On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 8:42 AM, Graham Lauder
But I disagree that the FSF should not have done this.
The FSF is not a sales organisation, it is not even a marketing organisation, it is a pressure group and this sort of thing is great for that sort of lobby group, they deal in politics not sales, in opinions not volume.
I suppose part of the FSF's mission is to be, as you say, a "pressure
group," but I still don't think this campaign is at all effective -
it'll be no more effective at convincing the average Windows user to
not go to Win7 than a PETA campaign would convince the average
Missourian that they shouldn't be having steak.
Assuming they're trying to talk to "average" Windows users, they need
to use language and graphics that appeal to those folks -- and I'd
argue that by going negative + having a site that looks like a fringe
political attack group, they're going to be about as effective as PETA
for the FOSS cause. Which is to say, not very.
They do make good points, but the site is shrill and likely to drive
people off before they get to any of them.
The tone of a message is often as important as the message itself.
Best,
Zonker
--
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier