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Microsoft Segments Linux "Personas"
RJ2770 writes "Microsoft has started a project for their partners to help identify the personas of different Linux users in an attempt to sway them toward Microsoft products. In addition to the web site there is a podcast on the market research behind the project, again directed at Microsoft's selling partners."
I guess MS can control /. and already knows that I won't be swayed, since I got a "nothing to see here message"
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
I want to vote on which one I am!
Under the "Application Driven" Persona Profile:
- place application needs ahead of platform decisions
- will support whatever platform best fits the application
- application needs driven by business needs
- very satisfied with current Linux installations
So, remind me again how these bullet points help win AGAINST Linux?
-theGreater.
Microsoft is taking you seriously now - you better start doing the same thing.
It showed a picture of RMS and said "Give up".
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Probably most of those don't even know that Linix is involved.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
#6: People who hate Microsoft, and would prefer to use an abacus to MS software (37% of slashdot users)
MS should really start by figuring out what is useful for their users, then for Mac/Linux/BSD/something else users want.
I personally wonder at what point "innovation" was defined as get in the way of the two functions all ones users need. Just make an OS which is fast/efficient and doesn't throw up cryptic error messages regularly and I will be reasonably happy with whatever else goes on.
Linux users are, among other things:
* People who like knowing what their computer is up to (kind of like motorheads for the information age);
* People who don't like M$ deciding how their computers will work;
* People who don't want to spend money when a more reliable solution exists for Free;
* People who believe that competition is a Good Thing (tm);
* People who resent being called pirates (at least without being able to make others walk the plank!)
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
What is a Microsoft sales troll supposed to do about the missing entries:
:) Come on, come try and sell me some Windows Server 2003 licenses.
FSF True believer: If it ain't Free it isn't an option.
Disgusted Ex Microsoft customer: Experienced Microsoft products since they were in ROM chips and hasn't found one yet that wasn't a roach motel. Doesn't plan on wasting money on more of the crap until they manage to get several in a row right... i.e. never.
Political MS hater: Hates evil corporations in general, believes Microsoft more evil than Exxon-Mobil, AT&T, IBM or the MPAA. Believes Microsoft is an unrepentant monopolist hellbent on enslaving the world.
Then there is me, a little bit of all three.
Democrat delenda est
Here's my demographic.
I'm a computer user who likes my machines to be as crash-free as possible. Failing that, I'd like access to the source code so I can fix whatever problems I perceive, rather than waiting for someone else to do it.
Ok - that's my "Linux Persona". Now let's see you cater to me.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Seriously, when was the last time MS came out with something that really got you excited, something elegant and useful?
Words are not copyrighted. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds though.
For me it's more basic than that. I recently got a job and was plunged back into the world of Windows servers, and am now dealing with licensing issues whose only solution will be dropping money into Microsoft's pocket. I'm gonna be blunt, a lot of IT types like Linux because we don't have to worry about it. Add another user, workstation, server, whatever, and I don't have to plop down cash, or worse, have to go to my manager hat in hand and beg for more gruel to shove down Microsoft's mouth.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Damn, this entire campaign sounds like one fucking sad attempt at trolling.
Really? Because for years, I've been seeing posts and articles on slashdot that talk in terms of winning people over from MS to Linux. Unless that continually played tune is also trolling, then I don't think that MS trying to understand the different stripes of people that are (or might consider) using Linux is anything other than basic market research. Not all of the Ubuntu crowd may consider themselves to be "winning" someone away from Mandriva, but I'm sure that language gets used sometimes. Just like people in the Firefox camp often talk about winning a larger share of browser users away from MS.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
They forgot to list the segment of the population who hate Microsoft passionately - due to their business practices, their monopoly, their DRM, their lack of ethics, their EULA which forces you to give up your freedom of speech, their proprietary file formats, their Microsoft Word specifically, and perhaps more reasons.
And then there are the people who believe that Linux has superior design, that the user is more in control of what the computer does, that linux is more virus-resistant, easier to work with and so on.
I think Microsoft should divide all the "win over" percentages on their website by 10.
"Linux Experimenter" = Bi-curious. A bit dangerous, but let's not worry too much and just scare them straight.
"Market Follower" = MS bitches. We own these fuckers!
"Application Driven" = Dangerously misguided. Brainwashing might be needed, just to set them in order.
"Linux Aficionado" = Stupid, hopeless nerds. Recommended solution: hire hitman.
"Unix transitioner" = Head case. Keep distance.
I like penguins, how can they cater to me?
If MS made an OS that was fast, efficient, stable, and supported the hardware most folks desired, there would be no reason for customers to buy the next OS when it came out. So, to support their business model, each OS has to be slightly behind for its time, either by speed, stability, or hardware support, so consumers have a reason to buy the next OS (or PC with the new OS) when it comes out.
Or I could have this all wrong, and be corrected below.
For those too lazy to watch the presentation, here are the personas:
Linux Experimenter Characteristics: "Tester" of Linux, willing to try Microsoft, Windows is the default choice for servers.Sales pitch: don't experiment, use Windows, it's tried and true. Market Follower Characteristics: Prefer Microsoft, risk-averse, don't really like Linux.
Sales pitch: Windows is the best in the enterprise. Look beyond initial cost to maintenance and reliability. Application Driven Characteristics: Like Linux because it works and it's reliable.
Sales pitch: more productivity and lower TCO with Windows. Linux Aficionado Characteristics: Believe Linux is just better.
Sales pitch: lower TCO, more reliable, remember to avoid Microsoft vs Open Source. UNIX Transitioner Characteristics: Wants to take UNIX apps to Linux, not familiar with Windows.
Sales pitch: IIS is more secure, better TCO.
Actually, the OSS world does have use cases. For example, see Ubuntu's use cases:
I thought MS already knew the personas of Linux users:
1. Communists
2. People who want high TCO
3. People who are jealous of St Bill of Redmond's goodness
4. Unwashed hippies
5. IBM (see 4)
6. Un-American people.
7. Foreigners (see 6)
8. Terrorists (see 7)
9. Cancers
10. People who think they own "their" computers and other anti-capitalists
Where a lot of this falls down is the reliance of already-proven sketchy evidence (Get The Facts, TCO studies, etc...), and some overly simplistic anecdotal evidence ("Customers are already switching from Apache/Linux to IIS6/Windows" ; "Customers are finding that development with ASP.NET is quicker and easier" ; ...).
I looked at all the personas and found every one of them fell in the range of 25-28 servers with the exception of the Unix one at 31 servers. Looks like a limited market segment survey to me. The segmemt missing is the SOHO or Home Office where computing is dependant on applications such as Quicken and an Office product and web browser. TCO is a big deciding factor. Instead of upgrading from MS office 97 and such, we built a white box computer and put Ubuntu on it. As a bonus, for our graphics arts we use the Gimp instead of Photoshop. We don't need another copy of AV software. The software savings has paid for the hardware. To share files, we picked up a NAS using Linux. It uses an encrypted Reiser filesystem and we have put all our printers on stand alone prinservers. The NAS and Printservers are all Linux. Other than some drastic price changes, there is little MS can do to get us to be an all MS office. We can't justify the cost. One copy of MS office is expensive. 4 copies (main office, kids PC, & 2 laptops is a show stopper. Linux does the job with either ABI Word or Open Office and doesn't break the budget. It also works with newer MS office files sent to us. Office 97 doesn't display them properly if at all.
When the adoption rate reaches critical mass where I can pick up a copy of Turbo Tax for Linux and Quicken will be the day MS stock has a bad day. There isn't many markets with more price concious buyers than the SOHO market.
The truth shall set you free!
I do not quite understand Microsoft's strategy here, for many reasons, which I'll try to enumerate logically. I am not trying to troll. I am trying to be objective, and when I do criticize Microsoft I do so purely academically, so please do not turn this into a flame war.
Further, the main buyers and users in this segment are not average users who need to use computers for nothing more than word processing, email, and web. They are power users who are well aware of the strengths and limitations provided by the different systems. They know first hand the problems of using Microsoft server solutions.
If they really want to capture this smaller market (again, I am not sure why they would except for the pursuit of total monopoly), it seems that they need more than a new sell technique. Instead, they should develop their new programs and services to inter-operate with existing standards and systems. As they develop server solutions for power users, they'll win over the server crowd with their commitment to excellent products, not some new half-hearted add campaign, which many (such as the
I know I do not have all the answers, but I think that Microsoft is getting everything wrong here. It seems that capturing the server market has a very small return when compared to the desktop market. Additionally, the cost of "doing it right" with inter-operability-centered design of new products while maintaining backwards compatibility would greatly reduce margin (e.g. look what happened with all the grand ideas of Vista). Nevertheless, if Microsoft is determined to win this market, they need to do so with more steps of good faith and less aggressive talk about intellectual property (happy, willing customers are
In other news, cigarette companies are profiling non-smokers to look for areas to expand their market share. They defined 5 distinctly different profiles of non-smokers who are targets for conversion. These coorespond exactly to the Microsoft categories.
... if he doesnt start smoking. Remember - being Gay is trendy too !!
.. and something to fidget with during the day too.
... they are incapable of rational debate .. just 'Being healthy is better, so there!!' is the best they can come up with.
1) The Naughty Child (aka. Linux Experimenter)
This prospect comes from a good god-fearing household where Mum, Dad, and his brothers and sisters all smoke regularly. As does uncle Jed who lives in the spare room. The naughty child would like to be more like some of the cool jock types at school, instead of the fat wheezing slob that he is, and has dared to do sports and things when mum isnt looking. He has futile dreams of owning (and riding) a bike for his birthday.
Sales Pitch: Fat Chance kiddo ! Know thy place and respect thy parents !! Stop thinking and do as thou art told !! Inform the parents and resort to corporal punishment if required.
---oOo---
2) The Lemming (aka. Market Follower)
This prospect is always scared of offending people. Incapable of thinking for himself, the only reason he doesnt smoke at the moment is because its become trendy to be a non-smoker, and he wants to blend in with the crowd. Well hey buddy - its trendy to be gay as well !
Sales Pitch: Blackmail works best on this one. These weirdos always have some skeletons in the closet, so dig around and find some dirt (or make some up), and threaten to expose him for the paedofile that he surely is
---oOo---
3) Addictive Personality (aka. Application Driven)
This person doesnt smoke, eats a whole lettuce every day for lunch, and goes to gym 3 times a week. What a wanker !! What this person doesnt realise is that its not the fitness thing that they are really into - its just a displacement activity to fill in their day, give them some sort of meaning to their life, and stop them from going nuts. Smoking offers a better and cheaper way out of this rut
Sales Pitch: Point out the psychology of their 'health regime', and show them how cigarettes can fill the gap in the life just as well as a gym membership - only cheaper !! Deflect and embrace.
---oOo---
4) The Know it all (aka. Linux Aficionado)
This one is a pain in the butt. They are fit and healthy, and love to show off about it in front of other people. A lot of them are ex-smokers who have totally embraced this whole healthy-living crud as some sort of revenge trip against fast food and cigarettes that may have dominated their previous life. Pointless getting into an argument with this type
Sales Pitch: Avoid direct comparisons between cigarettes and other methods of lifestyle enhancement - just stick with facts, eg FACT: Cigarettes calm you down, which is good for your stress levels FACT: Smoking kills your appetite, so you eat less, loose weight, look healthier FACT: Smoking gives you bad breath and impotence, so your chances of contracting an STD are much less, etc.
---oOo---
5) On the way to crack addiction. (aka. UNIX Transitioner)
This prospect is already a regular user of speed and party pills, and is rapidly on their way to becoming a full time crack addict. Perception that plain old cigarettes just arent wicked enough for them, so they dont even give smoking a second thought.
Sales Pitch: Restate the benefits - legal, easily available, and quite affordable in comparison. Sure, moving to crack would be a whole new lifestyle enhancement, but consider cigarettes as an excellent way to re-invent yourself as well. Point out movies where cool characters can be seen smoking. Offer them a free packet of smokes (secretly laced with cocaine and ground neurofen), and you just might have yourself a new friend !!
o The tree-hugger : Loves Linux because it's open source. Like to have freedom to access everything he paid for. He finds the concept of "you don't own the software, you own a license that enables you to use it" ackward. ...but I think it'll be just as effective as the TCO / Get the facts
:
- MS may mention the Microsoft Shared source project, and the pacts with some government and military to share the source of select OS parts.
o University shops : Ok, the campus discount prices are a good thing, but some work need highly customisable code to hack until it fits the solution. Also, lot of clusters running in the physics, biomed and math department. Plus, CompSci needs a OS freely hackable to teach OS programming.
- MS may mention the MS-Shared source project (not interesting for CompSci they need OS source)
or Pact with governments (out of University budget) or Windows CE custom kits (out of University budget due to number of seats) or MS Windows Cluster edition (not hackable).
o The I WANT TO BE IN CHARGE Linux user : he bought, he wants to be in charge. He hates DRM and his worst dream is TCP.
- MS May mention that DRM is needed for the market place, or go for the Jobs defense (I isn't my fault, the MAFIAA made me do it). They may try to show that MS can lead a game of cat and mouse chase in terms of format compatibility.
o The "I want a standart format" OOo user : he want a well documented format, that he'll be able to open on other OpenDoc compliant softs and could store for long term without being affraid of un-supported / out dated / license-expired software.
- MS should mention that their OOXML format is soon ISO standart too and has many features that lacks in... (Shut up ! 6000 pages is a joke)
o The complete free ride : he wants to pay absolute 0$ for things that can be downloaded free. Preferably in a legal manner.
- MS should mention that the beige box hardware came at a price.
- MS should mention the cheap Starter Edition... ok we all know this one is a joke. Then MS should secretly point out that pirate edition of its software is widely available, and Genuine Advantage can be circumvented.
o Google : They mostly use Linux to avoid astronomical license cost and to have customizeability.
- MS should send Balmer to fucking kill them throwing chairs
o The I don't play games guy : The single actual good argument for Windows is gone.
- MS... is doomed.
Seriously, to respond to this Linux community should focus on the main points Microsoft will never be able to compete with
- Free/Libre Opensource software : No matter what, what you got is yours and you're free to do whatever pleases you with it. You can even share those results as long as you comply with the license. With microsoft, unless you're a government or military, or if you buy (wads of cash) $ for a customisable kit (WinCE or Win XPe) you'll never be able to hack legally the OS nor distribute the modifications.
- Every improvement of the OS technology done as a Master Thesis can be implemented for Linux (instead for some toy proof-of-concept OS) and if it proves useful, pass tests and is accepted by A. M., it can immediately be made available for all users around the world. You can't do the same stuff for microsoft products, or then you must work in the MS campus and your improvement will be sold as the next pay-for version of Windows (if it has the chance not to be scraped together with WinFS and all those cool features that were always promised and always postponed to the next version).
- No DRM : You are the one in charge of you computer.
- No per-seat price : You have on copy of Linux, you can install it on every one of the thousand computer in your shop, and let your users install it at their home, on their laptop, on their kids' computers, their neighbours', etc. With Microsoft even if you're a University with discount, you still have to pay a fee depending on the number of students, and only staff has the right to take home
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