159 lines
6.1 KiB
HTML
159 lines
6.1 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN">
|
|
<HTML>
|
|
<HEAD>
|
|
<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9">
|
|
<TITLE>Linux Advocacy mini-HOWTO: Advocating Linux</TITLE>
|
|
<LINK HREF="Advocacy-6.html" REL=next>
|
|
<LINK HREF="Advocacy-4.html" REL=previous>
|
|
<LINK HREF="Advocacy.html#toc5" REL=contents>
|
|
</HEAD>
|
|
<BODY>
|
|
<A HREF="Advocacy-6.html">Next</A>
|
|
<A HREF="Advocacy-4.html">Previous</A>
|
|
<A HREF="Advocacy.html#toc5">Contents</A>
|
|
<HR>
|
|
<H2><A NAME="s5">5. Advocating Linux</A></H2>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>Share your personal experiences (good and bad) with Linux.
|
|
Everyone knows that software has bugs and limitations and
|
|
if we only have glowing comments about Linux, we aren't
|
|
being honest. I <EM>love</EM> to tell people about having to
|
|
reboot four times (three scheduled) in three years.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>If someone has a problem that Linux may be able to solve,
|
|
offer to provide pointers to appropriate information
|
|
(Web pages, magazine articles, books, consultants, ...).
|
|
If you haven't actually used the proposed solution, say so.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>If you are available for making presentations about Linux,
|
|
register with the
|
|
<A HREF="http://noframes.linuxjournal.com/lsb/listing.html">Linux Speakers Bureau</A>.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Offer to help someone start using Linux. Follow up to make
|
|
sure that they are able to use their system effectively.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Some people still believe that Linux and similar systems
|
|
operate only in text-mode. Make sure that they are aware of
|
|
the availability of graphical applications, such as the
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.gimp.org/">Gimp</A>.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Try to respond to one ``newbie'' posting each week.
|
|
Seek out the tough questions, you may be the only one
|
|
to respond and you may learn something in the process.
|
|
However, if you aren't confident that you can respond with
|
|
the correct answer, find someone that can.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Seek out small software development firms and offer to make
|
|
a presentation about Linux.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>If the opportunity arises, make a presentation to your
|
|
employer's Information Technology group.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Participate in community events such as
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.netday.org/">NetDay</A>.
|
|
While your first priority must be to
|
|
contribute to the success of the event, use the opportunity to let
|
|
others know what Linux can do for them.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Always consider the viewpoints of the person to whom you are
|
|
``selling'' Linux. Support, reliability, interoperability and
|
|
cost are all factors that a decision-maker must consider.
|
|
Of the above, cost is often the least important portion of the equation.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Availability of support is often mentioned as a concern when
|
|
considering the adoption of Linux. Companies such as
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.caldera.com/">Caldera</A>,
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.cygnus.com/">Cygnus Solutions</A>,
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.redhat.com/">Red Hat</A>,
|
|
and
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">S.u.S.E.</A>
|
|
offer support for some or all components of a typical Linux
|
|
distribution. In addition, the
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Consultants-HOWTO.html">Linux Consultants HOWTO</A>
|
|
provides a listing of companies providing commercial
|
|
Linux related support. Of course, some of the best support is
|
|
found in the <EM>comp.os.linux</EM> and <EM>linux</EM> newsgroup
|
|
hierarchies.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Point out that the production of
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.opensource.org/">open-source software</A>
|
|
takes place in an environment of open collaboration between
|
|
system architects, programmers, writers, alpha/beta testers
|
|
and end users which often results in well documented, robust
|
|
products such as
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</A>,
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.gnu.org/">GNU Emacs</A>,
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.perl.com/">Perl</A>
|
|
and the
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.linuxhq.com/">Linux kernel</A>.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Stand up and be counted! Register with the
|
|
<A HREF="http://counter.li.org/">Linux Counter</A>.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Report successful efforts of promoting Linux to
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.li.org/">Linux International</A>
|
|
(
|
|
<A HREF="mailto:li@li.org">li@li.org</A>)
|
|
and similar organizations.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Find a new home for Linux CD-ROMs and books that you no longer
|
|
need. Give them to someone interested in Linux, a public
|
|
library or a school computer club. A book and its CD-ROM
|
|
would be most appropriate for a library. However, please be
|
|
sure that making the CD-ROM publicly available does not
|
|
violate a licensing agreement or copyright. Also, inform
|
|
the library staff that the material on the CD-ROM is freely
|
|
distributable. Follow up to make sure it is available on
|
|
the shelves.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>When purchasing books about software distributed with Linux,
|
|
give preference to books written by the author of the software.
|
|
The royalties that authors receive from book sales may be
|
|
the only monetary compensation received for their efforts.
|
|
|
|
<-- Need to fix or change the Powered by Linux text -->
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Encourage Linux-based sites to submit their entry for the
|
|
<A HREF="http://sunsite.nus.edu.sg/pub/LDP/powered.html">Powered by Linux</A>
|
|
page and suggest that banners promoting
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~conradp/banners/">Linux</A>,
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</A>,
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.gnu.org/">GNU</A>,
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.perl.com/">Perl</A>
|
|
... be displayed on their site.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Participate! If you have benefited from
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.opensource.org/">open-source software</A>,
|
|
please consider assisting the free software community by:
|
|
<UL>
|
|
<LI>submitting detailed bug reports</LI>
|
|
<LI>writing documentation</LI>
|
|
<LI>creating artwork</LI>
|
|
<LI>supplying management skills</LI>
|
|
<LI>suggesting enhancements</LI>
|
|
<LI>providing technical support</LI>
|
|
<LI>contributing software</LI>
|
|
<LI>donating equipment</LI>
|
|
<LI>furnishing financial support.</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
|
|
The
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org/">Linux Documentation Project</A>
|
|
provides a
|
|
<A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org/devel.html">list</A>
|
|
of Linux and Linux-related projects.
|
|
</LI>
|
|
<LI>Finally, keep in mind that we all have infinitely more important
|
|
issues to deal with than the selection of a computing environment.</LI>
|
|
</UL>
|
|
<P>
|
|
<HR>
|
|
<A HREF="Advocacy-6.html">Next</A>
|
|
<A HREF="Advocacy-4.html">Previous</A>
|
|
<A HREF="Advocacy.html#toc5">Contents</A>
|
|
</BODY>
|
|
</HTML>
|