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The 'Linux Inside' Stigma
New submitter dtschmitz highlights the success of the Google Chromebook to underscore what, in his view, is a serious Linux brand image problem.
"It's remarkable how Google doesn't mention the word Linux anywhere in their marketing of the Google Chromebook. I mean, it's running the Linux Kernel, so shouldn't it be Google Linux instead of ChromeOS? Why did Google carefully avoid references to Linux? It's all a very carefully crafted, well executed plan of elegant branding and image making. ... The profile of this user is that of someone who really doesn't care anything about the technical underpinnings of a device. They are not sophisticated technophiles by any means. They have a set number of things which they wish to do--recreational surfing, banking, email, an occasional letter, not complicated. ... Google didn't mention Linux because they know it will scare buyers away. That's unfortunate, but true. And we need to come to terms with that fact and work towards improving the 'Linux Inside' brand image.
There are lots of things for which that level of detail is lost on the target consumer.
Because people don't give a fuck what's inside their computers. They want their magic boxes to just work, without knowing all the innards.
You can blame Apple for making people less technologically astute, or praise them for raising the bar for every other manufacturer.
I think the reason why they don't mention Linux is simply because the thing isn't meant to run Linux software. It doesn't really matter that it uses Linux underneath when you never get to directly access it and instead are limited to whatever layer they strapped on top of it. Android isn't marketed as a Linux for the same reason, the Linux is simply an implementation detail, not an end user visible feature.
Lets say the product is a big success. They want the positive experience attributed to "CHROME", a trademark they own, versus "Linux", one they don't.
Who actually cares?
Not everything needs a nice friendly brand.
I somewhat take Linus's view - who cares?
-Interview with Linus last year (http://www.techradar.com/news/software/why-linus-torvalds-would-rather-code-than-make-money-1112900)
LT: "Technical people will complain 'it's Linux, and now people don't know they're using Linux'. Which is true, a lot of people don't even know they're using Linux"
LXF: "And that doesn't bother you?"
LT: "And that doesn't bother me at all, because I'm interested in the technical side. And I actually think it's the right thing to do, to say: "Hey, we're doing our OS".
And when they say OS, they mean more than just a kernel, and when I say OS I usually mean just the kernel.
But if you're doing your OS, Linux is a central, but it's still just a small part of the overall thing - you shouldn't need to name your stuff just because you use the Linux kernel.
So, I actually wouldn't want to use the trademark thing, plus I think it would be stupid anyway because I think people should just rename their things."
Oops, wrong story.
And we need to come to terms with that fact and work towards improving the 'Linux Inside' brand image.
I wasn't aware that there was even a need to have a brand image for Linux, let alone improve it.
The ugly fat guy doesn't care. It's the people who want Linux to go mainstream that need to understand this.
They also don't tell consumers that the OS was written in a mixture of C and C++. Why are they hiding this too? Obviously, because it doesn't matter to the end user.
It doesn't change the user experience knowing the underlying implementation. If anything, by telling people that it is Linux, it will raise expectations that they can run all the software that they have heard about on Linux. I think that the name Chrome is more relevant to the nature of the platform than Linux because it is designed to work with web applications, not programs written to run on Linux distros.
Ubuntu doesn't even mention the word Linux on their own front-page, go take a look. You'll have a hard time finding any reference to Linux without some serious digging.
Why? Pretty simple really. Ubuntu and others are looking to create their own "platform" ala Android, with Linux as the base kernel. It saves millions in R&D to have to create your own and the userland stuff can usualy be rebuilt. Beyond that? Neither Google nor Ubuntu (just as an example) really care if Linux benefits, if Linux is promoted. They're not interested in promoting a product that you can download for free and hack on yourself, that's not a wise way to lock people into a platform. They're interested in promoting their own products, and Linux quite simply is nothing more than a way for them to save money doing it.
it would start with there being an actual linux stigma, which is something that doesn't even exist in the first place. People just don't like things they don't undestand.
Because "linux" is toxic to 90% of the population out there.
"Windows" is the status quo, "mac" is sexy, and "linux" is that ugly fat guy in IT who smells bad and makes you change your passwords every other day.
Google is right to avoid "linux" like the plague.
I don't think Linux is "toxic" to 90% of the population, it's just meaningless... much like like "BSD kernel", "Mach", or "Microkernel" would be... putting a linux-inside sticker adds nothing of value, anyone that cares about Linux already knows that it's based on a Linux kernel.
But the real reason there's no Linux-inside sticker is because there's no "Linux, Inc" to pay for it - the reason every Intel laptop has "Intel-inside" stickers is not because PC makers thought it would sell more laptops, it's because Intel paid for those stickers (or at least negotiated it as a part of volume purchase deals) for the brand recognition.
The ugly fat guy doesn't care. It's the people who want Linux to go mainstream that need to understand this.
Linux is mainstream. It just isn't called "Linux". Everybody with a Galaxy III, a Nook, or a Kindle is using Linux. Personally, I don't really care what it is called.
How many people know or care that their Sony TV runs Linux?
in branding. Not because of any stigma (most of their audience never heard of Linux anyway); rather because the could not control the Linux brand. Anyone could build a LinuxBook "just like Google's" whereas only Google builds a ChromeBook. They can create a specific brand to differentiate their product from generic Linux machines; and use that to carve out a market niche.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
There's a much easier answer to all of this.
Windows 3.1 didn't have stickers saying "DOS Inside!". Nor did Winodws 95.
None of them said "Win32 Inside" (any more than ChromeOS says it runs on a Linux kernel).
Windows 2000 didn't say "NT kernel inside".
Ubuntu's front page has a box that says, "What is Ubuntu?", with the answer that "...the world's favorite free operating system..." and no mention of Linux. And, surprising to me, if you click on that for more information, there's still no mention of Linux on a whole page devoted to "What is Ubuntu". Shouldn't it say, somewhere on there, "a Debian based GNU/Linux distribution"???
The easy answer - no one does this. "Intel Inside" is the exception, not the norm. And the "Intel Inside" is talking about the hardware inside the computer, just as the Windows sticker denoties what it is running as the OS. They don't need to go into every little detail. If ChromeOS were to put an "... inside" type of tag on itself, Linux is pretty low on the core technology list (as in, it could easily be replaced by Solaris, any bsd, or even Windows, and it'd still be ChromeOS).
This complaint is right in line with Stallman's "GNU/Linux", except Stallman makes a much better, more sound case. "GNU/kFreeBSD" realizes much of that case, and yet we all commonly refer to "Linux distributions" and "Ubuntu" and "Linux", when we really mean the whole kit and kaboodle.
This article is a troll :-)
A common misconception (usually harbored by OS geeks) is that the OS kernel needs to be in your face. Apparently, someone has decided that because Windows does it, Linux needs to do it too.
The most successful software in the universe is completely indetectable. The Year of the Linux (set|table|palm)top has arrived. Because it doesn't come with a huge ugly "Linux Inside!" label, it's not a failure. It's succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of anyone with a clue.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
Oh, we're happy to call it Linux, just not GNU/Linux.
I do have to wonder why the kernel is singled out for special treatment and not, say, WebKit (well, for the time being at least).
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