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Mandrakelinux Community Marketing Initiative


mousematt
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Mandrakelinux is not just a computer operating system. It is a worldwide community of enthusiasts, users and developers. Mandrakelinux can be used almost anywhere: at home, at work, school; on notebooks, desktop PCs and servers. The distribution is pure Open Source, freely available and among the most popular and most powerful GNU/Linux distributions on Earth.

 

Sadly, most of the online world does not know about Mandrakelinux or its global community. MandrakeMag challenges you to build a better distribution by taking part in the Mandrakelinux Community Marketing Initiative. We are counting on users like you, to share your skills, demonstrate your talents and help bridge the awareness gap between the Mandrakelinux community and the world beyond!

 

the goal

 

By harnessing its artistic and creative talents, the Mandrakelinux community can create a large number of simple and effective marketing resources for Mandrakelinux users, developers, advocates and distributors.

 

what could we create?

For example, I personally would like to help create the following common resources:

 

* message and forum signature templates promoting our favourite distribution and its communities.

 

* emoticons and buttons for your blog/website promoting Mandrakelinux and its communities.

 

* wallpapers, desktop artwork and printable posters.

 

* CD cover templates for home-made install CDs.

 

* a basic 3 page getting-started guide for new users.

 

* downloadable brochures promoting Mandrakelinux.

 

 

what are the rules?

 

* All materials must relate to Mandrakelinux and its user and developer communities specifically.

 

* All materials submitted need to be original works submitted by the original author.

 

* All materials contributed will be released under a Creative Commons License. There are a number of license options available. The preferred license variant is detailed here.

 

* Any graphical material that displays the Mandrakelinux or Mandrakelinux "star logo" will need to comply with Mandrakesoft's Guidelines on trademark and logo usage. Please follow this hyperlink to download the Mandrakesoft Guidelines in PDF format.

 

* Material will only be accepted in the following file formats: PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG, PDF, SXW and plain text.

 

 

how do we get started?

 

If you already have some relevant artwork or paperwork you would like share, please contribute it.

 

As part of this project, discussion threads have been seeded on a number of Mandrake related discussion groups. Please participate, share your ideas and your efforts.

 

Volunteer to help co-ordinate, publicise or document this project. If you'd like to help out, please contact me. Also, if you have some server space or bandwidth you'd like to donate, I'd be very happy to hear from you...

 

Take the Initiative! More information here.

Edited by mousematt
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Mandrakelinux .......The distribution is pure Open Source, freely available and among the most popular and most powerful GNU/Linux distributions on Earth.
Unless things have changed, drak_stuff is not OpenSource/GNU, and neither is mandrakelinux's default desktop, KDE.

:rolleyes:

...though If that's the case with drak_stuff, I've always wondered about PCLinuxOS.

 

also

"andservers" needs a space :D

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Unless things have changed, drak_stuff is not OpenSource/GNU, and neither is mandrakelinux's default desktop, KDE.

:rolleyes:

...though If that's the case with drak_stuff, I've always wondered about PCLinuxOS.

 

As I understand it - the drak tools are free software and can be modified, rebuilt and redistributed. Mandrake holds a trademark on Drak* tools but they still appear to be GPL. And KDE for *NIX is GPL... the Qt toolkit is GPL for no commercial use under Linux.

 

I understand you are a GNOME zealot bvc - and I'm fine with that. *puts KDE zealot hat on* Here is a list of myths about KDE - http://kdemyths.urbanlizard.com/ - it also clears up the licensing stuff... This list of myths officially comes from the KDE Project.

 

I'll summarize: since Qt2 was released the Qt toolkit which is the basis of KDE has been dual licensed - just like Mozilla and OpenOffice. It is licensed under the QPL and the GPL. Both are considered Free Software licenses. Although KDE licensing prohibits its use in commercial software without a commercial license from Trolltech, Open Source software such as KDE is 100% free under both the QPL and GPL. Don't believe me, check the links above.

 

However, this is really :offtopic:

 

I will be posting the first of my web buttons on this board for comment tomorrow... Let's Market Mandrakelinux

Edited by mousematt
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cool..

...I don't keep up with this crap....I've never read one single license :lol: ...pointless.

..and no I didn't read the link

and it's not offtopic, AT ALL.

I highly doubt that the 100's of times that I've read that so_and_so, or such_and_such distro uses gnome because it's gnu and kde is not, is false, BUT, could be, and you can think what you want to. I'm not going to waste time reading to find out. I simply stated what the majority of the OS/GNU community say. If that's not true, GREAT!

This has nothing to do with de's so who's the zealot here? I never even mentioned gnome, Just what the OpenSource community sees and what you've claimed. So if I'm wrong, it's not me that's wrong. It makes no diff to me. I just didn't want you making false statments in your worthy adventure. It

would be sad if you sent this to mandrake and it was true, wouldn't it? I sure wouldn't trust some no name link.

Edited by bvc
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A number of people have asked about the terms and conditions of this project. In particular those relating to licensing and the redistribution of material.

 

Here it is: All material will be freely redistributable. From the 5 page getting started guide that I would like to see sent with every CheapBytes Mandrakelinux CD to the buttons, wallpapers and emoticons that contributors are willing to dream up. I personally plan to contribute web buttons showing that I am a registered member of Mandrakeclub, Mandrakeclub.nl and MUSB.

 

This project is about Mandrakelinux Community - not just the software. I will publish a more detailed outline of this project in the coming days... however, I really wanted to get the threads going first... the plan is to create a number of repositories where users can download the material for redistrbution. All authors will get their names on the download page, their actual artwork and anything else they contribute.

 

This isnt a MandrakeMag or Doors Project (my company) thing... it is a community thing... I hope this clears that up once and for all

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mousematt and I have worked out...whatever in pm's

 

I applaud his efforts! His zeal for the mandrake distro. His desire for 'community'!

Just wish he was around and doing it 2 years ago :sad:

 

I'm done here

....heh, I think :bvc: is just down right done

 

 

:evilmod::evilmod::evilmod::evilmod::evilmod::evilmod:

 

bye

root

Edited by bvc
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I'm done here

whaddaya mean? you are going from musb? oh no, c'mon... we need your screenies and your cynical comments in order to survive in here... :cheesy:

 

*sings* please don't go... don't goooooooooo, nonono... please don't go.... :)

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Just wish he was around and doing it 2 years ago sad.gif

 

I'm done here

....heh, I think cowboy.gif is just down right done

 

What are you talking about ?? This board will be really lonely without bvc: no more kewl themes (I am still using one of your themes:D) no more arrogant posts -- don't get me wrong I like them :lol:, and no more much appreciated help. We have already lost some fine members. This board's prestige will go down if we continue to lose valorous members.

 

 

Go to Hawaii, Mexico or the Azores Islands (one of my favorites) if you feel you need a vacation or something and then come back. :cheesy:

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I'm done here

whaddaya mean? you are going from musb? oh no, c'mon... we need your screenies and your cynical comments in order to survive in here... :cheesy:

 

*sings* please don't go... don't goooooooooo, nonono... please don't go.... :)

 

 

Just wish he was around and doing it 2 years ago sad.gif

 

I'm done here

....heh, I think cowboy.gif is just down right done

 

What are you talking about ?? This board will be really lonely without bvc: no more kewl themes (I am still using one of your themes:D) no more arrogant posts -- don't get me wrong I like them :lol:, and no more much appreciated help. We have already lost some fine members. This board's prestige will go down if we continue to lose valorous members.

 

 

Go to Hawaii, Mexico or the Azores Islands (one of my favorites) if you feel you need a vacation or something and then come back. :cheesy:

thx!

I'm not completely leaving. It's not that easy :wall:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Grab your magnifying glass. Here is my first artistic contribution to this project. Please, download and put it on your website... it'll happilly keep those little firefox buttons company.

 

More, larger and shiny-er projects are coming. Issue #5 will be posted on Wednesday or Thursday... Only three more sleeps :-)

 

post-805-1098033472.png post-805-1098033508.png post-805-1098033455.png

Edited by mousematt
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  • 2 months later...

I had an idea about how to market linux creatively. The creative part being the ability to make marketing 'self funded'.

 

To explain here is a link to a thread I made on ooo forums about it. I didn't get much of a response.

 

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.ph...0714&highlight=

 

Create a cashback site to fund opensource project advertisin

 

 

There are many sites out there that offer cashback rewards (hard cash) for people who buy products from online retail stores through their cashback website. What many of these sites don’t tell you is that of the commission they receive from the retailer around 50% goes directly into the cashback site’s pocket, so the consumer only gets a 50% cut of this affiliate cash.

 

Examples of cashback sites

 

www.rpoints.com (community based one)

www.linemypocket.co.uk

www.mycashback.co.uk

http://www.greasypalm.co.uk/

 

 

If the opensource world were to set up its own cashback site, it could offer the consumer more cashback by taking a smaller amount of commission for itself, eg. 80% of affiliate cash would go to the consumer and 20% to open source projects. If we’re only concerned with raising money for opensource projects (Not lining our own pockets) we could make adjust it so we get very little of the affiliate cash whatsoever this would have the effect of driving the profit hungry cashback sites above out of business and all the users would flock to our site. The more users, the more affiliate cash and the more money there is to spend on open source projects. If greasypalm were to donate just 20% of the money they’ve earnt through site cashback referrals they’d have pumped ~£300,000 into opensource projects.

 

There is also an added dimension, in that people would flock to our cashback site to find out where the cheapest offers are (rpoints is an example where people already perform this service for free) in doing so they’d be exposed to our opensource alternatives and in effect this is a form of advertising for opensource projects. If our site is a place where people can find out where to get the cheapest washing machine etc, then it will attract price conscious people, people who are likely be attracted to the cost benefits opensource software to the consumer. It’s quite possible that this would increase the number of users of software like openoffice.

 

On the whole it seems as though this is a way to get corporations to fund opensource projects indirectly by tapping into the cost conscious mentality of the consumer,. It’s a win-win situation, the corporations get more customers, the consumer gets better prices and cash rewards for shopping, and the opensource community gets extra funding.

 

I’m under the impression that given the non-profit nature of spreadfirefox, the opensource community would probably offer a cashback service to consumers for free and as explained above, would give them higher cash rewards than the other points sites out there.

 

You could end up with the bizzare situation of microsoft offering cashback to consumers for buying windows and in doing so, giving money to the opensource community to enable them to advertise openoffice in national newspapers etc, in direct competition with another one of their products. hehe

 

Please let me know what you think. I would take the time do develop this myself but I understand it requires alot of work so I'd have my hands tied with having to put so much time into my reallife job. :) The beauty of having the FOSS world create something like this is the flexibility in software design and the functionality that will result in the FOSS finished product.

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