Comments on: Why Ubuntu 8.04 needs better marketing

By: jwillar

jwillar — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:24:07 +0000

I’d like to see Ubuntu do a parody of the Windows and Mac commercial (USA). A third young person could appear wearing a tux coat/shirt with jeans and discuss the benefits of Linux over Windows and Mac. A commercial could be produced for each benefit. I think it would introduce a large segment of computer users to Linux in a humorous/informative way. Just an idea.

By: Vadim P.

Vadim P. — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:00:29 +0000

http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/804features/

I do believe they listened

By: Arun

Arun — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:58:56 +0000

You’ve put your point across quite well, though I didn’t think the copy on the Ubuntu Web site was all that bad to begin with. But then again, I already knew about Linux, etc. when I first came across Ubuntu.

This may not be related to your article, but another thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of official Web sites for various Linux distributions are terribly designed (not just in terms of the way they look). In that respect, the sites for Ubuntu and openSUSE are really well made. But again, for someone who is new to Linux (and regular users in general), the content on these sites could definitely be much better.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:06:06 +0000

I think that they should release two versions on the release. One exactly like the one mentioned here and a MORE geeky one that should be harder to get to (not on the front page or with a name like “technical information” in small print) so that people like me can get more information.

Other then that the author is correct that it needs to be updated. Unfortunately sales people are rarely geeks who would even know Linux exists.

By: Nick

Nick — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 16:35:04 +0000

Probaby there are two target audiences: people new to ubuntu and linux versus existing linux users. It is true that now ubuntu markets itself towards the second group. Maybe they should find a clever way to switch between the two audiences. Why not check if the browser is running on Windows and Mac to display the noob page and if it is running linux to display the existing page?

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:54:01 +0000

I love it!
I personally have been trying to get my mom to get this on her laptop instead of Windows, but she’s always complaining about how tech unsavvy she is. I think I’ll show her the bottom part of this article, and probably show it to a few of my coworkers too. Maybe they’ll finally ‘make the switch’!

By: xevy

xevy — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:27:12 +0000

OMG, when I read the bottom stuff, I actually wished I was running Ubuntu right now! xD
very good stuff right here, talk to the ubuntu guys, they need help..

By: Matt Wilcox

Matt Wilcox — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:14:44 +0000

Absolutely spot on! The main problem Open Source efforts have is communication with the public. Most projects are entirely powered by enthusiasts, but quite naturally they have no clue about shifting their perspective to their users (because in the vast majority of cases, they think they are the users and that’s that).

I did a mock-up and re-work of the Miro homepage and came across all the same problems (this was before the re-design). I was happy to see that the Miro team picked up on a lot of things myself and others suggested and fixed them. It’s done them the world of good I think (though there’s still a lot of poorly designed techno-focused stuff floating around in places).

I wrote something that touches on your post a year ago. Halfway down “Current problems with Open Source projects” and “Problems with the image of Open Source” http://mattwilcox.net/archive/entry/id/805/

By: Jeroen Brattinga

Jeroen Brattinga — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:03:48 +0000

Thanks for this article! I’m an avid Ubuntu (7.10) user and completely agree with you. And as a professional software engineer
I’m going to take this advice to the heart; it’s sometimes easy to forget that your users have other mental models than yourself.

By: cucu

cucu — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 09:14:11 +0000

Not totally wrong, but the 99% scenario for new people trying Ubuntu is NOT “today I will install a new OS for myself” but instead “I will install Ubuntu on my grandmother computer so that she will no longer get computer viruses every week” - as you can see the decision is made by somebody that probably knows the technical terms.