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Forkable Linux Radio Ad Now On the Air In Texas

Posted by kdawson on from the remix-and-burn dept.

christian.einfeldt writes "Everyone is familiar with the Linux video ads created by IBM, Red Hat, and Novell, but until recently, there have not been any professionally backed forkable radio ads. Now, Austin-based Linux advocate Ken Starks has obtained the services of a professional radio talent in creating a high quality voice track, which can easily be adapted by local providers of Linux computer services. The raw material (mp3, ogg) addresses end-user frustration with Microsoft Windows malware, and promotes Linux as a more stable alternative. Starks hopes the raw material will seed pro-Linux ads across the US, and he offers his own final product as an example of how the raw material can be remixed with music. He has released all of the raw material and final work under the Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, and has waived the Attribution requirement in his blog. Starks's provocative ad is currently on the air in the Austin market during the popular talk show of Kim Komando, who just happens to be a Microsoft Windows enthusiast."

20 of 366 comments (clear)

  1. Komando's show is popular? by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Informative

    As in "Windows popular" or "Linux popular"?

    I listened once. It was an hour of "Kim, I'm having trouble installing my Canon digicam." "Well, you need to attach the cable and then turn the camera on." "Thanks Kim! That really did the trick!"

    Trying to explain anything more complex than "Have you tried rebooting it?" to the audience of AM talk radio is like declaring any year Year of Linux on the Desktop.

    1. Re:Komando's show is popular? by Eil · · Score: 4, Insightful

      To her credit, Kim Komando has been doing a home computer radio show since well before computers and the Internet were mainstream. However, if you actually listen to one of her shows, you notice that her knowledge hasn't kept pace with current technology and most of her advice boils down to either reinstalling windows or buying products from her sponsors to (possibly) fix your problem.

      I applaud Ken Starks for putting this ad on the air. Most of her listeners would do well to give Linux a try. Although her audience would shrink a bit when their computers started working properly all of the sudden. ;)

  2. Linux is not like winows. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As long as we are trying to sell Linux as Windows without the annoyances of Windows, we will fail, if for no other reason than the fact that Linux has its own, less broadly understood, annoyances. We need to sell Linux as Linux.

    1. Re:Linux is not like winows. by erroneus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You are quite right in saying so and I largely agree with you. The angle is a little bit wrong and a little bit inaccurate. But when I pitch a Linux solution, I start by listing all of the things they do with their computers and propose a Linux based solution to do the same thing... where applicable. There still ain't no AutoCAD for Linux as far as I can tell (though if you reply with a list of suggestions, I will have to wait for the one heavy CAD user I know to test it out and give an evaluation). There are "near replacements" for most graphics and other apps. Games are a bit of a show-stopper, but I don't suggest Linux to kids anyway. (I know, not just kids play games... buy a second computer... one for Linux and one for games.)

      The point is to present solutions that do not require Windows where possible and, if they have a strong enough machine, suggest a VirtualBox installation to get the one or two Windows apps they need. Yeah I know about Wine, but VirtualBox is a LOT slicker.

    2. Re:Linux is not like winows. by digitalunity · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Agreed. My girlfriend's 10 year old son is using a computer I built about 7 years ago with Ubuntu on it. It has much of the complexity he would see in Windows hidden. No control panel, no command line, no start menu with 10 levels of trees. It's so simple any idiot could use it.

      The only thing he does online is webmail, flash games, youtube and listen to music. Linux fills that role perfectly.

      Maybe some day I will tell him it's also hosting my SSH, ftps, telnet, web and email serving also :)

      --
      You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
    3. Re:Linux is not like winows. by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 3, Interesting

      As long as we are trying to sell Linux as Windows without the annoyances of Windows, we will fail...

      Works for Apple. Remember, you have to step back from the "geek" view. Fact is nongeek users know Windows. They want "Windows without the annoyances of Windows" - this is exactly what Apple sells to the consumer . "We" don't need to sell Linux to geeks, they bought it a long time ago. We "need" to sell Linux to consumers who exactly want "Windows without the annoyances of Windows".

      I believe that your approach is what "we" are already doing, and it hassn't worked very well.

      Look, first we sell them "Windows without the annoyances of Windows", then we educate them on how Linux is different than Windows, how Linux is not just free Windows.

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  3. Great Idea by SilverHatHacker · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Pretty much the only thing Linux needs now* is a good marketing campaign. Not only do we have an ad, but its forkable? That kinda blows my mind!

    *Yeah, I know there are other things it needs. But they are stuck in a chicken-and-egg battle until Linux gets a higher market share anyway, so we'll just ignore them for now.

    --
    Funny may not give karma, but +5 Informative never made anyone snort coffee out their nose.
    1. Re:Great Idea by Darkness404 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      But radio? I mean, the target demographic for Linux (young, reasonably computer savvy) doesn't listen to the radio really anymore. And Kim Komando is a total joke. Her "advice" is reboot things. Yeah, it works, but to be perfectly honest, if you haven't already tried that chances are you shouldn't be installing Linux (yeah, you can make it work, but -far- too often those people will be upset with how some niche Windows program doesn't run on Linux). Show some fancy 3-D compiz effects on prime time and you have a success, but radio? And Kim Komando? Those people don't need Linux, they need something common to pay geek squad whenever something goes wrong.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  4. Transcript by Animaether · · Score: 4, Informative

    Your computer has problems? Wanna hear the "industry's" solution? That's right, your software isn't working - so what do they suggest? Use more software to solve the problem(!) Listen to what you're being told: they want you to purchase software so the software you already purchased will work! .. What!?
    The problem is.. we've come to think of this as being perfectly acceptable. So stop accepting! There's been a solution all along, but you've rarely heard of it. That's right! You spent maybe hundreds maybe thousands of dollars over the years that you didn't have to.
    It's time for the secret to be told. Thousands of businesses, universities and even Wall Street have been using: Linux! For years. What do they know that you don't? Linux is free. It doesn't need any virus protection and 99.9% of the software you'll ever need comes free as well. It's as easy as clicking a mouse! That's it. No more crashes, no more viruses, no more blue screens of death.
    And get this: with Linux, you don't have to reboot after installing new software. Linux runs on old hardware. No need to buy a new computer every time the industry decides to boost profits and release another buggy system.
    So why are you still paying for the privilege of using your computer? There's a better way: Linux.

    Somehow the flow between the 2nd and 3rd sentence is... odd, but there ya go.

    1. Re:Transcript by NoYob · · Score: 3, Funny

      ...even Wall Street have been using: Linux!

      That may not be a positive selling point these days.

      --
      It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
    2. Re:Transcript by droopycom · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The script and the voice for the long version sounds like an infomercial for the latest "get rich quick" or "how to beat the system" scams..

      "It's time for the secret to be told" .... yuk.... makes me want to puke.

      The only thing missing is the fine print that you usually see on those infomercial, eg: "Individual results may vary, result shown are not typical"

      Without this kind of disclaimer, this is borderline false advertising "This is as easy as clicking a mouse!" (yeah, right...)

       

    3. Re:Transcript by caladine · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's as easy as clicking a mouse! That's it. No more crashes, no more viruses, no more blue screens of death.

      The only true part of this is the lack of viruses (for now). In place of BSODs, you just get to meet mister kernel panic instead, albeit with less frequency.
      Don't get me wrong, I love Linux. However, portraying it as incredibly easy to use with everything you'd want out of a desktop operating system is just false advertising for 95% of computer users out there. This is a horribly misleading ad. That's just great that universities and wall street (because we really want to harken back to them right now, yes?) use Linux, more power to the penguin. However, these institutions don't use Linux like one would as a home desktop OS.
      Besides the fact that there are plenty of free(!) and perfectly working solutions for Windows to avoid malware and protect yourself against viruses.
      I want Linux to really be ready for the home desktop of the average user, but it isn't. I don't think we should be kidding ourselves and making ads with false promises like these.

    4. Re:Transcript by Korin43 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well it makes perfect sense. If you want normal people to trust something, you have to make it sound like a scam.

    5. Re:Transcript by techno-vampire · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Besides the fact that there are plenty of free(!) and perfectly working solutions for Windows to avoid malware and protect yourself against viruses.

      True. However, you have to download them, install them and keep them updated or they don't do you any good. And, they take up hard disk space, (Granted, that's not a big concern now, but it's still true.) they have to be loaded every time you boot and they're always running in the background, slowing down your computer and making it less responsive. I use Linux. Right now, I'm running Fedora 10, with 27 days up uptime. My sister uses Ubuntu, and hasn't rebooted in well over a month, because Ubuntu isn't as bleeding-edge as Fedora is. Both of our boxes are crisp, responsive and unhindered either by malware or the band-aids needed to keep malware off of our systems. And, I might add, I've been using Linux in one form or another for at least a decade, now, and I've yet to see my first kernel panic. If what you want from your computer is the ability to surf the web, read and send email and maybe compose the occasional document to be printed out, Linux can do that for you at least as well as Windows can, if not better, and for most adults, that's all they want from a home computer.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    6. Re:Transcript by Ronald+Dumsfeld · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I want Linux to really be ready for the home desktop of the average user, but it isn't. I don't think we should be kidding ourselves and making ads with false promises like these.

      Sorry, that's a crock of shit. Linux is ready for the desktop of the average user. The issue is that they should not be required to install it or do anything beyond okaying the installation of a variety of security updates to the software they use.

      I've set quite a few people up with Ubuntu in the past year or so, compared with previously saying "don't do Linux". Your average user now has a real set of expectations from a computer. Linux can meet these needs and expectations, and there is a huge reduction in support headaches when you've convinced people only to install stuff made for their distribution and in a searchable repository.

      Dealing with getting real people to use Linux is having someone with a clue set up support for Flash, DVDs, and stuff like that. The one I found hilarious was a friend who's used Windows for years - he asked what bittorrent client you could get for Linux. When I told him Ubuntu installed one by default, well, his jaw hit the floor.

      --
      Where's the Kaboom?
      There's supposed to be an Earth-shattering Kaboom.
  5. Heard this on the air last night by XanC · · Score: 4, Informative

    It was more about control, about Microsoft being in charge of how you get to your data, than about anything else. It's a great message.

    Although I can't listen to more than 5 minutes of Kim Komando without wishing my fingernails were being pulled out instead.

  6. "forkable ad"? by pongo000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Pray tell, what exactly is a "forkable ad"? Strangely enough, I get no authoritative hits on "forkable ad" in any of the major search engines. Is this a made-up phrase, or something actually used in the advertising realm?

  7. Re:No more crashes? by bcmm · · Score: 4, Funny

    http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=nvidia+crash+windows&aq=&aqi=&aq=f&aqi=g1&oq=&fp=ee36edbd3c16a1c5 has more hits.

    --
    # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
    Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
  8. Forkability may not be too great an idea by mysidia · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's under the CC-BY-SA license.

    That means Apple could take up the ad and alter it to be pro-Apple.

    Microsoft could use the very content of the ad to develop their own ad deriding Linux as low-grade

    I'm hoping it won't happen, but Forkability of marketing materials can be a double-edged sword...

  9. Re:No more crashes? by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "nvidia crash windows" has more hits.

    Not even double. On an OS that (conservatively) has 85x the marketshare.