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New Contest Will Seek the Best "I'm Linux" Video

Posted by kdawson on from the dust-off-directors'-chairs-and-hats dept.

LinuxScribe writes "From Apple's ubiquitous 'I'm a Mac,' to Jerry Seinfeld, to Microsoft's 'I'm a PC' retort, operating system commercials have been flooding the airways. Except that Linux is the one OS that has been notably absent. Now the Linux Foundation is launching a video contest on their new video site to fill this void. The winner gets a trip to Tokyo next year to participate in the Linux Foundation Japan Linux Symposium, and some serious geek cred." The contest doesn't officially open until late January; the blog post has an email address to contact if you want to get a head start.

3 of 460 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Novell already did this by plantman-the-womb-st · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I know this meme with the I'm a *insert* has gotten out of hand, but this whole concept reminds me of the fact that no one ever seems to remember that linux isn't an OS. Red Hat is, Debian is, Ubuntu is... nevertheless my idea was this:

    (wannabe hipster walks up): I'm a Mac.

    (up steps the old middle management guy): I'm a PC.

    (scene FILLS with people, 200-300, all dressed in various profession/regional/ethnic attire): *in unison* We, are Ubuntu.

    Novel may have info, but people don't pay attention to info. Get their attention with the bagel, then hit them with the book, it's the only way to keep them from eating the pages.

    --
    Say bad words about my book, in cold oatmeal, or I shall sue!
  2. Re:Stupid idea by Hooya · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've always pictured it as:

    Starts off as a regular Mac ad. The camera then zooms back to reveal the two dudes standing in front of a white sheet.. zooms further out to reveal the sound guy (you know, the guy working the mic boom - i think it's called 'grip' or something), the director, the stage hands... all wearing "I'm linux" shirts.

  3. Re:Novell already did this by spisska · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm thinking something a little different. I would abandon the whole concept of trying to parody (or parrot) the Mac concept, and instead try to show what Linux is and what it's really good at.

    Here's what I was thinking:

    Open with a spectacular image from space, which pulls back to reveal an obervatory. Go through the telescope to the computers recording the readings:

    System Name
    Location
    Base Distro, version (e.g. Debian 3.1)
    Kernel version

    Path continues through series of routers and hops, each flashes the above system stats. Continues through university network to research lab. Students in lab coats studying data, manipulating images from the observatory. Same stats:

    System Name; Location; Base Distro, version (e.g. Debian 3.1); Kernel version

    Path continues through routers/hops same as before, through a television news studio (stats as appropriate) and out to an LCD set in your average living room -- could be pretty well anywhere in the western world. It's showing the news we flew through before, which has the same backing image of space that keeps recurring. The anchor talks of 'astronomical discovery'. Show stats of TV:

    System Name: Sony XXX LCD TV
    Location: All over
    Base system: custom kernel
    Kernel version: 2.4.1, e.g.

    Camera swings around living room to reveal a girl at a table (4th-6th grade). She's got various books and papers around her -- she's working on a project about space. She's also got an eee (or similar), which is open to the same image of the cosmos.

    System Name: Asus eee PC 701
    Location: The world
    Base system: Ubuntu eee
    Kernel version 2.6.24-generic

    She's chatting with someone about the image -- 'wow, that's amazing' or some such. Camera goes back through the tubes, appropriately showing router stats, to a modern classroom in an unexpected place -- e.g. Africa or Central Asia, where a child is also looking at the image and chatting.

    Continue through the tubes to other places around the world where the image pops up on a Linux system. Same system stats as appropriate.

    Finish in Peru. It's night and there's a child looking at the same image on an OLPC, chat window open. He's sitting on a stunning cliffside with the ocean below.

    System Name: OLPC XO-1
    Location: SomeVillage, Peru
    Base system: Red-Hat, Sugar
    Kernel version: 2.6.?

    He looks slowly from the screen up into the night sky. The camera zooms out and follows his gaze back out into space.

    Fade to black.

    Linux. There are no limits.