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Toy Penguins and Male Egos Drove Linux Acceptance
An anonymous reader writes "Germany's local and city councils have been pioneering the migration from Windows to Linux. Now, one of the IT staff behind one move has revealed how they persuaded workers to accept the changes. Stuffed toy penguins and Linux t-shirts helped to create an open-source love-in at the council offices, and they got a senior chairwoman to demonstrate the new system to the troops. Male ego stopped anyone claiming that Linux was difficult to use, once they'd seen that the 'weaker sex' could master it :)"
Glad to see Germany's just as progressive as it was back in the day. /sarcasm
and it called MARKETING!!!
Which distro of linux are they using?
Not that it's a great sales tactic: "You don't need that wimpy ease-of-use"
Gotta keep the spin "Easy enough for *her*, so you can certainly handle it."
so we need to send out troops of booth girls with Knoppix in hand to shame the microsofties into submission. they can stop by my office first.
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
are you talking about geek-kind here or what?
some of us are pretty strong you know.
Where have I seen this before? :)
Never underestimate the power of the booth babe. :)
This is hardly new... all it has ever taken to get a guy to do something is say something like "oh, if it's too heavy for you I can ask someone else"
'cept for those of us who learned the game and call the bluff with "sure, go right ahead"
"Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel." - A.B.
You mean you converted a group of people to Linux without shouting things like "RTFM!!!"???
Maybe we should rethink our strategies...
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Toy penguins and males egos drove the agricultural revolution. Just another victory for the testosterone-fueled-penguin progress that's going to get us to Mars!
This sounds suspiciously like how the world of commercial software works :o
...is to know your audience. Seems like the folks that put this together did.
A woman who uses Linux? I'm in love.
To rework a famous old saying, no-one ever went broke overestimating the impact of appealing to the male ego.
That's brilliant marketing to use a female rep to demo a product to a bunch of men.
A lot of companies would do well to follow that example, I think.
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
http://www.nccomp.com/images/linux-girl.jpg
pic
The toys made it fun, but the coders made it work. I think marketing droids are also to blame for overhyping linux to some extent during the dot com boom and causing a lot of companies who had good products to die young because they thought they were bigger than life.
Hammer of Truth
So all we have to do is replace the teddybear with the teddy penguin and the world will be ours!
would it create a side-effect where male with even higher ego thinks Linux is less challenging now that even booth girls can use it?
...that these penguins were stuffed with narcotics.
And people wonder where sexism in technology comes from.
Using it to your advantage is not the same thing as working to eliminate it.
I should probably submit this anonymously*, but what the heck.
I don't know if it is in our genes, or if it's a product of our environment, but male ego resulting from male dominance even affects me a ton.
I was running on a treadmill earlier this week, and there was a girl who was running on one next to me at the same time, at roughly the same speed. There was _no_ way I was going to let myself stop before she did--because she was a girl. And I recognized this as I was running.
Seems kind of silly, I know, but that's what was in my head.
*I've heard that posting anonymously at slashdot isn't really, so what's the difference?
...the German authorities could always do what the Americans do best - the "USA vs Everyone" stance. A "SuSE vs Microsoft" stance would help seeing as SuSE is a Germany based distro
I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born - Ronald Reagan
These booth girls... if i'm new to Linux, will they 'mount' my 'hard drive'? ;)
I'd be sure to try switching to Linux then!
I cant imagine this being a very successful company, when they have to use bribes and sex to encourage the employees to use a tool you've mandated.
Hell, this is kinda like McDonalds deciding to use a different type of cash register, then having someone attractive go by and give each McWage Slave a free friggin teddy bear, in order to get them to use the new machine.
How about this approach... "Use the damned software!". Really, I dont know why people seem to think they should have complete freedom on a computer at work. The company owns the machine, and the company chooses the software... so long as the company involved the proper employees in evaluating which is the best software(s) to use... thats it, end of story. Employees really shouldnt have a choice one way or another.
So instead, you get this boneheaded company in germany, that is now going to have a number of mail employee's that have no clue how to use the software, and thus loose productivity, because there ego refuses to let them be beat by a girl?!?!
Besides that point... does male ego really apply that much to intellectual persuits? I mean, do most people think men are better then women at using a computer because of genetics? I doubt the number is high. Now, those hard to open jar lids... yeah, ego still applies there.
If BSD weren't dying it'd be presented by this chick
Oddly enough, I recently saw this in Doctorow's "East Coast Tribe", but this was something I learned when I first worked in an IT department.
It doesn't matter if your systems are uber-fast. It doesn't matter if they have a low error rate. It doesn't matter if they are made to be user friendly.
If the users of those systems perceive they are slow, inefficient, hard to use, great, best machines ever - whatever they percieve, that is the reality.
So a good IT staff does two things:
1. Work on their C. I. A. pieces.
2. Work to help the users percieve their systems as being C. I. A. good.
Let's face it - this is why Microsoft is on 90-odd% of all desktop systems out there: people percieve their systems as working, as easy to use, and that everything else is inferior whether that is true or not.
Once you convince them that a Linux or Mac desktop works just as well - if not faster and more securely - on their desk as a Windows box, and that they can use the same kinds of applications, you're set.
I've had IT guys whom I respect greatly tell me they'd love to switch to "OS X", but don't want to because they fear the "learning curve". It's not a "noobie" issue at all - perception clouds everything.
And Brauner made the right calls. To those who had problems, he showed them how it was easy. To those who thought he was being mean, he displayed himself as a "fun guy" with shirts and toys. To those who thought the system was "hard" he showed a secretary doing her job with ease - the person that all my programming teachers taught me to program interface for, since "if a secretary can run it, anybody can".
Excellent work on his part for recognizing that the human element is as important as the technical one at times.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Nice story and a big win for Linux.
i have either purchased or picked up lots of stuffed penguins large and small, but my favorite one of all is this one.
:)
sorry Joe Barr and Mike Tiemann, maybe next time
That's it, I'll switch to hurd.
It'll be interesting to see how this migration affects the Linux world. In theory, this should help speed up fixing certain usability issues, and it will certainly help push compatibility between MS Office and open source office applications.
Obviously a joke, but is the new line for marketing Linux in the mainstream going to be: Linux -- so easy to use, even a woman can do it! Or better yet: If it's your hardware, ask your teenager for support. If it's your OS, as your wife.
I can just see the marketing people on the other side *cough* those convicted monopolists, remember them ? the guys who claim the GPL should be stamped out ? *cough* making hay with this.. ?
"Ooh, we don't manipulate you", they'll coo. "We just give you a product that you know and is easy to use". And heck, if that doesn't work, they'll just add a whopping discount on top of it to seal the bargain.
Maybe I'm just egotistic myself, but if I heard that I had been manipulated into something I wasn't sure about, and if I heard about it later on (with a "ha ha ha. owned!" comment, to boot), I'd be quite wary of the next thing that particular guy tried to foist on me.
Which brings me to the question.. does OSS really need marketshare like this ? It's just me, probably, but I'd prefer people make an informed choice rather than go "hey, why don't we use this because we don't want to be outdone/look foolish". If you can convince people to install it that easily, they'll just as easily be swayed by the next marketing gimmick, and which side (OSS or the other guys) have more marketing muscle ?
New linux slogan!
"Easy enough for a woman, made for a man."
=8-]
- shazow
when I'm out running along a well used path in my town, there is no fucking way I can live with a woman running infront of me. At times this put me close to a heart-attack. But I have all the more fun because this kind of stuff. Same thing, when I try to overtake someone who is barely slower than me. heh.
Man, this is oart of the fun of life! As long as you realize, that your life does not depend on being cooler/stronger/faster/whatever I consider it good-natured fun. After all, where would be in technology without some good ol' testosterone-driven competition?
plus, women have some fun --uhm, let's call them characteristics to laugh about
Hey, I like your user id!
But you rounded the last digit wrong.
The value is
3.14159265358979...
so, rounding to 13 decimal digits (after the decimal point) and removing the decimal would yield 31415926535898
HCG 50a = 2MASX J11170638+5455016
11h17m06.4s +54d55m02s
(Now, that even "chick's" can run it,... wbahhh, just joking, of course,..)
Ok, this is what we all (ok, a lot of us,... ok, me,...) have been waiting for,... and it's great! but now that it's happening, (Linux domination) what OS are geeks supposed to use now?
Now that everyone is using it linux will be 'uncool' and 'ungeeky', does that mean that geeks will all the sudden be embraced as cool and poineering,.... yeah i doubt it too, so what OS are we supposed to use now?
It's like U2 was great up to WAR (2nd album) then everybody started liking them and made them 'uncool',... so i had to find a new band,...
Anyone watch that "The Apprentice" show. Two groups of 8 people, men on one side, women on the other. The first four tasks, the women stumbled around like lost puppies for 3 of them and yet won every time. The catch, they gave out thier phone number, while selling Lemonade for 10 bucks a cup. The guys couldn't sell jack.
It's not surprizing that having a woman demo Linux, people are interested in learning.
Post: Sigged, for your pleasure.
The parent post is a truly valid argument, corporations are not democracies and they are perfectly within their rights to make these choices without the consent of the users.
I'm not saying that it's not good policy to enlist the users to add real commentary on whether or not the proposed software will do the job it is supposed to do, in fact I would say that a company that didn't was destined for oblivion, but nevertheless, the users will use the software that the company dictates - and that is that.
Don't mod this guys comment as flamebait just because you don't agree with his standpoint.
Good to know that Linux wins on technical merit and avoids the kind of gimmicks used by other big name software vendors
I want to be an Macho Nerd!
-------- In Soviet Russia, "Soviet Russia" sigs hate Slashdot.
Linux isn't hard.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
Gotta keep the spin "Easy enough for *her*, so you can certainly handle it."
Yeah, well despite all the lipservice for equality, there's still plenty of cavemen who think only a man can do such-and-such. A remarkable comment on futuristic magazine ads, back in the 50's, projected the lady of the house still doing all the work, just with more high-tech, work-saving tools. Watch day-time TV and the message that men and women have the same roles from back then is still there.
Good leverage. Works with racism as a motivator, too. "Hey, that (insert ethnicity here) can do pretty good with a (insert tool here), guess I better be able to do as well or my arguments of everyone being inferior to (insert own ethnic group here) falls flat."
Americans tend to have a lot of levers, thanks to lingering puritanical attitudes (watch the super bowl half time show? ;-) Careful how you try to apply them at work, though. The spin that "she can do it, so anyone should be" could land your butt on the sidewalk.
PHB's OTOH could probably care less. Hit them with the true TCO and they're half in the pocket. Problem I've run into is most have this dinosaur attitude that Microsoft makes everything easier. If only...
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
A few years ago they gave away beanie babies with Happy Meals: I just had to get the penguin one :-) (Actually, I got two as I had a SMP box at the time!)
"'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'"
- JRR Tolkien.
you know.. maybe it is just a good operating system?!
If this is Heaven I'm bailin out! I cant tolerate this ol tin-tub, so fulla trash and rats...
For a long time, I've been a huge proponent of ease-of-use. While I respected Linux from a technical perspective, I've long been dissapointed in it from an ease-of-use perspective.
That all changed the last time I tried Linux. Knoppix, to be exact. It was jaw-droppingly impressive to me: the hardware recognition; the ease-of-use; the clean interface (KDE, in this case, though I suspect GNOME is just as nice); everything was polished and smooth.
And then it hit me, there are only two things stopping Linux from making deep inroads into the desktop market these days:
1. Drivers, drivers, drivers. Not enough hardware makers are bothering with drivers for Linux. Kudos to all the Linux folks writing drivers, but Linux is always at least a step or two behind. However, this problem may be solved if the project that allows Windows drivers to work under Linux is successful.
2. Inertia. Everyone uses Windows, therefore...everyone keeps using Windows.
My hope is that the low cost of Linux will keep driving people into its loving arms.
So...how does this post apply to the topic at hand? Simple: anyone who has given modern distributions of Linux a chance already knows what I know: Linux is just as easy to use as Windows these days (or close enough that it doesn't matter), and the only thing holding Linux back now are the two items I listed above. Anyone who claims modern distributions of Linux are too hard to use probably shouldn't be using computers at all.
-Teckla
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
... so no penis enlargement ads... Therefore, when I'm using Linux, I know my penis is not in need of enlargement. Reason enough for adoption for me...
You've obviously never seen a female Linux user. They look remarkably like the male Linux user: grossly obese, hairy, sweaty, smelly, lacking in social skills, and they often spit when they talk. It's anything but pretty.
$40 billion would go a long way buying t-shirts and stuffed animals to woo users.
Does Tux need a Tuxette? What does a penguin in a bikini look like?
i would describe this in the same manor i would describe there being few waitors.
women trust women. and men like to look at breast.
While I ought to be glad that these blokes are going over to Linux, I'm not too thrilled about why they're doing it. It just bugs me that they're doing it for testosterone-ego reasons rather than "Linux is an overall superior OS."
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
Now, that even "chick's" can run it,...
B. S. D.
Plus, "commoners" USE linux.
Nerds MAKE Linux.
The only good way to patch MS * is to remove it. MS Windows is the most successful virus of all time. It comes with a veriety of payloads some of which delete files, crash file systems, open back doors, etc. Patch MS Windows for good, ditch it.
So the secret to acceptance of OSS is a stuffed penguin?
Yay, a penguin, it's cute. What does that have to do with the use of software? I'll tell you. It shows the intelligence of the people buying into this.
Look at what the software has to offer...Please!!!
Male ego stopped anyone claiming that Linux was difficult to use, once they'd seen that the 'weaker sex' could master it :)"
My Malibu G.I. Joe tells me "Linux is Hard."
What, you haven't seen the "She thinks Tux is cute" ads, etc. Ok, maybe you're a subscriber. Offtopic, but I never told ./ my gender, yet the ads *always* feature women. You don't have to put 4 together to be a bit suspicious of the gender balance there...
Women...
harder to understand than klingon,
harder to handle than SAP,
harder to resist than an open telnet port...
Ain't women what we all do this for ?
Spelling mistakes: My is english spoken not tongue of mother.
am all for it. Nothing like a little social engineering at the office.
You are so boring that when I see you my feet go to sleep.
The only reason companies don't release driver's for Linux is because "no one uses Linux". "Everyone uses Windows", they think, "so we can capture most of our market by just working on Windows."
Of course, this isn't true anymore, and slowly, as more people are using Linux, more companies are realizing that Linux is worth supporting.
This doesn't apply just to drivers, it applies to specialized software as well.
i still don't see why anyone would actually use linux or any of its bastard children.
pure, undillute genius. good work, guys. :P
I'll keep that tactic in mind for future reference.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Your woman must be really stout. German?
Hmm, makes me wonder how long until M$ comes out with some cutsie mascot.
;)
And I can see the commercial for Windows Longhorn now.... Heather Graham laying across an oversized Windows box.... now that's sex appeal!
So... how hard is it, really?
This sig no verb.
The problem with migration from windows to linux is really a question of what you are used to. People gripped a lot when microsoft made its migration from windows 3.11 to windows 95. They could not find their programs, screensaveers, etc.etc. The gnome or kde desktops with koffice work just fine. They may not contain all the bells and whistles of microsoft products but they are fully functional. They may have trouble with printers or external devices but I have to show one lady how to print to a different printer on her machine on a weekly basis. Users will get used to anything. After all they got used to haveing to restart twice a day. Personally for me a move to linux would reduce the number of virus ladden emails I can't convince them not to open. It would also reduce the spyware I have to clean off weekly.
Be careful. It is a all nice and well that the so-called weaker sex can handle it. But if it gets that chick "stigma", Linux goes the way of Dodo.
Hold on there pal. There's nothing wrong with knowledgable babes. Surely ther are some hot chicks out there who also know linux, right?
I've got a question or two along these lines. Is there a common binary format that I can distribute Linux software in? Or do I still have to ship the source and have my users compile it themselves?
This is a real question, not a troll. I'm going to be recommending whether to do a Linux version of some commercial software. I need to know if I can ship a single binary like we do on Mac and Windows.
Also, is there an installer other than Install Anywhere that works in Linux?
Can I target all Linux distros easily with a C/C++ app?
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
She has won.
She was disappearing from the public radar.
She was loosing her celebrity status.
On Tuesday following the half time show she was:
on the cover of 8 different magazines at B&N
on the cover of a number of local papers
in the headlines on more magazines and papers
on every news cast
in various articles inside the various media formats
AND,
her name continues to be brought up in obscure places like slashdot.
comment directly in my journal
The difference with MS is that while using SuSE, due to the nature of Open Source they are not tied to and reliant on a single vendor. This is just the latest town to so convert, albeit with interesting staff-persuasion tactics!
The day I see a stuffed "Clippy" is the day I finally go over the edge and start to hurt someone.
Slashdot, where armchair scientists get shouted down and armchair theologians get modded up.
The number of people using hurd just doubled!
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Arbeit macht das Leben suss!!
It's photoshopped. If you zoom in on the "LINUX" on her panties, the color of the text is #FFFFFF. That doesn't happn in real life.
Mod "Overrated" instead of replying "I disagree with you," you coward.
Rule 1: The woman is always right Rule 2: In case the woman is wrong See Rule 1.
-------- In Soviet Russia, "Soviet Russia" sigs hate Slashdot.
I wonder if even the Swedish Bikini Team on the side of a Compaq box would help much.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
- Write free software
- Promote using techie bimbo and assortment of stuffed toys (was: ???)
- Profit!
A great day indeed.A similar strategy was used in WW2 to get pilots to accept the B29 bomber, which was considered difficult to fly.
The male pilots decided that it was flyable when a crew of female pilots were trained to fly it.
... is L_O_N_G_E_R than yours! Order your F.R.E.E. herbal Generic software NOW!!!
C|N>K
Right, that's a good management style. Make unilateral, completely unpopular decisions with no effort to win people over or assuage their fears. Great management style. In general, having employees not hate management is a good thing. Especially since all it cost here was a couple of t-shirts and stuffed toys.
How about this approach... "Use the damned software!". Really, I dont know why people seem to think they should have complete freedom on a computer at work. The company owns the machine, and the company chooses the software... so long as the company involved the proper employees in evaluating which is the best software(s) to use... thats it, end of story. Employees really shouldnt have a choice one way or another.
Again, treating your employees like shit is a great way to kill morale and drive them away from the company. I'm assuming you're not a manager.
So instead, you get this boneheaded company in germany, that is now going to have a number of mail employee's that have no clue how to use the software, and thus loose productivity, because there ego refuses to let them be beat by a girl?!?!
Management wouldn't do it if they didn't think it was a good idea, and that's another issue. They were doing what they had to in order to overcome linux-phobias. And they did a great job.
Besides that point... does male ego really apply that much to intellectual persuits? I mean, do most people think men are better then women at using a computer because of genetics? I doubt the number is high.
Really? There's not a perception that males are better at computers than females? Because as it stands, 90+% of CS grads are male, for whatever reason. The old "no girls on /." joke is so old, yet true, that it's just taken for granted. Yes, many men are unwilling to admit a woman can do ANYTHING better than they can. And you'd be surprised, evidently, about their distribution - it's not all neanderthal plumbers, but doctors, lawyers, and computer engineers too.
Obviously the person who created this was a lonely Linux lover. Say that three times-Lonely, Linux, Lover. Anyway in that case GIMP would have been used not Photoshop.
+5 Sad but true
And now even here *ON SLASHDOT*!!!
Who would have expected such self-confidence from someone named "queen of everything"? Did that chip come with your shirt?
well, most of the girls i know are stronger than most of the geeks i know on \., so i would not piss them off. they might kick your ass. :)
my other sig sucks less
Nothing hurts the credibility of a product aimed at smart people than a thick coating of bullshit.
Look how far linux has come so far. From nothing. How did it get here? Technical merit and word of mouth.
On the other hand, do you remember the very expensive marketing campaigns of the dotcom era? Where are most of those companies now? Why didn't marketing save the day?
Doesn't Linux prove something about the power of community and intellect versus the grip of a monopolistic industry?
Do you want to see this turned into that? Why?
Yeah, you're right - that was the easy way out.
;)
After all, i'd much rather prompt the girls to play with my tarballs and give my extension a header first (as long as they don't byte). Then they can finger eachother and play with their nodes while I cool off, before we all compile. I won't dev into the core details, but it would involve loading a large driver and lots of fscking and !banging.
(And remember kids: No networking without a firewall!)
Better?
Not Found The requested URL /features/ was not found on this server.
Apache/2 Server at www.retardist.com Port 80
Well,
do we need a how to edit adult pics with gimp tutorial?
Do we need a naked Linux Torvalds in order to promote Sauna - Linux?
...you're in trouble.
Look around you: is it true that everyone does not listen to you because of sexism? I ask you because I'm not such kind of guy. I have never ever considered women less intelligent.
A really brilliant woman navigates right through the prejudice, and never gives a damn about it. When I see some girl fight sexism, I think 2 things:
1) The idiots around her can't see her value and
2) She's also a fool for paying too much attention to idiots.
After all, everyone can deny respect. You can be good enough to be president or queen -- and still people can choose to mock you.
Respect yourself, because that's about the amount of change you can provoke at your limited human reach.
Regarding people helping you, maybe you're pretty. Men always attempt to get closer to pretty girls, this is a male peculiarity. I'm sure you'll find the same in yourself, like seeing a handsome guy and foolishly supposing appearance could have any relation to personality.
> Don't question my intelligence, I know what I'm doing.
Yeah, right. I hear this from a lot of men. You know what, if you really do know what you're doing, that would be a first in my experience -- including me! So allow me to doubt you, as much as I'd love to be kind and agree.
BTW, I don't equate 100% of overconfidence with male egos. Overconfidence and shyness are both dumb and present in men and women.
Ok, everything above is just opinion. Have a nice day (or night).
If only Dean would have spent all that money on stuffed animals instead.
30% off web hosting. Coupon code "SLASHDOT".
Who would have expected such self-confidence from someone named "queen of everything"? Did that chip come with your shirt?
Mod this fella up guys
Open source needs marketing to increase market share as much as Commercial software does. Without it, a programmer is more likely to run into a situation where she can't make the software better because she's not allowed to. Is force to drive the marketing different? Sure, but it's still there.
Luke, help me take this mask off
If I were you, I'd email IBM. I bet they'd love to use her for a commercial or two.
"That's so plausible, I can't believe it!" - Leela
My wife has a goat hobby farm, and she moves the 100# bales of hay and 80# bags of feed by herself. The only time I need to help her is when we have to unload an entire truck load of hay/feed.
She also pounds all of our fence posts by hand. Her hands are rougher then mine. Heh
She's only 5'3" (a foot shorter then me) but she's tough!
"That's so plausible, I can't believe it!" - Leela
Gotta keep the spin "Easy enough for *her*, so you can certainly handle it."
That's clearly the wrong spin to get the men to willingly try Linux, you need to chalenge the (most often misplaced) confidence in male superiority.
"It was easy for *her*, but some of you may run into difficulties. Just ask *her* for a little help."
As a male, I can safely say that no such chalenge can ever go unanswered, even if we know that the fix is already in.
Read, L
What do you think there was to use for bait and for whom?
Welcome to New York City! I am one of six straight men in an office of 400 (Facilities staff not taken into account). It truly is refreshing working with so many women.
However, two points worth taking into account:
*Most of the rest are killers looking for someone far above your earning potential.
So come on over! You'll have a great time dating around here.
==---------==
Together, we will drive the rats from the tundra.
Dude, getting a hard-on over an operating system is nothing to be proud of
"when I'm out running along a well used path in my town, there is no fucking way I can live with a woman running infront of me."
/P
I can -- the view is better.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
because when the male-male-female, female-female-male-female-female and not-male-or-female-with-the-matrix-style-sexor-por ts come out, and we start get into the real body modification stuff whatever culture is still left dwelling on the differences between men and women is going to be consumed by anxious confusion and resentment.
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
>Stuffed toy penguins and Linux t-shirts helped to create an open-source love-in
Why would anyone want a stuffed t-shirt? I mean, I stuff my pants once in awhile just for fun...*ahem*...but shirts, now thats just wierd.
1) Why on earth does Joe User believe that his employer needs to install Linux before he can read his email and log his keystrokes? Surely its easy for a corporate system admin to do this under Windows?
2) These council employees seem to have the bizare view that the computers they use at work are in some way their own property on which they can run any old virus laden game they happen to come across.
Can I conclude that these views are widespread amongst lusers?
are just jealous because you can't get any :P
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
Yeah, in a few years maybe she can start dating the Linux boy.
OH MY FUCKING GOD
This post could have been from 1999.
OH MORE DRIVERS. OH EVERYONE USES WINDOWS!
You are a fucking GENIUS!
Mod me offtopic again, please :) My karma has been too good lately.
Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform
It's EMBARRASSING.
Just a few minutes ago, Aunt Tilley taught me how to compile my 1st kernel, & when I asked her a question, she refused to answer. I can't remember what she said exactly, but was something to do with man pages, howtos & Google.
testing out my trending skills
1 commercial of the pre-pubescent "linux-kid"
2 commercials for erectile dysfunction medicine
1 half time showing of Jannet's titty
I sense a conspiracy, time to get some tin-foil condoms! Just remember, erections lasting more than 4 hours require intervention.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
They used a woman so that the attendees did not need to bring their own deoderant to freshen up the room. If they had brought an RMS clone, the lack of showers would have made the room smell. That is not a good way to sell a product. It also would have solved the issue of the flies that tend to accompany kernel hackers wherever they go
I cannot stress this enough. If you want to try to sell GNU/Linux, potential customers do NOT want to be swarmed by flies! This can be worked around by surrounding the demonstrator with a mosquito net, but it really is much easier just to get a sexy woman giving the demo
If Linus had a group of sexy women hacking the kernel with him, as opposed to unwashed, unshaven academics, the whole world would be using Linux now!
I am Monkey, the Great Sage, equal of heaven!
In the early 90's I worked at a company that had a technical writer who was responsible for editing our Intro to UNIX course. One day he was waltzing down the hall singing:
"Going to grep my pipe and chown my sticky bits, yea..."
I don't know about you, but the faux-girl power ads are all the rage everywhere I look. If it makes her look smart and capable, and him dumb and clueless, it will sell if she's buying.
I saw, somewhere, a drawing of the BSD daemon making Tux his bitch (as in prison). Does that count?
Do we need a naked Linux Torvalds in order to promote Sauna - Linux?
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If there were ever anything that could drive people to windows... *shudder*
Where's the (-1, Disturbing) when you need it?
Is responsible for the adoptation of Linux. Bear with me here. The idea of women being the 'weaker sex' is a product of the 1000+ year old war on pagan goddess worship waged by the Catholic Church. Women in ancient times were revered as sacred vessels of fertility. Constantine, later rulers and the Catholic Popes did their best to destroy the idea of goddess worship and make the women a secondary being, which was a major factor in shaping our society today.
So when men are amazed at women's ability to use Linux, their amazement can be attributed to the work of the early Roman Catholic Church, which continues today.
IFO was sold on Linux not by a woman, but by a penguin. I don't know how where the Church comes in there. The nuns in the catholic school I went to as a kid looked a lot like penguins. But I was never attracted to them. Really.
TallGreen CMS hosting
The problem *really* is, most "marketing" is centered around lying or pushing around half-truths, so people hear only what they want to hear about a given new product.
If "marketing" really equated with "teaching people about the product", advertisements would point out all the pluses AND minuses.
Linux lacking "marketing" is probably partially because open source developers don't stand to benefit in the long run if everyone goes around heralding their unfinished work as the ultimate solution to a problem. Folks find out it's not, and then they're soured to the whole project. Developers, unlike businesses, are just concerned with building the best product they can build. Marketing is about generating *sales* and bringing in the maximum amount of *profit*. These aren't an integral part of the Linux requirements for existance.
That Sex sells...
Any chick no matter how ugly can get paid for sex, and any guy seeing any chick doing something nerdy/geeky, makes her automatically attractive in the mind, if not physically by definition.
I'm glad to see that a mighty superior all-powerful MS killer OS is getting people to make the switch by using squeek toys, scratch and sniff adds, and hot chicks in longerie. Yeah god forbid they try and get a larger user base by making the actual OS appeal to average non-techys UI desires and creating a more user friendly environment. Oh wait this is slashdot you don't care abotu those things here....
Ave Molech Setting
I don't know how much marketing you've taken or studied but advertising is but a fraction of what goes on in marketing. Along with "corporation" and "profit", it has been a word the incites a knee-jerk reaction of resentment. Supply chain management, distribution chains and product development are all part of marketing.
I'm not saying Linux should or shouldn't advertise. I'm merely pointing out an alternative reason to its slow adoption.
Corporations: your universal scapegoat for all society's ills.
I agree. Nothing sexier then a geekgirl sitting at a desk programming. :)
Even if she isn't "sexy" looking, there's something about smart girls that realy turn me on.
"That's so plausible, I can't believe it!" - Leela
This is an excellent question, and probably the primary point that the original submitter didn't cover.
Binary software distribution on Linux is a bitch. Unfortunately, many of the people that could improve the state of things are not in the least interested in doing so because "binary software isn't GPLed, and all software should be Free, so screw you". Frankly, this isn't a really feasible position to take, pleasant as it may be to say.
The LSB has helped a bit. It standardized the existence of (a *very* minimal set, mind you) certain libraries. The C ABI has been pretty stable, but the C++ ABI has changed several times in the past few years.
Basically, there are a number of problems.
First, shipping something in C++ is out. If you go back even a year, you're going to hit systems that won't run with your binary C++ software.
Certain interfaces, like DGA 1, have been deprecated. the X11 people seem to have little interest in backwards compatibility with DGA 1. Thus, software using DGA 1 tends to be flaky.
Some constants change and libraries and software are not capable of handling non-compile-time settings. I tried increasing HZ in my kernel a year or two ago, and discovered that it mucked up all kinds of timing stuff, probably due to glibc assuming that runtime and compile-time HZ were the same. It made the animation in Dominions (Well-maintained binary software game from Illwinter) run proportionally faster, for example. This means that even static linking is not a good answer.
Lots of libraries that folks might like to use are *not* always present. Frequently, systems include only one of GNOME or KDE. SDL is a common include now, but Clanlib, OpenAL, and Allegro are generally not included. SDL is not part of the LSB, so may not be relied upon (and as a matter of fact, old statically-linked versions of SDL have broken on newer systems).
I feel that Loki is probably one of the best packagers out there in terms of folks knowledgeable about the Right Way to do things on Linux and how to ship binary software. They've had extensive experience.
I have purchased or tried a number of titles. None of these was ported more than a few years ago, and were theoretically maintained by Loki up until they closed their doors, only one year ago. Of these, on my Fedora Core 1 system:
* Postal seems to work
* Alpha Centauri seems to work.
* Kohan when patched does not work, though the original version generally works, with frequent XFree86-hanging problems when doing things like resigning a mission.
* Soldier of Fortune does not work.
* Heavy Gear II does not work.
* Sim City 3000 does not work.
* Hereos of Might and Magic works.
* Railroad Tycoon seems to still work.
* Postal seems to work
These are not really great odds, and these games use *very* minimal libraries. SDL is the primary one, and Loki *maintained* SDL, so knew it damn well.
Folks that ship binary software that interact more with the system have generally fallen back to releasing many copies on a per-distribution basis, and only supporting some distributions. OpenAFS is open source, and produced by some very capable folks. However, IBM also provides binary packages with OpenAFS. They essentially support only a few Linux distros (particular versions of Debian and Red Hat) and have to provide builds for each release. Their distribution page is quite intimidating to any vendor considering Linux releases.
Illwinter ships their Dominions game and tries to be cross-distribution. The thing even uses 3d, but I'm also using it on a pretty mainstream (Red Hat) system. Not sure what problems might come up on a more oddball system.
Basically, you can safely say that:
* Linux software binary distribution is much, much more expensive and difficult than on Windows or Mac OS. There are many more targets to test and support.
May we never see th
one of the women in my running group did the Canadian Death Race (google it and be sure you're sitting down while you do) and routinely runs sub 1:30 half marathons (I think she recently went sub 3:00 for a marathon) when you run with people like that you start figuring out that being male is not necessarily the advantage it's all cracked up to be (unless you're elite or you're one of the guys in my running group who go sub 2:45 in the marathon ;).
Also don't forget that there are MANY really fast over-60 folks out there (I'm talking 40 minutes 10k fast), looks can be extremely deceiving when it comes to most athletic pursuits.
Remember: there's always somebody faster/smarter/hotter than you out there.
-- the cake is a lie
He cuts down trees. He wears high heels,
Suspendies, and a braaaa!
He's a lumberjack and he's okay,
He sleeps all night and he works all day!
You asked for it
You can't take the sky from me...
Someone please mod the parent to this down.
It looks like he was modded as "Insightful" of all things!
Correct this mistake, please!
"So easy even grownups can use it."
(And not only their kids)
I'm NOT making this up (I somewhat wish I would).
I have discovered a truly remarkable proof for my post which this sig is too small to contain.
This is just the latest town to so convert,
Actually, this is the first town (AFAIK even worldwide) to completly (as in "every server and every desktop") convert to Linux.
Others that switched earlier, switched mainly their servers and not, or only part of, their desktops.
I have discovered a truly remarkable proof for my post which this sig is too small to contain.
"Setting up the "sexist" argument ("Even the women can use this OS") is even appropriate if that's what it takes to make decision-makers come around."
Putting it in a vibrator will satisfy that requirement.
RTFA. Or just the abstract for that matter.
One, it's a city council not a company.
Two, in Germany we actually respect employees as human beings and dont treat them as "unreliable overpriced production ressources". But my sibbling posts put that in better wordings.
I have discovered a truly remarkable proof for my post which this sig is too small to contain.
Take a deep breath man. Careful with that temper, or you'll wind up in an early grave.
This wasnt about marketshare at all.
Linux was adopted by the council for technical (security) and strategical (avoid vendor lock-in) reasons.
When making a change in any organisation with more than two people, you will ALWAYS have resistance.
People just dont wont to change, it is easier for them to keep it the old way.
Actually, the article was barely about Linux, but about an insightful way, management handled this resistance.
They were helped by the fact that Linux is a product that is LOVED by the people who made and use it. Because they love it, they made cute stuffed dolls to be able hug Linux.
Nobody LOVES Windows (some people might like it, but I know nobody that LOVES it), so there will never be Windows stuffed dolls.
So Linux won the hearts of its new users (that were forced to it) because it is loved by it's developpers and users. It may be far-stretched, but I'd include that in "technical merrit".
I have discovered a truly remarkable proof for my post which this sig is too small to contain.
"Ain't women what we all do this for ?"
No.
An Oreo with the measles.
Male ego is a part of male instincts and will never change.
When a male sees someone doing something and he's supposed to be better at it, he will have the urge to outdo the other person.
I guess it's something about "conserving you place in the hierarchy" or so.
Stereotypes are what govern the "supposed" in the above sentence.
Unfortunally, even today children are still teached that "technical stuff is for men". So when a men sees a woman doing technical stuff, he thinks he's supposed to be better than her.
(On the other hand, the same stereotype makes most women think, whenever they see something technical, "I cannot do it" and makes them call for (male) help, preventing them from learning it, therefor reinforcing the stereotype)
Male ego is a part of the human nature that you have to accept. However, you can and should go against the stereotype that women are "technically inapt".
Stereotypes do change. Not long ago - and in some cultures till today - women were considered inferior on everything academic. Today they are a growing majority at universities. (At least were I live).
I have discovered a truly remarkable proof for my post which this sig is too small to contain.
Linux lacking "marketing" is probably partially because open source developers don't stand to benefit in the long run if everyone goes around heralding their unfinished work as the ultimate solution to a problem. Folks find out it's not, and then they're soured to the whole project.
Yeah, and Windows is finished. Right. <grin>
At least they didn't finish the demo by invading Poland.
Can't get these Germans to invade anywhere these days. Look what happened over Iraq... lazy peacemongering bastards... tch!
Bring back the old days I say!
Hopper's speech to associates: ""The ants outnumber us 100 to 1. What if they figure that out?" "It's not about food; it's about keeping them in line."
Applied to billg/steve ballmer: "... These customers get tied in for life in an ever-increasing dependency cycle with our products. What if they figure that out?" "It's not about Linux. It's about keeping them in line."
The German govnernment, no doubt with the helpful advice of a certain very large Linux distributor, is beginning to figure it out...
Do something useful... figure out lossy compression for plaintext...
Quite easy: Interpret plaintext as graphic data and compress it with JPEG.
Your part about man being patronized on any child-rearing issue, while women are presumed to have mastered it all upfront, it really hits home. Nice to see that I'm not the only one noticing how fathers have basically no rights and are presumed to be complete idiots when it comes to taking care of kids.
Software is not supposed to be about how to work around a useability issue. - Ken Barber
In "Terminale" (last class before university) I had the good mind to take the A1 course (Maths+Phylosophy with additional Biology course)
:
30 ppl, 4 guys, one of them gay.
The ratio is weaker than your 6 to 400 but I confirm
MOST Girls in group are Neurotic (and if not, YOU'ill become neurotic after a semester with them)
The killer ratio wasn't so important, the worst part was "girls politics" (Don't speak to that one caus he's friendly with that other that said *9sdfg* about the her/him/me), Hence the Neurotic Fugue I had just after graduating, where I made sure the class would be closer to the 50/50 "sane" mix.
It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker
Kidding aside, this shows that everything is politics, salesmanship and psychology; even something as simple as choosing the best software platform.
Congratulations!
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
I found a Tux stuffed penguin toy about 4 years ago. It says SuSE Linux on the tag. Is it a collectors' item?