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Linux Foundation Asks Who Says "I'm Linux" Best

Posted by timothy on from the creepy's-definitely-the-way-to-go dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Everyone has seen Apple's clever 'I'm a Mac' ads, and Microsoft's attempted responses, first with Jerry Seinfeld, and next with 'I'm a PC.' The Linux Foundation tries to fire back with its community-generated 'We're Linux' video contest: all of the eligible videos have now been submitted and are ready to be voted on. Thankfully, the quality of Linux is much higher than the quality of some of these entries: entries range from the hilarious but inappropriate, to the well-made but creepy, to the 'I'm sure it sounded good in your head.' Thankfully, there are one or two that could actually be real commercials."

78 of 459 comments (clear)

  1. Evil Geniuses Use Linux by biryokumaru · · Score: 4, Funny

    What ever happened to:
    ahttp://ubergeek.tv/article.php?pid=54

    --
    When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
    1. Re:Evil Geniuses Use Linux by sexconker · · Score: 2, Funny

      Whatever happened to predictability?
      The milkman, the paperboy, and late night tv?

    2. Re:Evil Geniuses Use Linux by nine-times · · Score: 3, Funny

      It seems today that all you see is violence in movies and sex on TV, but where are those good old-fashioned values on which we used to rely?

    3. Re:Evil Geniuses Use Linux by JWSmythe · · Score: 3, Funny

      Alex, the question is...... 3 things your wife likes more than you?

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  2. Re:I'm Debian by nobodylocalhost · · Score: 3, Informative

    Really? I thought for sure slackware would be it.

    --
    Where is the "Ignorant" mod tag?
  3. And that so sums up Linux... by jonnyj · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Great product, shame about the marketing. That's why Canonical / Ubuntu is so important.

    1. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 5, Interesting
      The Linux.com contest is cute, but not much is accomplished for Microsoft or Linux as long as they are aping Apple's ad campaign. Such ads would only give the impression that Microsoft and Linux are late to the "cool party".

      It'd be nice if Canonical (or any other serious player, or especially a consortium) released ads which played on Linux' strengths and dispelled the myths of modern Linux. They could show a stylish but smart person being the Linux user and his curious but skeptical friend asking the questions:
      • "Dosen't an expert need to set up Linux?" "No, it's quick and easy!" (show a YAST or GRUB GUI installation)
      • "Can I change the way it looks?" "Sure, much more than Vista or OSX!" (quickly show a wide variety of theme shots)
      • "How do I install software?" "Look, it's easy. Everything is at your fingertips." (show the GUI apt-get)
      • "Does Linux work with different hardware?" "Of course." (show rapid-fire shots of CUPS recognition, multiple monitors, etc.)
      • "Can I run my Windows programs on Linux?" "Yes you can." (show WINE in action)

      But more importantly, Linux must go on the offensive. They must stress that they are capable of doing fancy stuff(show the oblig compiz-fusion screenshot), and they should mention the freedom that users will have to do whatever they want with their computer while reminding the users how annoying iTunes is for trying to install other crap under your nose. Maybe have a cheap shot at the "Vista capable" fiasco and the fact that Vista and 7 are the same thing are both prime targets for malware. Stress that users do have a choice!

    2. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by FishWithAHammer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You ever notice how nobody really talks about features the way you're describing? It's because that's basically nerd porn. Everyone else would just go "jesus, that's boring" and tune out.

      This is something most of the Linux community doesn't get: People don't give a fuck about computers. It's like a car: the only time they care is when it isn't doing what they want it to.

      And, right now, it's a lot easier to get a Linux machine to the isn't-doing-what-they-want-it-to point than a Windows machine. (If you have to mention WINE, you pretty much already failed. WINE is an admirable effort that requires a level of technical proficiency or at least willingness to Google to get a lot of stuff running well--neither of which are things end users will do.)

      --
      "You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
    3. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by Americano · · Score: 4, Informative

      People don't give a fuck about computers. It's like a car: the only time they care is when it isn't doing what they want it to.

      Well said. Put slightly differently by Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt:

      People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.

      There's a reason why most Mac ads talk about how the Mac makes "real stuff" (photos, video, music, email, setting up a new printer...) easy: it's the holes they're talking about, not the drill.

    4. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by prelelat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes we can?

      I agree we need to get out there and show the masses that 'hey your looking at switching to a mac look here first' Tell them that Mac is Linux' prissy cousin and show how it can do everything they do and so much more. If people see an "I'm Linux" commercial they are just going to say yeah you like Linux but it has no applications, it's harder to use. The marketing should be getting rid of the reputation that Linux acquired in the 90's and should be about showing people how exciting and advanced the progress has become in the last 10 years. They should showing how applications on are easier to use, how drivers with compatible computers are easier to install, and how fast the thing is. Sit it beside an XP or vista machine and show boot to production time.

      They should be coming out with a penguin label for computers that have all Linux compatible hardware and have some companies like HP, Dell, and IBM get into it. I think that there needs to be a lot of ground work done before you can get into a simple "I am Linux'

    5. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by droopycom · · Score: 4, Funny
      • "Can I run iTunes and use my iPhone with Linux?" "Err... well, almost, with wine, iTunes version 7.3 works... kind of, but its okay... you can just use one of the numerous other free media player... But you better backup your iphone on a mac or windows machine before you start playing with it on linux, because it might just eat all your songs and apps... But anyway you just just get a Google android phone that is open source and run Linux on the phone itself! ... hey, no dont run away... come back! You'll see, linux its so much fun..."
    6. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by JWSmythe · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I was going to reply to him, but you seem to actually understand.

          He has no clue about advertising. It has absolutely NOTHING (none, nada, nil, zip, zero, nuthin') to do with the product. It has everything to do with getting the viewer's attention, and keeping it for the 15 to 30 seconds that the ad runs, *AND* mixed in somewhere show the product.

          Like, this would make a killer ad..

          Show a jet fighter buzzing the surface of the ocean. It fires a missile. WOOSH! People like jet fighters. They like big explosions. The flash and the noise will get (or keep) them looking.

          The camera follows the missile. You see the girls on the beach. It flys down a road with flashy cars. it buzzes some other flashy thing. Then you see it going straight into a building with a big Linux sign on it.

          Big explosion. Dust settles (quickly, we're at like 20 seconds already), and the sign is still standing.

          No words. No dialogue. Just music (optionally, but suggested), jet engine noise, rocket noise, and explosion noise.

          People who want to sell their product always want to include all kinds of crap about their product. Consumers don't care. 99% of the people driving cars (like in your example) don't know anything about them. They can't tell you what engine it has. Half of them can't even tell you the model without going outside to look. Everyone can say if it's pretty or ugly. There are some people who are really into their cars (like me) who can run down every part in it accurately. Ads for my car had nothing to do with the features of the car.

          Here was the short version (30 sec). It doesn't even say the name until the end. Lots of noise and effects.

          This was the long promo video. Only the first 45 seconds showed up on TV, as I recall. Again, lots of noise and effects. Even I, a TransAm owner, didn't care to watch it past 1 minute, when they started babbling about the features.

      --
      Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
    7. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by cbreaker · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The depressing thing is that all the pieces are there. Linux has all the things you'd expect from a modern operating system; speed, decent user interface, good hardware support. But it falls flat on the little things that SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM ANYMORE.

      I mean, why is it still a hassle to access a Windows share? Sure, I can (usually) browse a Windows share from KDE, but almost no apps can actually DO anything with the files. You end up having to copy them locally first, which sometimes works. (Why isn't everyone taking the MacOS approach where it will mount the share, so everything can use it, rather than use all sorts of API bullshit that nothing will take advantage of?)

      There's so many little things like this that just end it for so many people, including myself. Sure, I use Linux a lot, but only for the server end. I continue to keep up to date on the Desktop side of things; I always install new versions of this distribution or that. Things have improved, but not as much as they should be.

      I never try to push Linux on anyone. It's not worth it because simple tasks are often not simple and they COULD BE simple if someone took the time to put the pieces together. I had high hopes for Ubuntu, but each distribution release from them is basically just the same exact thing as the last one with updated versions of the kernel and other software. Yay.

      --
      - It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
    8. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by Aphoxema · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Can I run my Windows programs on Linux?"

      "Yeah, it runs just about everything that comes with Windows perfectly, including the amazing word processing power of wordpad, the mad calculating skizzles of calc, the years of entertainment that sol provides. It'll even do minesweeper and paint!

      Did I mention that Ubuntu already comes with OpenOffice, Firefox, GIMP, and a calculator that can do everything short of graphing, all for free, without having to register, without having to install cracks, without having to worry if an update will break the crack, or programmers constantly trying to find ways to make it harder for you to steal their software?"

      That usually gets people to try a LiveCD at least.

      --
      "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
    9. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by yoshi_mon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Another great way of putting the same idea. And while I agree I think that there is a bit more to the idea than even the previous poster says.

      Small % of people - Those in the know about a product and want all the 'nerd pron'. (Or to put it another way they know all about their needs.) To such people ads that show all the flash over substance are meh at best. However...that's kind of the whole point. The mass scale marketing can't be tailored for this very small set of people.

      Slightly larger % of people - These people are not the techs who are in the above category but rather the managers of those techs. Or the 'enthusiast' part of the market. The kind of people, for example, who do dual-phase cooling on chips that were designed for simple HSF setups. Still however this is not the target that mass scale marketing has to aim for.

      Nearly every other bit of the % of people - The masses who want that hole not the bit. This is the target audience that when thinking about mass marketing your looking at. For example when I think about a fan belt for my car I sure as hell don't fall into either of the above two categories. I'm just looking for a part that will get the job done and not cost me an arm and a leg.

      And mind you there are those to whom fan belts are important things that they want to know all sorts of details about when they think about them. But much like when I think about my OSs don't fall into that 3rd category.

      And therein lies the rub. Most of us who have been involved in FOSS fall directly into the 1st or 2nd category in my list. And as such we make very poor advocates for it at times. Because the majority of people don't really care about FEATURE X that to us is really really cool and important.

      This is getting way too long winded so I'll just close in saying whenever any of the great FOSS conversion stores are shared, most of the best ones include users who just want something that works. Not the other 99% of the nerd pron that we like to go on about.

      --

      Really, I know what I'm doing...Ohhhh, look at the shiny buttons!
    10. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by Americano · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The funny thing is, I would think that Open Source folks would just "get" this line of thinking immediately. How many times have we heard a variation on this in the form of: "You don't make money off selling the software, you make money off supporting the software."

      Rough paraphrase: "Since everybody has a drill, sell your skills as a carpenter." You don't sell the tool, you sell the solution.

    11. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by lennier · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, exactly!

      I use Ubuntu, I went cold turkey from Windows eleven years ago with Red Hat 5... and I'm *still* just deeply frustrated at how many silly little things aren't on anyone's priority list to get fixed.

      Not only that, most of the big projects (KDE, GNOME, OpenOffice) seem to have a definite philosophy of 'that's NOT broken and we WON'T fix it!' for things which quite patently ARE broken.

      Let's pass over with all decent haste the absolutely insane affair of 'spatial windows' in Nautilus (wtf? Windows 95 Explorer had a 'spatial' mode, it was just smart enough to *also* offer a tree browsing view for people who wanted to do serious file management) and give thanks that the Ubuntu people at least had the insight to override the GNOME people and turn *that* craziness off.

      Let's ignore for now the equally insane rush to *remove* copy-pastable file path text fields from dialog boxes and replace them with un-automatable candy-bar strips of buttons. Because, um, nobody uses keyboards anymore? I guess that's a step 'forward'. (Oh, yes, there's a magic hidden alt-key to bring up the real text field... but you'll never know what it is, because we don't talk about that.)

      Let's also be thankful that *finally* some 'fully packaged' applications *now* start putting in menu entries.

      No, let's talk about the more serious issues: how there are about five separate, incompatible 'official' object systems (GObject, CORBA/Bonobo, D-BUS, KParts, Firefox's XPCom, OpenOffice's UNO) before we even think about .NET/Mono or Java integration.

      How there's still no sensible shared configuration system - after a zillion false starts, we still have gconf (two versions of) for GNOME, and the horde of weird formats in /etc for everyone else. Different /etc layout for each distribution, of course, despite what FHS tried to do.

      How although we have X, which is fully networkable, if your X Server crashes - by definition a component which could be *on another machine entirely* - then ALL YOUR RUNNING X APPLICATIONS have to be restarted! The best feature of X, completely subverted just by bad 'standard' configuration.

      And yes, how every 'desktop environment' insists on reinventing the API wheel and building 'virtual filesystems' ON TOP OF its own API rather than making them available to the Posix level with something like FUSE.

      And then there's the pain of device management, like webcams. If it autodetects at startup, it'll probably work. If not.... good luck.

      I love Linux, but... we seem to be settling for far less than we had in the 80s, even. At least then we had dreams of what a desktop *could* be.

      --
      You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
    12. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by rohan972 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Bull. Shit.

      That is all.

      Well, let's go over the claims I made so you can point out exactly what you don't believe then.

      Red Hat 7.0 for me. I feel the same way, until I have to do some work on my brother in laws windows box.
      Are you claiming I didn't start with RH 7.0, that I don't feel the same way as lennier about the flaws of linux distros or that my feelings don't change when I work on my brother in laws windows box?

      I'm not an IT pro, like most people I find it easier to use what I'm familiar with.
      Are you claiming that I am an IT pro, or that most people find it easier to use something they are unfamiliar with?

      Windows is too difficult, it doesn't even have decent package management.
      The statement of difficulty is a subjective judgement based on my own experience, so could you provide a link where I can download a package manager for windows comparable to what is available on linux distros? Something that with a single command or a few mouse clicks will update the whole system? I'd really appreciate it!

      Third party applications will download automatically but won't install unless you are running with admin privileges.
      So are you claiming that third party applications won't download updates or that those updates will install without admin privileges? Because thunderbird and firefox will download updates but neither will install them unless I do it as admin. Again, if you can tell me how so set them to autoupdate without running as admin, I'll appreciate it.

      Limited user accounts can't initialise his 3G usb modem without running an app as admin, and even then if you switch to another users account that will disconnect and have to be done again.
      It's a Telstra Turbo 7 Series Modem. I don't have it with me so I can't tell you what it is rebranded from. To connect you use the Telstra Turbo Connection Manager software which exits with an access violation error if it is run without admin rights. Logging out or switching user from the account it was started from (either using runas or if it was started from an admin login) closes the connection. The Telstra Turbo Connection Manager software must be closed in that account to successfully run it from another account. I have read that the connection settings can be used without the software but have not been successful doing so. Again, if you can solve that for me, I'd be grateful, it is in no way "bullshit" though. I'd willingly admit the problem may lie with me being unfamiliar with MS Windows but I've spent hours trying to get it to work in a more suitable fashion.

      Seriously, if things as basic as updating software and connecting to the internet aren't done right ...
      So do you think updating software and connecting to the internet are not basic functions? You don't have any reason at all for your comment. Windows and linux both have benefits and flaws, and from a linux users perspective the difficulties of using windows are non-trivial. Mostly you don't hear about it because many linux users are IT pros who are also familiar with windows. For those of us who aren't, it is a quite difficult system to use.

      All who think that linux users aren't helpful (RTFM) please take note of the above posters response to me having trouble using windows.

      --
      http://marriedmansexlife.com/
    13. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by Bronster · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ads a few decades ago were somewhat more intelligent, they would actually talk about a product and list some specific reasons why it was better than another product.

      Good for you 1%er that you prefer those ads. Now - I wonder why we don't see many of those any more... you'd almost think, I dunno, that they didn't work as effectively or something. Colour me shocked.

    14. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by waveclaw · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Handyman's rule: all tools are hammers except chisels which are screwdrivers. What you buy something for may not be what it gets used to do.

      Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt:

      People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.

      Then explain the number of pristine, never to be used and decidedly overpowered tools sitting in many 'crasftsman' garages? I always felt Levitt was missing the mark. A lot of purchase decisions are about having the rights quarter-inch drill, regardless of its utility for making holes.

      People will buy a car to drive on a road, but what car they buy and why may have nothing at all to do with driving. Operating Systems today are not a choice about practicality or functionality, but of style and ethos. The hobbyist feel and methods of Linux are not that far removed from the home mechanic tinkering with his hot rod that never leaves the driveway.

      Linux won't garner marketshare based on being the quarter-inch hole maker of Personal Computers. We have Macs and corporate-desktop Windows for that.

      Linux.com has to differentiate Linux from its competitors and show that it's the sexiest drill in the cabinet. Pasty nerds arguing over the last donut doesn't do either of these. Honestly, Ubuntu's graphics artists and Novell's XGL efforts did more to make people say "I want that on my computer" than 5 years of making Office 20XD6 work a little better on crappy hardware.

      --

      "You cannot have a General Will unless you have shared experiences. You cannot be fair to people you don't know."
    15. Re:And that so sums up Linux... by Americano · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Then explain the number of pristine, never to be used and decidedly overpowered tools sitting in many 'crasftsman' garages?

      That's your hobbyist community. For whom Linux is probably the right choice. They may not NEED that drill, but by god they can sleep comfortably at night knowing that if they ever need to drill a million holes, that high-end Makita drill hanging on the wall is right there. How is that any different than the Open Source advocate claiming: "I may not ever personally modify the code. But I want the ABILITY to do so if I so desire."?

      The vast majority of the market for a particular piece of hardware is NOT the hobbyist/collector who has money to burn. It's the carpenter, or homeowner, who actually needs the tool to accomplish something. Of the 6-7 billion people on the planet, what percentage have the resources & interest to spend $500 on a single drill they will never use? (answer: Not a large percentage.) Of the 6-7 billion people on the planet, what percentage have the time & interest to change & recompile their own kernel? (answer: Not a large percentage.)

      Linux won't garner marketshare based on being the quarter-inch hole maker of Personal Computers.

      The point was not that "Linux should bill itself as the quarter-inch hole maker." The point is, Linux needs to decide what problems it's the best solution for, and market itself by showing how it solves them for real problems people have.

      If you focus on the tool itself, you will not gain desktop market share. You will always remain a desktop platform for hobbyists, tinkerers, and tech-savvy people with time to spare twiddling bits.

  4. Already Slashdotted by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 3, Funny

    Already Slashdotted, 2009-03-18, 11:36 AM PDT

    1. Re:Already Slashdotted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      PDT? What's that as a unix timestamp

    2. Re:Already Slashdotted by mdm-adph · · Score: 4, Funny

      1237394160000

      I know it was a joke, but I really couldn't help myself.

      --
      It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
  5. Too bad he's dead, but Burgess Meredith by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The original "Penguin" from the old Batman TV series would be a great Linux spokesperson.

  6. Didn't Novell already do this? by argent · · Score: 4, Informative

    Two years ago?

    1. Re:Didn't Novell already do this? by girlintraining · · Score: 4, Funny

      Shhhh!! It's just a talent contest for the geeks who didn't get to be in one in high school. Don't spoil their chance to wear a nice gown and walk down the aisle just once.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    2. Re:Didn't Novell already do this? by Galois2 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Two years ago?

      That is a funny reply to the Mac ad series, but have people already forgotten the great linux ad which *preceded* either the Mac or PC ad series? Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwL0G9wK8j4 It includes Mohommad Ali, Sylvia Nasar, Penny Marshall, and former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.

  7. I am Linux by sunking2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    And apparently I don't serve out web pages any better than IIS.

  8. Oops by castorvx · · Score: 5, Funny

    We're Linux, and our site is down.

    Linux marketing = epic win.

    1. Re:Oops by jgtg32a · · Score: 2, Funny

      They should have used FreeBSD then the server wouldn't have gone down.

  9. Very fitting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find this situation to be a very fitting analogy to the computing world as a whole. Apple does something that gets attention. Microsoft makes their cheap knockoff of it. Then the OSS/Linux guys come along and say "Hey, we can do that, too!"

    1. Re:Very fitting by Duradin · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually it be more along the lines of someone suggesting to the Linux guys that they should do something and the Linux guys telling the person "go make the commercial yourself".

    2. Re:Very fitting by Galois2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well as usual with Linux, they show up late to the game

      Not quite -- the "he's linux" commercial preceeded either the Mac or PC ad series. Perhaps the only usual thing is that Apple and MS take undeserved credit.

      and produce a half ass working team that people find unbearable to watch while the hardcore crowd yells at them for being peons.

      I found http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwL0G9wK8j4 to be a fully working team, coached by Wooden no less.

      But hey we can criticize MS/Apple all day, but when it comes to Linux we have to treat them with special care because they 'do it for free'.

      No, we can criticize MS because we've proven in court they illegally use their monopoly to extinguish competition in other areas, and Apple because they lock down both their hardware and software. Linux is the best open source OS there is, and anyone who cares about software freedom ought to care about it.

  10. Re:Link to youtube videos by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's one (the one the submitter called one of the better ones):

    Challenges at the Office

    Some of the other ones are under the related videos.

  11. Since the server already melted.... by Skylinux · · Score: 4, Informative

    Unfortunately the server already melted so here are a few videos Novell produced to market Linux.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3AXo5i_XYI

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjJePMwEMWg

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8WNPvjtjQg

    --
    Everyone who buys Wild Hunt will receive 16 specially prepared DLCs absolutely for free, regardless of platform.
  12. Samuel L Jackson.... by Em+Emalb · · Score: 5, Funny

    Reprising his role as Jules from Pulp Fiction:

    Jules: [Jules shoots the man on the couch, who turns out to be Steve Jobs, turns to talk to Bill Gates] I'm sorry, did I break your concentration? I didn't mean to do that. Please, continue, you were saying something about best intentions. What's the matter? Oh, you were finished! Well, allow me to retort. What does Linus Torvalds look like?

    Bill: What?
    Jules: What OS do you run?
    Bill: What? What? Wh - ?
    Jules: "What" ain't no OS I've ever heard of. They have a usable command line in What?
    Bill: What?
    Jules: Usable command line, mother fucker, do you have one?
    Bill: Yes! Yes!
    Jules: Then you know what I'm sayin'!
    Bill: Yes!
    Jules: Describe what Linus Torvalds looks like!
    Bill: What?
    Jules: Say 'what' again. Say 'what' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say what one more Goddamn time!

    [end scene, fade out with Linux, Operating System of Bad Mother Fuckers everywhere]

    --
    Sent from your iPad.
  13. What a second... by Antony-Kyre · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Aren't linux machines still Personal Computers?

    1. Re:What a second... by pembo13 · · Score: 2, Funny

      At some point, PC became synonymous with Microsoft Windows. I am not sure when that happened. All I know is that I didn't get a memo.

      --
      "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
    2. Re:What a second... by DragonWriter · · Score: 2, Informative

      At some point, PC became synonymous with Microsoft Windows.

      PC became largely synonymous with "something running one of Microsoft's current set of operating system offerings" at about the time IBM licensed MS-DOS as PC-DOS and distribtued it as the standard OS for the IBM PC, and it was cemented when the Mac became the main hardware competitor to the PC and its clones, and so comparisons tended to be PC vs. Mac whether or not they were hardware comparisons, OS comparisons, or, comparisons of the combination of hardware and OS and available application software.

    3. Re:What a second... by roggg · · Score: 5, Funny

      Mac: "I'm a Mac."

      Linux: "I'm a PC. Because you see Linux actually runs on PC hardware, so it's a fallacy to refer to only Windoze machines a PCs.

      Mac: "ummm..."

      Linux (standing up, and brushing cheeto dust from beard): "In fact, to be pedantic, Mac's are PCs too in the more general sense of the term since PC stands for personal computer, and Mac's are certainly computers designed for personal use. Really we are all PCs. I really hate how M$ has appropriated that term for it's own platforms when the term is equally applicable to linux machines as well..."

      Mac: "please...kill me now."

    4. Re:What a second... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Linux: "And that's another thing. 'kill' is a UNIX command, and as we all know, Macs are UNIX machines underneath (technically BSD UNIX), so, yeah, you could invoke 'kill' once you know your PID. Really, you're not a Mac, you're a UNIX machine, derived via a NextStep machine and tweaked to look like a Mac. You're a prettied-up UNIX-like machine just like me! We're practically brothers!" [Big, kind of scary-looking, cheetoes-laden smile at the end as he tries to hug Mac]

      Mac: [Slowly starts stepping sideways out of the picture]

    5. Re:What a second... by mad_clown · · Score: 4, Funny

      God, I can just see RMS doing that commercial. Only the commercial would be about 15 minutes long, and would contain multiple instances when he exclaimed "GNU stands for GNU's not UNIX! It's a HACK!!!"

      --
      "Cut word lines. Cut music lines. Smash the control images. Smash the control machine." - William S. Burroughs
    6. Re:What a second... by RichardJenkins · · Score: 3, Funny

      Mac: "I'm a PC"

      PC: "And I'm a P - whaa? Goddamnit Mac, have you been talking to Linux again?."

      * PC bitchslaps Mac upside the head

      Mac (hurt): "Aww, Pee Cee."

      * Linux jumps up and down laughing maniacally

  14. facepalm by blhack · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Isn't part of the point of linux that there isn't a face to it?

    Linux is my mailserver
    Linux runs my mythtv
    Linux runs on my access point
    Linux runs on my sister's laptop.
    Linux runs on our company's DVR.

    Linux is not an operating system for the desktop or for the server, or for the embedded device. Linux is an operating system for EVERYTHING.

    Its like a ball of clay, endless potential and totally at the hands of the artist.

    --
    NewslilySocial News. No lolcats allowed.
    1. Re:facepalm by Thinboy00 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      (self reply) ...unless they're concerned about the Ken Thompson back door I suppose... (see the Jargon File on "back door" if you don't get it; I'm too lazy to make a link)... but if you're paranoid enough to still be concerned about that of all things, you're probably the NSA or working for them, given the annoyance of the coding on the bare metal you'd need to do to have absolute certainty.

      --
      $ make available
  15. Re:Link to youtube videos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is the "hilarious but inappropriate" one. The other two are NOT on Youtube, acually, but as far as I can tell, they're here and here, respectively, in wget-able FLV glory.

  16. mac vs pc: stallman vs. torvalds by je+ne+sais+quoi · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can't watch the commercials because the site is slashdotted, but here's what I think: Instead of doing the I'm a mac, I'm a PC exchange commercials, they should get Stallman and Torvalds to do the commercial, each one playing "linux". I think it would emphasize the tension the linux community has regarding the priority of freedom:

    Torvalds: "Hello, I'm linux."
    Stallman: "You should really refer to him as GNU/linux, and me too."
    Torvalds: "We reliably operate huge numbers of servers, embedded devices and personal computers and have support for a a huge array of hardware devices."
    Stallman: "But most importantly, we allow you to have the freedom share your ideas with others and be able to use other's ideas enriching all of us simultaneously."
    Torvalds: "...and making big bank."
    Stallman: "uhh, what?"

    --
    Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
    1. Re:mac vs pc: stallman vs. torvalds by Brandybuck · · Score: 3, Funny

      Oooh, I see we've offended the religious community!

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
  17. Re:I'm Debian by Jabbrwokk · · Score: 5, Funny

    They're all in OGG format so no one will be able to watch them anyway ;)

  18. Microsoft must love this.... by nrasch · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The parent post says: "... hilarious but inappropriate, to the well-made but creepy, to the 'I'm sure it sounded good in your head.'"

    If I was in MS's marketing department I'd be all over the bad videos. I'd show them to everyone I could and explain, 'See? This is the type of person who identifies w/ Linux. This is how they brand them selves. These type of people will be working on your servers, looking through the source code, etc.'

    My job would be done, people thinking about switching over would be creeped out, and a fuzzy warm marketing glow would ensue.... ;)

  19. They all suck by Yuioup · · Score: 2, Funny

    I checked them out yesterday and they're all shit. If any of them got aired on the mainstream media then I'm wiping my Ubuntu partition and installing Vista

  20. Re:Slackware by Weaselmancer · · Score: 4, Funny

    Like the God Amen, Slackware created himself.

    I thought that was Gentoo.

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
  21. Re:Link to youtube videos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    here is the 2nd "better one" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svaHnha-PXs

  22. Hi, I'm Linux by Bastard+of+Subhumani · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hi, I'm linux and the load on my server is getting very h

    404 file not found

    --
    Only three things are certain; death, taxes, and apocryphal quotations - Ben Franklin.
  23. Re:Slackware by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, Linux from Scratch created himself...from scratch.

  24. Re:Slackware by CarpetShark · · Score: 4, Funny

    I thought that was Gentoo.

    No, Gentoo is the future incarnation, which is yet to finish creating itself.

  25. Re:I'm Debian by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    They're all in OGG format so everyone will be able to watch them anyway ;)

    There, fixed that for you.

  26. Re:I'm Debian by myshkinstudios · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's odd how both of those comments are absolutely true.

  27. Re:I'm Debian by VagaStorm · · Score: 4, Informative

    Akording to wikipedia you are correct, yggdrasil linux releaced first alpha on 8 December 1992, before both slakware and debian who came out in 1993 but Softlanding Linux System (SLS) precceded them all. (I knew nothing of this b4 I looked it up :p)

    --
    www.aleo.no
  28. Re:Slackware by Daravon · · Score: 5, Funny

    "And Lo! The Lord did sayeth 'emerge earth' and he did wait five days and five nights. Verily he did then adjust his holy USE flags, and then did emerge again!"

    Spoiler alert, he eventually created the world after spending a lot of time compiling from source. Later, on the forums, he bragged he did it in seven days and that everybody who couldn't do it that was either a noob or needed a faster computer.

    --
    I traded all my mod points for these magic beans.
  29. Script by Brandybuck · · Score: 4, Funny

    [Cut to suburban home basement. Room contains boxspring mattress, cinderblock and plank bookshelf, and cable spool table. On the floor is indoor/outdoor kitchen-print carpet. On the walls are a selection of tattered scifi movie posters, including Natalie Portman in torn jumpsuit poster from Episode II. Glow in the dark stars dot the ceiling, from which dangle several hand painted styrofoam "planets". There is a stack of obsolete game consoles in the corner. Computer in aluminum and plexiglass supertower case with purple lighting is next to table, on which are two unmatched LCD monitors. Pale overweight adolescent enters from stage left. He is wearing black jeans, and black tee-shirt with penguin and wildebeest motif. The hair is short spiked dyed pink, but black roots are prominent.]

    Adolescent: "I am Linux! Ph3&r me!"

    [Cue jingle. Wipe to series logo.]

    --
    Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
  30. Tux is the perfect face by Cruciform · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't know if it's been done (links are dead to me), but why not make Tux the face of Linux in an ad?
    Get a bunch of Tuxes made in various sizes (or digitally modelled) and show people doing things in their daily routine, with the penguins replacing phones, laptops, servers, embedded devices, etc.
    And at the end of the ad, the simple text:
    Linux, you're already using it.

  31. Re:I'm Debian by Brandybuck · · Score: 3, Funny

    Slackware ended up being a good system too, and much earlier.

    p.s. Debian 1.0 would have been released a year earlier, but they were still arguing whether the DFSG was in violation of the DFSG.

    --
    Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
  32. Penguins can fly by EEPROMS · · Score: 2, Insightful

    one of the best Linux adds I have seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSEGj3PK4Is

  33. Shrek and HP had an ad... by HalfOfOne · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Awhile back when they were making Shrek, there was a rather lengthy printed article/advertisement on why they chose Linux for most of their production. It had a lot of shameless plugs for HP, but also quite a few mentions of the virtues of a free and freely configurable OS.

    I'd always thought it'd be a cute commercial to see Shrek walking along having a conversation with the Donkey about Linux. The donkey would ask all of the typical FUD questions, and Shrek would explain them all and throw in a few jokes here and there.

    It's a face everyone knows and isn't intimidated by, and a product (the movies) that people enjoyed.

  34. Re:I'm Debian by FishWithAHammer · · Score: 2, Funny

    p.s. Debian 1.0 would have been released a year earlier, but they were still arguing whether the DFSG was in violation of the DFSG.

    They still haven't figured it out.

    --
    "You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
  35. Never quite got the original ads. by 91degrees · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The thing that's always bugged me about those Apple ads is the suggestion that because you have a Mac you'll suddenly be creative, and because you have a PC you'll have boring work to do.

    I don't know about everyone else, but I like my computer because it does those boring jobs for me. I want a tool to do spreadsheets. It means I spend less time doing that and can be off doing my own thing. Mac doesn't. Mac comes across as a layabout rockstar wannabe. Some of us have to work and pay the bills.

  36. Re:Slackware by pbhj · · Score: 5, Funny

    "And Lo! The Lord did sayeth 'emerge earth' and he did wait five days and five nights. Verily he did then adjust his holy USE flags, and then did emerge again!"

    Spoiler alert, he eventually created the world after spending a lot of time compiling from source. Later, on the forums, he bragged he did it in seven days and that everybody who couldn't do it that was either a noob or needed a faster computer.

    That came back to bite him when he had to do a zero write flood and clean install from a huge arkive (sounds like Ubu' to me).

  37. Re:Slackware by Tetsujin · · Score: 2, Funny

    "And Lo! The Lord did sayeth 'emerge earth' and he did wait five days and five nights. Verily he did then adjust his holy USE flags, and then did emerge again!"

    Spoiler alert, he eventually created the world after spending a lot of time compiling from source. Later, on the forums, he bragged he did it in seven days and that everybody who couldn't do it that was either a noob or needed a faster computer.

    Imagine His surprise upon learning that one of His angels had the evil bit set...

    --
    Bow-ties are cool.
  38. Re:Slackware by JWSmythe · · Score: 2, Interesting

        Praise be brother.

        Actually, that's one of those things people don't get. Slack has been around the longest, and is still the most table and unmolested distro there is. They've been doing it right for years, while others have come and gone.

       

    --
    Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
  39. Divine inconsistencies by Khopesh · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Slackware was the Daddy. Like the God Amen, Slackware created himself.

    Yes, that's one of my favorite mythological editing blunders: Atum (later lumped in with Amun and Re) was a creator god, first-born of the gods, who birthed himself from the waters of chaos (later personified as the god Nun) by His own will. The god Thoth, scribe of the gods, was on hand to record this birth of the first god.

    I love Ancient Egyptian mythology, if for no other reason than the wonderful editing it went through when various cities unified (and thus merged their religions). Christianity is messed up too, but people ignore the inconsistencies (have you sacrificed any animals lately? Heathen?)

    --
    Use my userscript to add story images to Slashdot. There's no going back.
  40. Copying Apple's Campaign... by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ... was stupid and annoying for Microsoft and is the same for Linux. If no one in the open source community can come up with a marketing idea better than copying third-hand from Apple, the community is in trouble.

    --
    That is all.
  41. Re:Any Comerical like this would be fitting. by ajs · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, then that's your angle, right?

    Mac: Hi, I'm a Mac
    Linux: Well, you're not really a Mac, right?
    Mac: Of course I am.
    Linux: "Macs" [using air-quotes, here] now use PC processors and an operating system that's based on Unix and a user-interface that's derived from NeXT. They have about as much connection to the Mac that Apple introduced in 1984 as MTV has to music on television.
    PC: Heh
    Linux: And what are you laughing at?
    PC: Well, I'm a PC, so that just seemed sort of funny.
    Linux: You're not a PC.
    PC: OK, that's just not funny. I'm *the* PC
    Linux: A PC is a hardware platform. In fact, it's the same hardware platform that your friend, here, runs on. You're just Windows.
    PC: Alright smart guy; what are you then?
    Linux: I'm Linux
    PC/Mac: [unison] What's a Linux?
    Linux: I'm a clone of the Unix operating system that Mac is based on, but I run on just about anything more powerful than a calculator, including some of the most powerful supercomputers on Earth.
    Mac: Sounds like you're spread sort of thin.
    Linux: I wouldn't talk. You have versions that run on music players and cell-phones these days.
    [Mac shuffles feet]
    PC: Aren't you written by a bunch of college kids?
    Linux: I suppose the employees of IBM, the NSA, Oracle and Google were in college once, yeah. Weren't you the product of a college drop out?
    PC: No, he just stole the ... er ... nevermind!

  42. No, its even worse by Burz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Then the FOSS people come along and say you should get a car based solely on the brand of transmission (kernel) inside.

    Not brilliant. Its been like watching a whole subculture go through a decade-long neurosis, trying to push something to users that they mostly cannot see or touch.

    Imagine if Apple constantly went on and on about OpenDarwin / XNU in their mass-market advertising. Or if Mozilla waged a "Get Gecko" campaign to end-users... They would be in the 1-2% penetration bracket nowadays with a nonsensical message like that.

    Then there is the 'Get Ubuntu' crowd, which I admire (and I followed their advice). BUT Ubuntu is not a PC platform: It doesn't have a set UI to make life manageable for users and tech support alike, nor an SDK for app developers, nor a program for certifying hardware for the OS, nor a way to independently distribute application packages that will still work 6 months (nevermind 2-6 years) down the road.

    In fact, Firefox looks more like a PC platform in some important areas than any Linux distro.

  43. Direct Links to YouTube Versions of the Videos by LinuxScribe · · Score: 2, Informative

    In order to facilitate access to the videos, we have uploaded several that were hosted locally on our site over the weekend to YouTube, which should allow the LF video site to handle the /. traffic load.

    Also, here are the direct links to the videos mentioned in the summary, in the order they were listed:

    "hilarious but inappropriate"
    http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1095
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjRdA25yauU

    "well-made but creepy"
    http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1246
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXhRVCMyGwM

    "I'm sure it sounded good in your head"
    http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1244
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m2azKFJZrg

    "one"
    http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1261
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwmfyeHBFlM

    "two"
    http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1057
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svaHnha-PXs

    Thanks for your patience,
    Brian Proffitt
    Community Manager

  44. Re:Slackware by David+Gould · · Score: 4, Funny

    Imagine His surprise upon learning that one of His angels had the evil bit set...

    And thus was the first daemon spawned.

    --
    David Gould
    main(i){putchar(340056100>>(i-1)*5&31|!!(i<6)<< 6)&&main(++i);}
  45. How vague by 4D6963 · · Score: 2, Informative

    OK cool that French video got me sold on Linux because it seems to say that if I put that Linux thing on computers then cute French nurses will fall for me and laugh at my jokes. But what's that Linux thing you're talking about, where do I get it? *googles some* okay, looks like there's lots of them, so what do I want, RedHat, Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Gentoo, Slackware?

    My point is, while you can tell people "got milk?" cause they know how to obtain milk, you can't tell people "get Linux", it's too confusing. Choose a precise product and market it.

    --
    You just got troll'd!