and making anything of it?
Me personally, I'd have at least mentioned that it's free or that it isn't held by a single corporation. This commercial looks more like the sequel to A.I. or D.A.R.Y.L..
"Derp de derp."
The video is in ASF format!
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
Welcome to the next generation of Geek, where a jock and a geek can be one and the same. Soon, you will see geek bullies beating up ... err, other geeks!
And your analogy doesn't quite fit. Beer companies don't advertise on Oprah because they aren't targeting women. IBM is advertising with the NFL because they aren't targeting just geeks.
-- Kircle
Everyone in the IT community has heard of Linux, but most people know it as a community effort. The commercial is targeted at corporate buyers, and seeks to enhance Linux's image by associating the operating system with a well-known, respected company (IBM).
This isn't the 1950s. Big businesses use commercials nowadays to build brands, not sell products. Consider the most well-known commercials, like Apple's "1984" ad and Coca-Cola's "Mean Joe Green" spot from the '70s. Memorable campaigns don't drill product data into your head.
For more information, click here.
Actually, this is a very smart way to do it. I've seen a lot of 'series' adverts do it.
This advert is just the 'seeder'. It lays the foundation on which the other adverts with more information are going to rely on.
No one can explain the entire 'linux' thing in 30 seconds, however, a series of 30 second adverts, with a new one each successive month - all of a sudden every person and their pet turns into an 'expert.
Regards.
Ok advertising linux is nice, but it doesn't change the fact that there is no distro "friendly" enough for the "normal" masses. A good example is the fact that the majority of people like Windows (any version) and Mac OS (any version) over Linux for 1 reason and 1 reason only.
GUI
The majority of people - read: every person outside of the Programming, Development, and IT fields who use a computer for Accounting, Business, Graphics, Presentations, Email, Web Browsing, etc... want to be able to click and drag and NEVER use a command line. Although KDE/Gnome/Etc... allows people some of these features, they don't allow the installation of hardware (ok Mandrake has the Hard Drake thing, but when I tried it didnt work worth shit and I was still stuck dloading and installing Alsa drivers via the command line)
THE MASSES DO NOT WANT TO TYPE IN SHIT LIKE THIS:
bzip2 -d -c alsa-driver-0.5.10b.tar.bz2 | tar -xvf -
Take this example of me and my friend. My friend whos going to school for programming created a program called UrlToys. It's free, written in Pearl and can run on Linux, Windows, and OS X. It's a great program. BUT it runs out of a command prompt ONLY. Therefore I have to "type" commands in for it work.
There is me who likes to test out his programs. The first thing that comes ot mind is i'd rather use a software like Packrat because I can copy and paste into the desired field and then click a couple buttons and it does the same thing.
As someone who comes from a graphic design background, I like pretty shit and want my computer to make things EASIER for me. I dont want to feel like i'm writing a program just so I can grab some porn picks off a site. I want someone else to program shit for me and let me get back to work, whcih in MY case is making pretty shit - NOT fucking with a command prompt.
Ave Molech Setting
Achille Talon
Hop!
yes it is. Did you not notice the play video button? Sheesh. Here I'll make it easy: mms://windowsmedia.dvlabs.com/adcritic/ibm-linux-p rodigy.asf
You can also just dop rodigy.asf
$ mplayer mms://windowsmedia.dvlabs.com/adcritic/ibm-linux-
Why not fork?
1. no linux msblaster worms
Any competent sysadmin already had their systems patched against that one.
2. no linux visual basic for applications cracks
When was the last new threat that was directly a result of Visual Basic scripting? By "new" I mean within the last three months or so.
4. no linux DRM media players
Who says you have to use WMP if you use Windows?
8. no having to hunt down 50 cds when trying to rebuild a machine
Gross exaggeration, obviously. And like in #1, any competent sysadmin should always know where their original discs are.
The coolest voice ever.
I'd like to think you're just being idealistic and hoping people will develop respect for other people's work to the point where copyrights and patents are truly unnecessary.
I respect other people's work. Quite a bit, in fact. It's this notion that ideas can be owned that has me worried to no end. Indeed, copyrights and patents prevent me from working my own raw materials into an interesting form, simply because someone else did it earlier or had an idea like that before I did. Talk about a lack of respect for work! While copying computer files is relatively easy, imagine making a copy of a marble statue. That's an infringement of copyright, but it takes a similar level of skill to that of the original sculptor and quite a bit of work... but because of the law, that second statue is illegal to make and could even be taken/confiscated, with no recompense for the theft!
I do not have a signature
mpege mand/aug03/prodigy90_med.mpg
e mand/aug03/prodigy90_med.mov
http://rxns-rbn-sea05.rbn.com/ibmpdc/pdc/open/qtd
qt
http://rxns-rbn-sea05.rbn.com/ibmpdc/pdc/open/qtd
an 'ad' that doesn't tell you what it's advertising isn't an ad
No. Advertising is more sophisticated than you think (read up on Edward Bernays sometime).
In this case, first introduce the name. Then 'tell' people why the need it. Then sell it (or in this case the computers that run it)
Well, it might at least make inroads toward legitimizing Linux in the eyes of PHBs who've heard of it, but just don't trust it.
-monique
You can go straight to IBM's site and download Real Media (high | low), QuickTime (high | low), or MPEG (high | low) versions of it.
And of course, if you use MPlayer, you can watch the movie from the Windows Media stream simply with:
mplayer mms://windowsmedia.dvlabs.com/adcritic/ibm-linux-p rodigy.asf
Enjoy.
Side note: does anyone else get the impression of Nazi era propaganda in this? It's an awesome ad, but come on: a blond-haired, blue-eyed kid? Why would such a child be the pinnacle of humanity? Just a thought, please don't moderate me for it.
Join Tor today!
+ + + + ;_;
I am a moron
"I am slashbot, hear me roar!"
Quicktime Version 1.6 mb
MPEG version 8.7 mb
It worked for Infiniti, dindn'it?
With perfect honesty, as someone who has used and programmed various OSes and hardware, the differences between Linux and Windows are few. Both are hugely complex from the user's point of view, and both are arguably incomprehensible on the source level. (Remember, you can't just talk about the Linux kernel, but the entire package including XFree86, drivers, the window manager, KDE, etc.) So it's not like either one is a clear winner in terms of ease-of-use or architectural cleanliness. It used to be that Linux was more stable, but with Windows 2000 that's no longer true.
Well, my system uptimes tell a different story. But you don't have to trust my figures - take a look at Netcraft uptimes. These aren't the highest uptimes of all - almost without exception, the best uptimes are held by BSD derivatives (around 5 years). For the most popular sites, Linux tends to knock in around 100+ days. Windows 2000 knocks around in the high-20's, low 30's.
Have a nice day.
Toby Haynes
Anything I post is strictly my own thoughts and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the opinions of IBM.
This is a good idea to preced desctop migration shove. First they have to get the name in front of Joe Sixpack-per-game, then they can start teaching what it can do for Joe, his wife, the kids and the granny.
It's just a beta! The real text (voiceover) is as follows:
If Linux were a penguin, it would be growing, fast. Taught by the best. Gaining wisdom between its ears. And sharing. It would be in business, education, government and homes. It would be a nine-year-old penguin chasing the world. So be afraid. Be very afraid.
The video will be showing the little kid getting slapped around the head by a 2 meter tall penguin.
See my post with links to other formats on IBM's site.
Join Tor today!
I understand your hard edge, but after you let out a couple of long breaths I bet you can figure out how your wrong.
IBM is most likely in this for themselves, granted. But this paradigm shift is in the software license (something we belabor so much I can see why you'd want to leave it out). This is an important difference, because for once and big company can take advantage of something like this while they are giving something back.
So lay off with the stupid college kids comments and keep your eyes open. These stupid kids will have professionally written software supported in part by one of the biggest corporations in the world, which isn't all bad.
Quack, quack.
Is it just me or does this kid look like a young (and calm) Eminem? The jeans, the white shirt, the white hair...
"Will the real slim shady please stand up?"
Man, this commercial almost made me cry! Seriously!
I think this is the best computer comercial since the classic 1984 from apple! It's just beautifull!
This is not off topic. If you follow that link, you will see that the idea of treating your customers like people is an idea that is not new...
Cretin...
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
"Well, it might at least make inroads toward legitimizing Linux in the eyes of PHBs who've heard of it, but just don't trust it."
That's certainly a possibility, and I do hope you're right. I'm just concerned that this particular commercial is really only interesting to the people who already know all about Linux. The commercials they did a while back with server racks using Linux did a much better job of making it interesting to PHBs.
I'd rather see the idea that other poster mentioned (show a bunch of geeks with glee in their eyes, each in a different country, and state "They are working on your future; for free. Linux: the future is open.") be implemented, that would give the right message. One of the geeks should be Linus himself, others could be e.g. Andrew Trigell, Brian Behlendorf, etc. and the names could be printed onscreen, to introduce each of them.
Software is not supposed to be about how to work around a useability issue. - Ken Barber
no linux msblaster worms
no linux visual basic for applications cracks
no trains, planes or automobiles stopped by linux viruses, worms or trojans
no linux DRM media players
no linux license fees
no linux authorization codes when you change hardware
no forced upgrade cycle
no having to hunt down 50 cds when trying to rebuild a machine
Fine. Get the masses to understand, and, more importantly, care about all that and then there's a shot.
The coolest voice ever.
As far as I can tell, you're a Slashbot of sorts yourself. Not all slashbots spew the same crap. HAND.
XML causes global warming.
It's only a simple matter of transcoding to Theora. You'll need to download the file, then encode it, probably using mplayer.
p rodigy.asf ; mv stream.dump ibm-linux-prodigy.asf ; mplayer ibm-linux-prodigy.asf
Here's a command line to download the IBM ad to a file and play it:
mplayer -dumpstream mms://windowsmedia.dvlabs.com/adcritic/ibm-linux-
To transcode, use mencoder.
A solution to the problem with music today
Use of Linux may lead to hairy palms, and in some cases, blindness.
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
If they'd s/Linux/BSD and perhaps gave the kid horns (kidding and please no Linda Blair jokes) it would amount to the same.
;-)
At least to me it came across as them trying to hammer in that OSS and open development is good because it benefits everybody (not in the least hardware/support vendors). I think its very well thought out. The boy is a methaphor(sp?) on different levels for you AND your boss AND your mum in a changing environment (of IT, the implication is of course) and it emphasises acquiring (new) knowlegde through sharing. And of course, of your own kid.
Something entirely different than the normal ads indeed as was pointed out. Of course it might also be partially intended to show (without any legal hassle) "we're on your side" towards the linux community. I bet it is
Still, well done.
Um, I see IBM commercials all the time and I could have sworn that every IBM commercial these days mentions Linux.
-
... I wondered why he didn't say anything about the Penguin.
--
"It worked for Infiniti, dindn'it?"
Who?
"Derp de derp."
You have obviously never used Linux.
./configure
Installing a program is easy.
$
$ make
$ su -c 'make install'
Installing a module doesn't require a rebuild of the kernel either.
Sorry to say it but YFI!
-uso.
Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
There was an IBM commercial not too long ago, based on the premise of a basketball game. Linux slam dunking over Hacker, etc. I found it pretty funny. Also recently, there were some other funny ad's. The guy claiming "it's the future, i was promised flying cars. Where are my flying cars?" Or who could forget the business lie detector. I can only hope that their new ad campaign is as humorous as their ads have been.
-D
Which in this context I believe means:
Thing belonging to the common public, no one person may rule over it.
-- You can be a geeklord too
Damn. You got me. Right now I'm using linux, typing on slashdot while my experiments run. In about 2.5 hours I'll be on my couch, watching football, swilling beer, and the occasional scratch may also be required.
And you say that like something's wrong with it. ;)
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
Fun with Anagarams! LADS HOST, SHALT DOS. HAS DOLTS. AD SLOTHS, HATS SOLD. ASS HO, LTD.
I found a copy of "The Heist" but all of the other (I'm told great) IBM/Linux ads don't seem to be available. Anyone know where MPEGs of them can be obtained?
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
High quality version here. And there is also a text-only version of the script here.
Articulos para gente geek: Poleras, linux, libros y mas
They haven't always made the best marketing moves (e.g. OS/2), but I'm pleased to see them actively supporting Linux on other platforms besides Intel.
I can't wait to see more support for their iSeries and pSeries servers. IBM has always made pretty good hardware, so this should give another option to companies wanting to migrate away from OS/400 and AIX yet keep the rock-solid enterprise-class hardware.
In my opinion, the more vendors that support Linux, the better.
Actually I was around 5 or 6 - quite a bit less than 10. Wow.
Fun with Anagarams! LADS HOST, SHALT DOS. HAS DOLTS. AD SLOTHS, HATS SOLD. ASS HO, LTD.
I'd like to hear stories from anyone concerning linux use within IBM. The contractors who are working with me (large credit card company producing banking software) were moaning to me the other day that even though IBM is gung-ho about linux they are still primarily a windows shop (e.g. sales people and even developers [those not doing linux development at least]) are all on windows or aix boxes and not linux. His words (somewhat paraphrased) were "Linux... good enough for our customers, but not us..."
Does anyone have info to the contrary? I love free software and linux (although I'd jump ship the second something "cooler" comes along :) and I appreciate IBMs current posturing, I'm just a little worried by the above sentiments.
The nice thing about the commercial is that it's advertising an ideology. It's going to be hard for Microsoft to come back with something that says. "Sharing information is bad. Building community is wrong." Unlike they did with their We Have the Way Out campaign which was mostly aimed at Sun, what with the purple paint and all. In the end, it's advantageous to IBM as well: use Linux, promote open exchange of information, make our lives and yours a hell of a lot easier in the end. I'd say that IBM has pulled a good trick out of the old hat this time.
The reference has been used many, many times in other shows (Sesame Street, Family Guy (best one), etc).
Ads aren't about informing the public anymore. They are about telling the public what is cool or not. People need only one word to learn about Linux and that is "Linux." If they think it is cool, they will search on the web to find out what it is.
.
I'd say The Matrix did pretty well without actually letting anyone KNOW what it was . .
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
But I think sharing data is the first step towards wisdom.
If you don't share, you are not wise.
Only a fool would be short-sighted enough to not to see the danger of using (supporting) Microsoft protocols, especially over the Internet.
.Net and DRM protocols.
In the Halloween Document, a Microsoft strategist wrote:
> OSS projects have been able to gain a foothold in many server applications because of the wide utility of highly commoditized, simple protocols. By extending these protocols and developing new protocols, we can deny OSS projects entry into the market.
Or consider this evidence in the Java case:
> Microsoft's Executive Vice President, Paul Maritz, outlined Microsoft's strategy to win the browser war with Netscape and simultaneously "neutralize Java" by "tying" the "user interface" and "APIs" "back to Windows,"
This quote also shows us how Microsoft operates:
> at this point its [sic] not good to create MORE noise around our win32 java classes. Instead we should just quietly grow j++ share and assume that people will take advantage of our classes without ever realizing they are building win32-only java apps."
And then there's this little gem:
> "Subversion has always been our best tactic," John Ludwig, Microsoft's vice president in charge of Java development, wrote. "It leaves the competition confused, and they don't know what to shoot at anymore."
Perhaps this quote sums it up the best:
> "This is really the core of Microsoft's business," Gartner Research Director Chris LeTocq said. "Microsoft is in business to leverage APIs. That's a key element of the successful market share it has."
If you haven't understood the point, then here it is...
If you continue to accept the ASF format, then you are encouraging websites to use it.
But it's still a protocol that is controlled by Microsoft.
In the future, Microsoft will:
1. Upgrade ASF to an incompatible format.
2. Start enforcing their ownership of ASF by restricting its use to Microsoft platforms (as GIFs started to be enforced).
3. Lock up ASF using Microsoft
And the websites that are using ASF will go along blindly. Why? Because no one has been complaining to them about their use of ASF, so they have no reason to avoid Microsoft's "improvements."
And at that point, the content of those websites will become unavailable to you unless you are running Windows XP.
It really annoys me when people fail to protect themselves, and everyone else, because they are too lazy or short-sighted to put up with a little temporary inconvenience. Are you hoping that someone else will do the work of protecting your freedom? Well, don't.
It's up to you. If you want the Internet to remain free, then stop supporting Microsoft protocols.
Any OS should be administered by a competent system admin who patches and/or disables services as necessary to avoid exploitation.
Riiight! Like that's ever going to happen.
When most people buy a computer, they are buying an appliance. They couldn't care less about administering it. It should just "work". Plug in the power, plug in the internet, and away we go. So, until we have machines that are self adminning out of the box, we are going to have problems.
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
No one can be told what The Matrix is... You have to see it for yourself.
No really, can you imagine explaining it in an hour, let alone 30 seconds?
Banaaaana!
From the transcript: "Mr. Gates: Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom. But sharing data is the first step toward community."
Rather ironic, don't you think?
PS. Of course, this is not M$. Gates but rather Mr. Gates.
I don't know what the middle steps are but the last one -
profit!!!
You have to love convenient ommisions by the marketing folks. IBM point out that Sun has it's own Unix O/S implying "proprietry bad", omitting Sun's linux offerring. They also omit the mention of their own proprietry Unix offering.
;)
Then again, depending on who you believe, they're not allowed to Sell AIX any more
Tp.
ftp://galileo.luon.net/pub/linux/ibm_ad.mpg
"Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but sharing data is the first step toward community" ...and sharing your data is the first step to 0wn1ng your a55
I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born - Ronald Reagan
The difficulty is that while you respect other people's work, there are those that just want to make a quick buck. Hence copyright of literary works, etc.
I agree with you that the copying of a marble statue, for example, should be recognized as a major investment of skill and effort. However there are at least two more questions: 1) Where do you draw the line between works that can be easily reproduced and those that cannot? 2) How much economic advantage does an individual "deserve" for coming up with a concept first, and how much for implementing the concept? These are very fuzzy questions.
(Despite what this may sound like, I'm not saying we should ignore the issue because it is too tough to consider. I'm merely suggesting reasons why might not have previously been tackled.)
-Justin
That's enough posting for now lads, there're trolls afoot.
no im already here ;)
Can you then imagine what those same people are gonna say when they learn what Mac OSX is like?
Seriously. Think about it. This is against everything M$ stands for.
Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but sharing data is the first step toward community kinda puts the damper on M$'s attempts to own the whole damn community, now doesn't it.
"This isn't the 1950s. Big businesses use commercials nowadays to build brands, not sell products. Consider the most well-known commercials, like Apple's "1984" ad and Coca-Cola's "Mean Joe Green" spot from the '70s. Memorable campaigns don't drill product data into your head."
Apple's 1984 ad said "we're introducing a computer."
Mean Joe Green's ad showed you an athlete drinking a bottle of coke.
IBM's ad showed you a kid getting babbled at and... well... that's about it.
Your examples are great ads, but even they were smart enough to at least let you know what it was they wanted you to buy. IBM's ad just doesn't mean anything to the uninformed.
The need to reach a diverse audience is growing, as studies show that technology buying is more frequently decided by business managers rather than technical specialists.
Correct. Which is also why the PHBs frown on use of Open Source in general, even when the company's directors have decided to go in an Open Source direction, unfortunately.
The PHBs can more effectively control the technical specialists when every time the technical specialist turns around to solve a simple problem or do something new, it requires purchasing something .
Purchasing something, in turn, requires providing lenghly explanations to these weasels in middle IT management who have never written a line of code in their lives, but who desperately need to keep justifying their existence by throwing around new buzzwords in *their* management meetings. Take away their purchasing power by using Open Source, and the poor dears will flounder -- and founder.
Also, the way these PHB's get to feel important, is by the sheer number of staff and dollars in their command. Fewer dollars for software that can be supported by fewer people, means the PHB is less important--in both his own eyes, and in the eyes of his peers -- other PHB's.
If the techo can be the hero just on the basis of having acquired, modified, fully tested and deployed something before PHB even gets wind of it, good-bye PHB.
Open Source threatens to take away a whole layer of IT "management" which, in the interest of the company's productivity and profitability is a GOOD thing. But not in the interests of the smarmy layer of IT "management" that is so clearly undermined by the Open Source process.
So IBM has to market to company directors and senior management, because their interest is in the company's productivity and profitability.
Perhaps IBM needs to air a commercial which features a lowly techo and a company director violently agreeing on an Open Source deployment that has saved the company millions, with a PHB middle management drone making increasingly weak arguments against it, while the PHB is taking back-handers and getting his latest round of meaningless buzzwords and lame, losing anti-linux rhetoric from some MicroSlut PR drone.
[100% ISO 646 Compliant]
SVM, ERGO MONSTRO.
Like the AC said, it's only the start. And it's MEANT to look like AI 2, as the hook. Then people realize it's Big Blue, especially the suits. Noone ever got fired for buying from IBM, you know.
That's idiotic! IBM did a campaign a while back where hackers shared payroll data around the company, iirc. No client is going to want to share that, nor any other data I can think of, except maybe programs.
WOW. I wish I had the mod bit right now, that was awesome.
It will portray a 28 year old thug called "Microsoft" harassing people in the street, trying to sell them crap for a quick fix.
Unfortunately, in the end an angry mob beats him into a bloody pulp.
What IBM has done is to put word into people's heads.
"Linux. The future is open."
If I didn't know what it was and was intrigued by the ad, I'd look it up just like I've done for other things:
- Who's that guy that played in that movie with that other guy?
- How does that CVT on the new Honda Civic Hybrid work?
- What other recipes are there for making jello shots?
Most people seem to know this nowdays and IBM knows people know they can look it up on the net. Their approach was to make you want to know more, "What is this Linux thing?" Maybe it doesn't work for everyone, but I'm pretty sure it will work for a lot of people.I think you should see this.
He's just a kid.
This is a G chord.
He's learning...absorbing. He's getting smarter every day.
Homo habilis was the first to use tools.
A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player.
Losing yourself in the group for the good of the group, that's teamwork.
It's happening fast.
We've always watched the stars.
If you look at the sky, you can see the beginning of time.
Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom,
but sharing data is the first step toward community.
Poetry. There's not much glory in poetry...only achievement.
Knowledge amplification. What he learns, we all learn.
What he knows, we all benefit from.
One little thing can solve an incredibly complex problem.
Everything is about timing, kid.
This is business. Faster, better, cheaper.
Constant improvement.
So, you want to fly, huh?
Wing speed, thrust...it's physics.
"Respublica non dominatur."
Plumbing. It's all about the tools.
Speak your mind.
Don't back down.
Does he have a name?
His name...is Linux.
-uso.
Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
HAHAHAHAHA Damn.
In Soviet America the banks rob you!
My first thought when I saw the ad was "what is this Eminem wannabe doing in an IBM ad?"
"This message is composed of 100% recycled electrons."
is the holy grail of advertising. Explaining what Linux IS is boring for a TV spot, people don't care, won't understand. But if everybody says "oh, I've heard of that" when IBM is trying to tell them what linux does and is during a sales presentation... people will be interested to learn what this thing they "know about" really is.
Of course, I just defended a pretty lame ad.
-pyrrho
Since when has it been the purpose of advertising to disseminate facts?
Your courageous and selfless spelling corrections have made me a better person.
Peace, Love, Penguins.
It ain't that great. The ad doesn't even say what Linux is.
That's the beauty of it - they managed to make an ad that the average PHB can understand.
Redhat 8 gives you the option in the beginning as to what type of firewall you want.
Yeah.. it's that simple.
-- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
... honed to run linux and with linux honed to run on it ... use SE linux so it's nice and secure and safe from viruses (easy to make a policy where nothing runs without being verified against a checksum, protected stack, all that stuff) and make it easy for me and my mom to set up a public area and a private encrypted partition.
:-) Heck put a chip IBM knows well in it ... say PPC or something.
... I want to buy 5 laptops for the price of one ... and so do 200 of my friends in China.
Now *THATS* "trusted computing".
Hmm you've got your choice of chips since Linux has been ported to it already
Let apple have the top end iBook aluminum 4000$ lappies
ps: IBM could do this and achieve 25% of apple's volume on laptops in a few months
its even easier to type emerge openoffice thats it.
The Television Wiki
SourceMage - Gentoo without the zealotry ;)
# cast -c openoffice
-uso.
Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
If you want something in that price range, I know where you can license a copy of linux to run on that laptop.
or is it ironic that a linux ad is in windows media format?
BSD is for people who love UNIX. Linux is for those who hate Microsoft.
which = .72 USD these days
You managed to find a suitable script pretty quickly. That would be along the same lines as my Linux experience. Plenty of help and stuff all ready to go. Notice how well commented that script is. Pretty easy to make minor changes. You can bet that MS would probably hide it all in a binary file and you'd have to buy a book to make it work.
The mpeg got my sister in law to ask me "What's Linux?". The commercial got her *asking questions*, and that's exactly what IBM wants. If I wasn't here to answer, she would've googled it - she wanted to find out more. But since I was here, I introduced her to Knoppix. What comes of it, I don't know. But it's a Very Good Thing.
And anyway, I find THE BEST ADS, the ones people remember, are either surreal or funny.
I like this ad. It works for me.
It ain't that great. The ad doesn't even say what Linux is.
Call me cynical but an 'ad' that doesn't tell you what it's advertising isn't an ad. The people who already know about Linux are the only ones who are going to get anything from it.
The whole point of modern advertising is to break it up into little chunks and make you feel without knowing what you're hearing about. That way, when you do learn what it's about, all the previous things you saw and heard about are associated with whats presented to you.
You can't really dispute something if you don't understand what it is, so on some level, you just absorb what you hear.
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
realized that Linux has the biggest development staff on the planet, even bigger than IBM. Someone there said, "let's drop AIX. Linux can replace our in-house OS in most areas. Our development costs go down. Support costs won't change. We'll eat the lunch of every major server player on the planet. We can join the OS community AND get a monopoly."
------ The only greater hazard to your liberty than n politicians is n+1 politicians.
Dude, one thing at a time. Surely it is obvious that there is value in a commercial that teases people to make them hungry to learn more. Anyone who already wants to understand Linux can already learn about it any time they want to. The key here is convincing people who would not otherwise pay any attention to listen and become curious enough to want to learn more.
Most people automatically stop paying attention once they find out that the subject at hand is something that don't consider within their realm of interest. I am quite certain that Linux is one of those things
I personally feel that this commercial will do a pretty effective job of getting people who may benefit from the use of Linux (and who could also potentially contribute to the OS community), but who would otherwise change the channel to keep watching, while asking, "What could this be about?"
--something witty
"Linux. The Future is Open. IBM."
should be
"GNU/Linux. The Future is Open. IBM."
Money, that is all about money.
They [big blue] just want to sell their products, and as Linux
is the actual 'insight', they are investing on it.
The Free Software main philosophy is to help your neighboor,
to help our community [mankind], not making money.
Money is important, indeed, but it cannot have higher
priorities than our principles.
IBM produced some amazing adds in support of OS/2. I particularly remember the nuns...
In the end me, 3 of my friends and MCI actually bought and used it..
Elegant adds do not a product sell. I can only hope this is the beginning of a better campaign.
"Straddling the sword of technology..."
in direct violation of the GPL.
They benefit, while the kernel authors
are not willing to sue, and Linus
does not even withhold their use of the
"Linux" trademark. How pathetic!
Don't tell me the kernel developers don't have money to
protect their copyright. If they ask, I am
sure most linux users will mail them at least $3 each,
and they should have a few millions within 3 weeks.
It wasn't the little boy from AI.
Though there was a remarkable resemblance with the environment. It gave an AI feel.
Fortunately, as much as I hate to admit it, not all who watch NFL football are drooling idiots. Just the majority... the rest are the management. Okay okay... so there isn't much of a difference other than payscale.
-- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
Get a grip, whomever could they have used that would not have offended some PC group of people.
He looks like Dennis the Menace that is as Middle American as you can get. Nuff Said
Help fight continental drift.
Not to mention that I don't know of too many people who instead of using bunzip2, uses bzip2 with the -d flag. Not to mention piping the output to tar.
I'd be simpler just to do tar -jxvf alsa-driver-0.5.10b.tar.bz2 and call it a day.
Or doubleclick on the bz2 file in konqueror as you said, and drag-n-drop the contents out. But if your typing, just use the -j flag in tar.
-- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
I'm on a GNU/Linux desktop. Though that may seem geeky, in this town, just about every business is...of course, I did install those in particular in the past two...three years. People like them.
How is Linux (the POSIX environment is your real point) harder to programme for? Have you see the S* you can do with Python? You know how easy it is to explain Python to VBKiddy?
Actually, signal stations, airports and two embedded systems for cars use Linux as the base.
Actually, it's only the free stuff doesn't do DRM. I guess you're just one of those Windows free-loaders.....
If you've never been forced to upgrade your Windows computer, that means ither your Windows system is over 3 years old or your computer is under 3 years old...or both. It's not abnormal for a company that hasn't upgraded in, say, four or five years to upgrade one thing (an accounting programme for example) and suddenly finding themselves needing "new everything."
Most distros are available on CD's. Distros include software needed to make your computer run. Ergo, gfys.
"Yeah...it was the numbers that were irrational, not the murderous cult of vegetarians...." -- Hippasus of Metapontum
Not at all. They're basing the future of their business on Linux, not BSD.
I disagree. IBM could have supported a superior
product like BSD instead of Linux, but they
chose Linux. Why? Because Linux is GPL and
they don't want their work hijacked into
Microsft products. They chose to share if
you share model. Saying that GPL is as good
as any other the Free Software license is
not a valid argument -- at least, not
for the companies that want to battle Microsoft.
But this uestion shouldn't be decided by slashdoters picking numbers out of the ether any more than by vested interests bidding on it. It should be decided by historical study, detailed simulation, or (if nessesary) experiment. I wish someone were trying.
Sig:Why copyright isn't a fundamental human right
The ad showcases well-known people, including the greatest athlete of all time, Mohammed Ali!
http://www.club977.com/ - The 80's Channel!
Your source for commercial free 80's music!
The coach is John R. Wooden
Woman who says "One little thing can solve an incredibly complex problem" is Sylvia Nasar
Wman who says "Everything's about timing kid" is Penny Marshall
Guy who says "Speak your mind. Don't back down" is Muhammad Ali
Read Epic the first RPG novel.
Damn. Mod points twice in the last week. Now I don't have any for the best comment I've seen in a while.
I'd recommend +1 insightful or +1 informative.
the parent comment is both, and is clearly on topic.
********* sig: If you don't like the law, get filthy stinking rich, and buy a better one.
Linux has a long way to go to replace all of the midframe support that AIX has, even with IBM's help. Plus it would be bad business to cut off all your long term customers.
They will probably push Linux for new, distributed operations, using small-mid size equipment, and on VMs running on partitioned machines to provide a widely understood API.
Fuck Beta. Fuck Dice
I am happy.
mplayer plays IBM commercial over wifi; I missed it while I got a sandwich.
I am doubly happy.
Fuck Beta. Fuck Dice
Is anyone else thinking 2001, A.I., or some other kubrick flick here???
I hope they come up with something as cool as the peace, love and linux logo. That was pretty cool on a T-shirt, and it summed up a lot of what might make a person happy. http://t1d.www-1.cacheibm.com/servers/eserver/pll/ images/animate_header.gif
They should've cut to a SCO representative strangling the little boy...
You may want to try the shoreline firewallif you want to learn to use an iptables firewall on linux.(or even if you dont, you can just use shorewall and never actually write your own custom scripts.)
add wondershaper and you can have a VERY decent firewall/traffic shaper knowing almost nothing of how it works.
If you have problems editing text files(such as shorewall uses for configuration) you can also use webmin for a point and click interface with most of the funtions.
Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom. But sharing data is the first step toward community
Call me cynical but an 'ad' that doesn't tell you what it's advertising isn't an ad.
But, it grows the brand. After all, our enemy will be eaten by squirrels.
"Oppression and harassment is a small price to pay to live in the land of the free." -- Montgomery Burns.
It was a wonderful commercial. I realized almost immediately that this commercial is not trying to sell Linux. I got the feeling that IBM already knows Linux is growing quickly and wants to advertise support. IBM wants people who have never heard of Linux to tie Linux and IBM together. If people think of IBM when they hear of Linux then they will remember where to go to get their copy and support. I believe this was a very good move for IBM. I also believe this is a very good ad for Linux.
I learned a new word in english today. Yup, thats what it gave me, too. Wow! Nice spot! In Germany we call it "Gansehaut". That spot is pretty good on the emotional level but also sums up the idea of OS pretty well for the average Joe. Good job, BigBlue.
cu,
Lispy
For a while.
They have this basketball game, with one side being hackers, viruses, etc, and the other side Linux, IBM, etc...
Or is this one somehow not a linux commercial?
He tried to kill me with a forklift!
People (including companies, since they are counted as "people" ine this sick ass world we live in) can and do change over time.
I used to do all kinds of fucked up stuff as a kid I wouldn't dream of doing today.
I bet you did too.
If tomarrow microsoft started being a part of the community, and released this same fucking ad but at the end it said "Microsoft" instead of "IBM" the meaning would still be the same.
The basic concepts still would have given me the feeling I get looking at some of these or reading a really good SF book, say by asimov or heinlein or explaning to my 4 year old how stars work.
just because something or someone is evil now doen't make them always and perpetually evil.
IMO microsoft is NOT beyond redemtion. It would take a lot, but doable.
The only exception I can think of is SCO. They crossed too far into the "dark side" =)
Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom. But sharing data is the first step toward community
click here to see why you are a moron
HINT:look near the end, where the Rodin links are.
Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom. But sharing data is the first step toward community
The internal design wasn't a clone of anything, it was brand new. The API tended to be implementations of Posix specifications where available, and clones of SunOS 3/4 when not. SunOS was the most popular operating system in CS departments at the time, and the students wanted their home system to be similar to what they used in school.
The target audience is the PHB's, who will hopefully be less resistent when the techies advocate a Linux based solution for the server, especially if they remember to say the magic word IBM.
IBM couldn't care less about the "majority of users", they are not targeting the home users or even the corporate desktop at this point.
He said "linuks". When, it is actually, "lee'nooks". Where are the purists?
Have you read my journal today?
I totally agree with you, however, there's one little point: complaining to the website often results in nothing happening :-(
.rm *STREAMING* format (useless for us 56k ers). I got no response. The idiots probably don't even understand the issues involved, and paid their money for the use of the encoding software, and don't see a good reason to change as they'd "lose their investment".
I recently fired off an e-mail complaining to the BBC's website that they only offered certain videos in
*sigh*. How do you win a battle that is unwinnable?
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
Just ask any Lisp programmer.
I think it is clear that data is used in a broad sense, where it includes information, knowledge and skills, a lot of which is embedded in the Linux kernal.
Which hair and eye color would you expect is most common among kids born in Finland?
I don't know about you but this commerical brought tears to my eyes.
I recently fired off an e-mail complaining to the BBC's website that they only offered certain videos in .rm *STREAMING* format (useless for us 56k ers). I got no response. The idiots probably don't even understand the issues involved, and paid their money for the use of the encoding software, and don't see a good reason to change as they'd "lose their investment"
Actually, the BBC (a customer of a former employer of mine) are very technology savvy. When they bought the rights to use Real, it was practically the only cross platform media player available - some might argue that it still is (piece of junk though it is). The reason that it's streaming only is primarily because the BBC outsource a lot of programming to third party production companies who often grant the BBC broadcast rights, but nothing else. The BBC also flog a lot of thier own archive material on tape, video and DVD - so they'd be stupid to give it away in a freely reproducable format.
# init 5
Connection closed.
Oh...
When they bought the rights to use Real, it was practically the only cross platform media player available - some might argue that it still is
m otorneuronedisease.shtml
The player used is totally irrelevant. The BBC aren't in the business of issuing players; they're in the business of issuing media. All they need is a cross-platform (or open) *FORMAT* to release their videos in, not one that can be played in a player that's available for all platforms (and how cross-platform IS Real? Does it run on BeOS? OS2? The Amiga? A commadore 64? Open *FORMATS* make those all theoretically possible options). Sorry, but I don't call that 'technology savvy'.
The reason that it's streaming only is primarily because the BBC outsource a lot of programming to third party production companies who often grant the BBC broadcast rights, but nothing else.
I'm pretty sure this isn't one of those cases. The video in question that I'd like to view is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/videonation/articles/b/beds_
I'm pretty sure that's just owned by the BBC, but they still insist it be streamed; this applies to the whole of Video Nation, as well. Why can't it be available in a non-streaming format? It's virtually unwatchable on 56k. Why can't it be available in an *OPEN* format? As a British citizen, the BBC is supposed to have a mandate to represent my views directly; we pay a mandatory licence fee to them. They should be providing all of their archives to the public in as many formats as possible! Greg Dyke, director general, recently announced his intention to do just that. No sign of it so far, though.
And how rude is just *not responding* to an e-mail I sent? How unprofessional? Not even an excuse for their lack of variety in video formats (although they have '56k' and 'broadband' quality, both are streamed, and somebody obviously doesn't know the speed of an average 56k connection; '56k quality' is unwatchable, without constant pauses, on the vast majority of 56k connections).
I think this reeks far more of sheer BBC laziness, as usual, than genuine technical savvy.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
The player used is totally irrelevant...
...As a British citizen, the BBC is supposed to have a mandate to represent my views directly; we pay a mandatory licence fee to them.
No, it's entirely relevent, because as a public service broadcaster, their mandate is to reach the maximum of their achievable UK target market. On the web, it's windows (90+%) and Mac (less than 5% if the surveys are to be believed). This dictates which encoder is used and hence the player. Real, crap as it is, covers this demographic, plus Solaris and Linux and a few others (after a fashion).
BeOS and OS/2 are commercially dead O/Ss with very, very few users (and I know some). The Amiga - well! The C64 - it can't play FMV to start with.
I'm pretty sure that's just owned by the BBC...
I'm sure that the The BBC reserve all rights etc... How do the BBC know that your a UK license fee payer and not some random foreign freeloader?
While your views are, of course, of paramount importance (I was forgetting), the TV license is not mandatory and never has been - you don't have to own a TV (I have never owned one).
And how rude is just *not responding* to an e-mail I sent? How unprofessional?
They *are* busy - believe me, it's not personal. I often send typo corrections to BBC news online, I seldom get a response, but the error is always corrected.
# init 5
Connection closed.
Oh...
Hmm. You almost sound like a troll, but I'll respond anyway.
... This dictates which encoder is used and hence the player
their mandate is to reach the maximum of their achievable UK target market
Uh... this is utterly wrong. How does needing to reach a large audience 'dictate which encoder is used'? It doesn't. A far better encoder than Real's would be... well, just about anything, really.
I'm sure that the The BBC reserve all rights etc... How do the BBC know that your a UK license fee payer and not some random foreign freeloader?
An utterly invalid point.
1) They don't seem to have any reservations about offering numerous other free services to 'foreign freeloaders' such as BBC News, etc.
2) They also don't seem to have any reservations about offering the *streaming* video to 'foreign freeloaders'. What do you think their mentality is; that they will only offer the non-streaming video to UK citizens, but as I can't prove that I am one, they won't offer it at all? Clearly, I think their mentality is that they'll just offer everything for free, as otherwise they couldn't offer anything as proof of geographic origin is near-impossible on the internet. Therefore, what they're offering to everyone (including UK citizens) amounts to no more than a streaming version of the video(s).
the TV license is not mandatory and never has been - you don't have to own a TV (I have never owned one).
Nope. But for those of us who like to watch TV, it's some more damn good ammunition against the licence fee, isn't it?
They *are* busy - believe me, it's not personal.
It's pathetic.
I often send typo corrections to BBC news online, I seldom get a response, but the error is always corrected.
My problem has neither been responded to nor corrected.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
And finally,
Muhammad Ali, the legend himself.I predict this ad will win many awards.
Hmm. You almost sound like a troll, but I'll respond anyway.
Ahhh. The infamous opening line. Forget it twat. Get a life etc. etc.
# init 5
Connection closed.
Oh...
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
You probably mean: if you don't want to be able to interoperate with the rest of the world, stop supporting Microsoft protocols.
Some of us want to use Linux/BSD/whatever but would REALLY like to be able to read/write Microsoft protocols or file formats, because of their work, clients or what else.
The best solution IMHO would be for the open source world to offer flawless read/write filters, so those 'closed' protocols suddenly become open. It's what Microsoft did when they wanted Excel to gain marketshare from Lotus 1-2-3, see also this article by Joel Spolsky.
When you are a small minority, it doesn't help to 'just say no'. You'll be alone in your nay-saying.
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