The Dell Community has contributed: 9380 ideas | promoted 642163 times | 71613 comments

How IdeaStorm Works:

Post Promote Discuss See
Advertising and Marketing Comments | Advertising and Marketing Ideas | Linux Comments | Linux Ideas
1730

Ad Campaign: What can you do with Ubuntu?

1730 points posted to Advertising and Marketing, Linux by limulus 09/04/07

There are currently ideas under review, such as "make ubuntu shine" which relate to advertising Dell's Ubuntu systems. If Dell decides to do some ads, here's an idea for an ad campaign:

"What can you do with Ubuntu?"



Find one or more people who have bought a Dell Ubuntu system and have them show off what they can do with their systems; string the clips those together into a commercial. Some themes that should become obvious:

* easy software installation and updates

* command line not necessary (Ubuntu is very much a GUI OS)

* compiling software not necessary

* full range of applications

* 3rd party proprietary apps, like Flash and Google Earth

* all the little games you could ever want (e.g. Sudoku)

* 'it just works'

* "wobbly windows" and other spiffy cool effects for fun :)

[see also my other ad campaign ideas: Families Switching to Ubuntu and Meet Mark Shuttleworth ]

winoffice
09/05/07		 I do not like the "Wobbly Windows" suggestion. Please remove it, it is offensive and insults the Windows operating system.
limulus
09/05/07		 winoffice: What is with you and "offensive"? First of all, the term "Windows", as the plural of "Window" is generic; I am not referring to Microsoft (just like Microsoft does not own the word "Office" either). "Wobbly Windows" is a term specifically referring to the visual effect I linked to a video of; do a Google search and you'll see what I mean.
jdelidc
09/05/07		 better version of what i wanted to say so i'm erasing mine
howlingmadhowie
09/05/07		 sounds like a good idea. btw, there are some really good videos on youtube for things like the gimp as well :)
jdelidc
09/05/07		 they should put some of the youtube videos on the ubuntu page. or make some of their own studio dell videos and put it up. especially the ones with beryl. good crud it's awesome. i got a snowstorm on my screen!
howlingmadhowie
09/05/07		 i know beryl and compiz are currently hot projects in the foss community but they really don't interest me that much.
why i like gnu/linux (in no particular order):
1. the fastest network stack in the world. netfilter is a stateful firewall that works at least 20% faster than the stateful firewall in *bsd or solaris (and two orders of magnitude faster than the stateful firewall in windows server 2003)
2. simple construction and basic design principle. gnu/linux can be understood. it follows simple modular design principles that make it easy to understand, what your system is actually doing.
3. easy installation of a huge amount of software. if i want new software on my system, i just use the package manager. with a gui interface, this involves 2 or 3 clicks with a mouse and i have a choice of thousands of different pieces of software to be installed fully configured and ready to go. the software ranges from hobbyist stuff to the most professional industry-leading software you could ever find.
4. open-source. if i ever want to learn how a particular software works, i can do so. this increases my knowledge greatly. an example: i recently bought a tape-drive for my computer and i thought i'd write some software to control it. of course, linux already has software to do just that, so i downloaded the source and copied huge chunks of code into my software :) (after having read and understood it of course *cough* *cough*)

i'm sure other things will occur to me soon. feel free to add anything you can think of.
i find it interesting that ubuntu offers things to delight the whole spectrum from computer user, be they home-user, tinkerer, network admin, or programmer.

how about creating an idea called "why we love gnu/linux/ubuntu" or similar?
limulus
09/06/07		 howlingmadhowie: please do! Dell wants to hear from you too :)

winoffice: BTW, a follow-up about the "wobbly windows". I just noticed that Chris Pirillo talked about installing Ubuntu just the other day and he specifically used that term (at ~6:15 remaining on the video); its out there in common usage and not as a pejorative.
sazar
10/09/07		 Ubuntu is not nearly as easy to use as is made out by the numerous posts. Heck, given the very similar themes, are they all by the same person? Or group of people?

Linux has it's place but it is hardly mainstream and given the mainstream users computer knowledge, it is not going to be mainstream anytime soon.

7.10 is showing more promise as it removes the need for the command-line interface further. By the way, you NEED to know how to use the command-line interface to complete functionality of 7.04. There are many incompatabilities or incorrect rendering issues with the OS without being able to go in there and run various commands to correct them.

I am all for making an ad BUT, make sure that is doesn't give the user the impression that everything is rosy. I enjoy Feisty Fawn, but I have much more productivity, without compromise, on other platforms. The delineation should be clear.

If you agree with these sentiments, I say all the more power to this suggestion :)
howlingmadhowie
10/09/07		 sazar: it all depends on what you want to do with a computer. i need a command line to do my work, and the windows command line is extremely primitive. the command line just makes life easier for users who aren't beginners to get things done. you are obviously not used to this paradigm and expect everything to be as limited as the windows GUIs.

having said that, i'm sure any modern linux distribution aimed at the beginner allows you to do all common tasks without opening a terminal.
devlin
10/14/07		 We switched to Kubuntu ( Ubuntu with the KDE desktop ) over a year ago and my wife has not once needed to use the command line. I have jumped to it on my system but I do a lot more advanced projects with it.
sazar
10/25/07		 Howling, not at all. I just expect products to work and be able to utilize a number of features without having to do extra work.

Gutsy Gibbon is a step in the right direction but still, Vista is the superior OS simply due to the feature-set and overall compatability, regardless of what the user is looking to achieve.

Granted there are many, very powerful and customizable options/features under Linux and if you are a power-user, you can make the OS jump through hoops. Unfortunately the overwhelming majority of users is not that bright or knowledgeable.

Additionally, I am not attempting to denigrate your usage of linux, I see no reason for you to suggest my overall usage experience is limited because of my preference for Vista or an alternate Microsoft OS and it's GUI. I brought up points from my personal experiences with 7.04. 7.10 has thus far been better, but it is still lacking some core functionality that I have neither the time nor the inclination to work through and attempt to rectify. I simply boot directly to my Vista partition to go go go and complete my work or simply use my computer as I see fit.
howlingmadhowie
10/25/07		 sazar: windows simply does not offer the tools i need to do my work. what i get with a default ubuntu install and one visit to synaptic (in total about 1 hour of my time on a white box) would take many days to achieve on a windows box, and then probably not work anyway. you are obviously not used to working in the fields i work in. i do however know many people who work in the same fields as me, and for these people, *nix (and that means linux nowadays) is a prerequisite for getting work done.
sazar
10/25/07		 I understand. I am not questioning your usage or reasons. I am simply saying that the vast majority simply have no use or need for Ubuntu and there will be issues when you start saying "this is what you can do with Ubuntu" and then find that it's actually not that simple.

At the end of the day, it is less to do with a popularity contest and more to do with the end-user and their satisfaction. Currently, the ease of use of an OS such as Vista, which just works, v/s Ubuntu or some other distro is quite significant even with the huge leaps that have been made in the interface design and compatabiliy and 3'rd party hardware support.
winoffice
10/25/07		 limulus: "I am not referring to Microsoft"

If you are not referring to Microsoft, then I recommend that you reflect that in your idea by adding a note at the end that would indicate that it does not have anything to do with the OS, in order not to create a bad impression on other Windows fans. Note also that Microsoft does own the name Windows - on every box and every book, I see "...Windows and Windows NT are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft in the US or other countries."

Also, concerning these "Wobbly Windows", note that Vista has a counterpunch: it has new transparency features using Microsoft's Aero interface, and you can easily change windows using Microsoft's Flip 3D.
howlingmadhowie
10/25/07		 sazar: of course the vast majority has no need for microsoft. the vast majority has no idea what a computer with the right software can do. instead they have been force fed microsoft windows. those that once knew the creativity and progress made in the 70s and 80s have forgotten it. this is the tragedy of a market controlled by one monopoly. the market stagnates and computers have stagnated.
howlingmadhowie
10/25/07		 winoffice: the desktop effects microsoft added to vista are primitive. they are so primitive that a couple of kids living in their parents' basements cobbled together something better in their spare time (compiz/beryl). just like all things microsoft has offered the world since the conception of the company: a couple of nerds with a few hours to spend have reimplemented it (or got there first).

the basic lesson to be learnt here is that software is not particularly difficult to write. microsoft/adobe etc. want you to believe it is, but i grew up at a time when you programmed a computer. it is still my first instinct to write my own software to do what i want, and usually i manage it.
sazar
10/25/07		 Compiz fusion is no where near as polished as Vista's effects. Calling the effects Vista has "primitive" is simply unfair.

Compiz/Beryl allow more things to be done but Vista is not only about translucencies or thumbnail previews and things like that.

Further, please explain to me, given your hatred for Microsoft and other companies (I presume apple?) WHY it is that linux based distro's are going increasingly gui-based and why that gui is a blatant copy of microsoft and apple based operating systems?

Btw, I agree that writing your own code do to tasks is something I greatly enjoyed doing :) However, with so many tools available with much more power, polish and things that are KNOWN to work and given my work-schedule, it is occasionally easier to go ahead and use a packaged product.
howlingmadhowie
10/26/07		 sazar: i do not see anything wrong with a gui for some people/tasks. i do not see why you think i should automatically begrudge people their guis because i use linux. nor do i understand why you wrote "WHY" in capital letters. *nix has had a gui since before windows and apple OS. the gnu tool chain with the linux kernel were added to those supported by X in 1992(1993?).

i have not personally used vista (i have only used xp twice to my knowledge). the videos/images i have seen of it do not make me think of eye-candy, but rather of sloth. i am typing this post on a toshiba satellite from 2001 with a radeon mobility M6 LY graphics chip (which someone once told me was comparable to a radeon 7000 card). i have just activated graphical effects, and everything that works, works smoothly (the chip does not support the more recent extensions to the OpenGL standard, so some effects can not be supported). i wonder how vista would run on this machine?
sazar
10/26/07		 Having a gui beforehand and making the gui more prevalent and basing it off of Microsoft and Apple's operating systems is 2 different things.

Given that I have personally used Compiz Fusion and Vista (which is my primary OS and has been since last year), there is little to say about the interface except that there far more fit and polish to Vista's and the graphical features, anti-aliased and cleaned up is superior. I only have some items on, such as thumbnail previews, flip-3d and other useful tools, all page transitions are killed. Personal choice. I prefer speed and minimalist functionality over an abundance of useless items. Same with Compiz Fusion, when I ran it.

Your system would most likely not support Vista with Aero. Vista Basic may run, depending on how you configured it and how much memory you had.
howlingmadhowie
10/27/07		 sazar: with compiz-fusion you are free, to the best of my knowledge, to activate or deactivate whatever you want.

the question is not if my system supports vista but if vista supports my system. big difference. as it is, microsoft has produced an operating system whose kernel is in some critical matters less than a tenth as fast as linux. one wonders why they have done this. a decent hypothesis would be, microsoft did this to force people to buy new computers.

i have no interest in running software which i cannot share freely or own myself. you may choose to, which i find short-sighted of you, but do not expect me to help you do so.
limulus
10/27/07		 sazar wrote:

"I am simply saying that the vast majority simply have no use or need for Ubuntu and there will be issues when you start saying "this is what you can do with Ubuntu" and then find that it's actually not that simple."

Basically my reasoning is this: the average user doesn't need a lot from their OS. Web browsing, e-mail, IM chat, watch a video file, play some audio files, play some solitaire, do some text editing and maybe some spreadsheets. You can do those in Ubuntu no sweat.

"At the end of the day, it is less to do with a popularity contest and more to do with the end-user and their satisfaction. Currently, the ease of use of an OS such as Vista, which just works,

Vista just works? :)

Mac OS "just works"... but Vista? :-)

"v/s Ubuntu or some other distro is quite significant even with the huge leaps that have been made in the interface design and compatabiliy and 3'rd party hardware support."

My neighbor is a grandmother. I taught her to use a computer (Windows 98) for basic needs. The most difficult step was teaching her how to use a mouse. I still had to do updates and virus and malware scans though. When she got a new computer, I put Ubuntu on it for her and she had no trouble. The amount of time I had to spend going over there to babysit her system went to almost nothing (I update her system every 6 months or so and she sometimes accidentally drags the gnome panel to the side).

Does she need Vista? Now to buy Vista, even preloaded, adds cost to a machine (plus there's the cost of the hardware; Vista requires significantly better hardware for the same performance). She's on a fixed income; do you think that she would be better off saving the difference/getting better hardware for the same price?
limulus
10/27/07		 winoffice wrote: "If you are not referring to Microsoft, then I recommend that you reflect that in your idea by adding a note at the end that would indicate that it does not have anything to do with the OS, in order not to create a bad impression on other Windows fans. Note also that Microsoft doesd own the name Windows - on every box and every book, I see "...Windows and Windows NT are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft in the US or other countries." "

I have changed "Wobbly Windows" to "wobbly windows" to better identify it as the plural of the generic term "window". Please also note that the MS Trademark is on shaky legal footing; do a google search for 'windows trademark generic' or such, e.g. see this page.

"One of the more sensational instances of a company defending a generic mark was the case of Microsoft v. Lindows, Inc. Microsoft claimed that the name Lindows infringed it’s trademark on Windows. In this case, Michael Robertson founder of Lindows, Inc. and previously MP3.com, was well armed to demonstrate that Windows was a generic mark. The term “windows” was used extensively in a generic sense by the Unix community and in early documents from research at Xerox Parc to describe UI design elements. Lindows, Inc. had Microsoft in an awkward position and the company’s choices became increasingly limited. They could bring Lindows, Inc. to court for infringement and risk invalidation of their Windows trademark, or allow Lindows to dillute the trademark and lose it that way. The only way that Microsoft could save its Windows trademark in the end was to pay Lindows, Inc. $10 mil to change their name. So, Lindows, Inc. became Linspire, Inc."

> Also, concerning these "Wobbly Windows", note that Vista has a counterpunch: it has new transparency features using Microsoft's Aero interface, and you can easily change windows using Microsoft's Flip 3D.

Um... so? My idea is not to have an Ubuntu machine on one table and an XP or Vista or OSX machine on another, but to show off Ubuntu as the nice OS that it is, where you can get your basic work and play done without much fuss.
winoffice
10/28/07		 Thank you limulus for doing so (changing "Windows" to "windows"). Now I understand that you are not intentionally trying to be offensive, but I do think that "Windows" would make a bad impression on other Windows fans. I suggested some sort of change so that the idea would not make any bad impression.

Also, concerning Ubuntu's effects, I just wanted to note that not everyone would change from Windows to Ubuntu for that reason (at least, not that reason alone), as Vista also has similar effects. Also, you said "...where you can get your basic work and play done without much fuss."

Of course, if your focus is on "play", then one would undoubtedly choose Vista, as most games run only on Windows, and also because of Vista's effects (Ubuntu has effects, but not the ability to run most games). If the focus is on "work", then you would choose either Windows or a Linux distribution (Ubuntu in this idea), depending on your needs. If, for example, you needed to ensure compatibility with Windows-only applications, then you would choose Windows. If you needed to learn Linux/Unix, then you would choose Ubuntu.
limulus
10/29/07		 "Of course, if your focus is on "play", then one would undoubtedly choose Vista"

Erm... the gamers I know still swear by XP (which is still for sale, ne?) I think it will be a while before DirectX 10 gains enough traction to get most gamers to switch.

What I meant by 'basic play' were things like solitaire, minesweeper, flash games, etc.

"If, for example, you needed to ensure compatibility with Windows-only applications, then you would choose Windows. If you needed to learn Linux/Unix, then you would choose Ubuntu."

When I used Windows XP I found myself preferring various applications not supplied by Microsoft, a bunch of which were software libre. If you're using Firefox, VLC, OpenOffice.org and so forth, then there's a good chance that Ubuntu is a better fit for you than Windows.
winoffice
10/29/07		 I meant compatibility with Windows-only applications! OpenOffice.org, Firefox and others are not Windows-only and thus do not fall under my suggestion. Some companies might be using Windows-only application (Autodesk AutoCAD for example), in which case it is recommended to run Windows if it is necessary to support it.

As for play, gamers will move to Vista within a year - because Microsoft already extended the XP cutoff date to June 30, 2008 and does not intend to extend it again (as far as I know). Thus, gamers might still have no interest in DirectX 10 by July, but they will be forced to get Vista with new PCs after June because most games will not run on Linux. Concerning basic play, Linux might work just fine, but such basic games as Solitaire are included with Windows too (both XP and Vista), so people might not move to Ubuntu for that reason alone either.
sazar
10/29/07		 @ limulus, I know, you can achieve a significant amount of usability even in gaming, especially when you are using ID games :)

Also, yes, if you have someone that you are sitting down with and showing things, there are obviously going to be differences v/s just having a system there and clicking away and going that route.

On a side by side basis, all things being equal, there will typically be no real advantages between any of the major systems on the market.
Things such as gaming and multimedia are the biggest areas, along with hardware support/drivers and the like where differences start emerging.

Regarding gaming performance, AMD and Nvidia are demonstrating par performance between XP and Vista in pretty much all tests they have been conducting lately and seeing some of the DX10 effects in games like Bioshock is a dream. The reaction of the water to your movement and the wakes it creates as well as the rendering in Call of Juarez is really something else.

People don't NEED a certain system with a specific OS, I agree with you. But still, look at a system which has a price of say 400 bucks with windows and 300 or so with linux. Now, factor in the usability if there are any issues. One is supported, the other is not by tech support. If the user has low-skillz and computer IQ, they are not going to be searching discussion threads, forums, IRC channels and the like for solutions. They are going to be calling people.

How many numbers are present for people to call into regarding Linux questions 24/7? I personally don't know of any but if there is one, we need to get it on the Dell website and I will vote for said support channel.
Please log in to post a comment
last 100 promotions: