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"We're Linux" Finalists Announced 133

Posted by timothy from the penguin-suits-get-all-the-hot-girls dept.
Last month, we mentioned the Linux Foundation's contest asking people to illustrate the idea "We're Linux"; Now, ruphus13 writes "Over 90 entries were received, and the finalists are now out. From the article, 'The contest was spawned from the idea that other software companies were paying millions of dollars to celebrities for endorsements, while Linux was promoted and shared by enthusiastic, passionate, actual users. Contestants were given a simple directive: tell the Linux Foundation what Linux is for you, why you use it, and why you'd encourage others to do the same. Humor and professional production quality weren't required — it just had to be genuine.' Details on the finalists can be found on the Linux Foundation Video site here."
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"We're Linux" Finalists Announced More

"We're Linux" Finalists Announced

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  • Blog to a Blog to nowhere. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Electrawn ( 321224 ) <{moc.oohay} {ta} {nwartcele}> on Wednesday April 08, 2009 @02:27PM (#27506919) Homepage

    Here are the relevant links from the real source.
    http://www.linuxfoundation.org/news-media/blogs/browse/2009/04/announcing-%E2%80%9Cwe%E2%80%99re-linux%E2%80%9D-video-contest-finalists [linuxfoundation.org]

    The five finalists are:

    The Future is Open
    http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1271 [linuxfoundation.org]

    The Origin...
    http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1262 [linuxfoundation.org]

    Linux AD - What does it mean to be free?
    http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1106 [linuxfoundation.org]

    Challenges At The Office
    http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1261 [linuxfoundation.org]

    Linux pub (one video without subtitles, one with)
    http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1057 [linuxfoundation.org]
    http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1154 [linuxfoundation.org]

    • Re:Blog to a Blog to nowhere. (Score:5, Funny)

      by 0100010001010011 ( 652467 ) on Wednesday April 08, 2009 @02:50PM (#27507333)

      On youtube... using FLASH? Isn't this some sort of abomination against FOSS and the Linux Ideals?

      A real "We're Linux" contest would have only released Ogg videos.

      • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        No, you're thinking of the "We're GNU/Linux" contest. Easy mistake.

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Yeah, but they wanted people to be able to watch the videos...

      • Re:Blog to a Blog to nowhere. (Score:5, Informative)

        by extrasolar ( 28341 ) on Wednesday April 08, 2009 @03:05PM (#27507557) Homepage Journal

        See gnash [gnu.org]. Flash is actually an open standard.

        • ``Flash is actually an open standard.''

          A real open standard? As in, free for all to implement, without any encumberance?

          Also, I have never gotten Gnash to really work. Newer versions at least get to the point where they do something on YouTube, but they eat 100% CPU and I get nowhere near a usable framerate. Not to knock the hard work of the developers, but Flash is nowhere near a universally usable standard.

        • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Flash is very much not an open standard by any reasonable meaning of the words.

          Have you not heard? Flash ain't done till gnash won't run. Gnash is reverse engineered from the bits on the wire. The little specs abobe has released are incomplete and only about very old versions.

          Even if Adobe were to fully specify flash and stop adding undocumented behavior, Flash video would not be Free and Open in the way that open source software is: Flash video depends on proprietary (controlled by a single group) pa

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Yfrwlf ( 998822 )
            If Flash were a decent media container, it could have more than one format, and I know that it does. I'm pretty sure it does avi and I know it does mp4. Can it contain Vorbis or Dirac though? Probably not Dirac since it's still so new, but I wouldn't be surprised if Vorbis support was there. Regardless, you're right in that it's not a very open specification, seems more like a closed moving target. I'm hoping that Firefox + Vorbis is the start of something good as far as internet standards go, and also

        • Have you actually managed to get those videos working in Gnash? I've got Gnash 0.8.4 on an openSuse system and they'll load but they won't play. It's not normally a major problem since most Flash is pointless, and I've had some videos working, but it seems like Gnash isn't up to the task on these ones.

      • Re:Blog to a Blog to nowhere. (Score:5, Informative)

        by 0100010001010011 ( 652467 ) on Wednesday April 08, 2009 @03:07PM (#27507585)

        And FYI, even though their site is down, ALL the videos are hosted on YouTube (and just embedded).

        http://www.youtube.com/user/TheLinuxFoundation [youtube.com]

    • I like them all except for the fourth one, "Challenges At The Office", it made me cringe.

      The first one is okay, "The Future is Open", except in the beginning the Windows screen is fine but the Linux screen is flickering.

      I like the second one, "The Origin...", but it might be a bit too abstract. Unless you already know what Linux is you're not going to know what the commercial is about. I think it is pretty cool, but some might find it too serious.

      And the last one, "Linux pub", is funny. That might be

      • "The Future is Open" and "Linux pub" were my favorites.

        My only concern with "Linux pub" is that it made it seem like Linux is some kind of Windows-fixing program, or something to help you repair your computer. I like the overall concept, though, and the penguin is great. Well-written, decently acted.

        Both (but especially "The Future is Open") would need to be re-shot before use on TV, as they're a bit rough.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Znupi ( 1515473 )

        I like them all except for the fourth one, "Challenges At The Office", it made me cringe.

        I found the "Challenges at the office" to be quite a good one. It was the only one from the nominees that explicitly showed that Linux will CUT YOUR BILLS TO THE GROUND. This is a very important aspect of Linux, especially in these times. I think I liked The Origin most, but yeah it's a bit too abstract for people who don't know what it's about.

      • 'Be Linux' is my favorite.

        http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1134 [linuxfoundation.org]

    • Re:Blog to a Blog to nowhere. (Score:4, Informative)

      by nschubach ( 922175 ) on Wednesday April 08, 2009 @04:30PM (#27509035) Journal

      A more direct route. ;)
      The Future is Open
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwNQPairZEM [youtube.com]

      The Origin...
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1GYHQhqtbU [youtube.com]

      Linux AD - What does it mean to be free?
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWEIQIv8zvY [youtube.com]

      Challenges At The Office
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwmfyeHBFlM [youtube.com]

      Linux pub (one video without subtitles, one with)
      English Subs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xceiMJSunIg [youtube.com]
      No Subs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svaHnha-PXs [youtube.com]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rbanffy ( 584143 )

      Oh boy... 1 and 2 are great (2 is somewhat weird). 3 is so-so. 4 and 5 are embarrassingly bad.

      If these are the best 5, we need a good agency. Desperately.

    • The Origin...

      http://video.linuxfoundation.org/video/1262 [linuxfoundation.org]

      This one creeped me out. At first it was saying that Linux is like a virulent microbe. Then at various stages I was reminded of the Borg, and Kerrigan, Queen of the Zerg. The "it's everywhere" part reminded me of the red scare.

      I love using Linux, but this has me ready to install Win95 over it and hide in my house with the shades drawn and the lights off.

  • Who is going to see these? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Recovering Hater ( 833107 ) on Wednesday April 08, 2009 @02:29PM (#27506947)
    It's my understanding that the winner won't be put on television in any way. How is this going to reach anyone besides people that are already interested in Linux? Point being- people that are *already* interested in Linux will probably try it anyway. This is just a feel good about ourselves project but I guess it's a fun one though.

  • Over 90? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by eln ( 21727 ) on Wednesday April 08, 2009 @02:29PM (#27506957)

    How many is "over 90?" 91? 839,723,435? What?

    I can understand why people put "over 34,000,000" because the exact number might not be known or would take too long to say, but "over 90?" Really?

    • They wanted "over 9000" but unfortunately didn't come close to that number.

      Though I don't see what's wrong with saying "over 90." It implies somewhere greater than 90 and less than 100. If they said "exactly 94" then we would be arguing over why they said such a specific number in this context.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by pmarini ( 989354 )
        given that the Linux share is, what, 99 bonzos and 1 bonzess, I'd say that 90% of them posting a video in the context is a darn good number...

        (yes, that was a joke)

    • It's a typo. They forgot to add a couple of '0's.

    • Folks in advertisements on television say that all the time. It basically says, "do not believe what you are hearing," or "we will not be held legally responsible for this figure."

      So I guess those Linux Foundation Folks were trying to make a joke about 1970's Ronco UHF TV channel ads. Of course they got "much, much more" than 90. "And there's still more . . . if your order now . . . "

      I got it; didn't you?

    • I've always assumed that saying 'over 90' translated to 'the most significant digit will always be a 9, even if rounding were taken into account.' In other words, the actual number is 91, 92, 93, or 94. If it were 95, 96, 97, 98, or 99, then the correct phrase would be 'almost 100.'

      Of course, this is assuming that the person who thought of saying 'over 90' is endeavoring to be accurate; of which case they could have simply said 'we got 94 entries.' This 'over 90' nonsense seems like an attempt to impress;

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by ArsonSmith ( 13997 )

        He should have said, "We had tens of entries."

        • He should have said, "We had tens of entries."

          Nah, "We've had scores of entries"...

          Sounds better than "tens" or "dozens" 'cause people aren't as used to it...

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by pmarini ( 989354 )
        or it could mean "at the time of writing, there were 90 (or 91) submissions but since the deadline is tomorrow there may be a few more and we need to finish this article now so we can't wait to have the final number, which could be well over 100... oops, I did it again" :-)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by 4D6963 ( 933028 )

      How many is "over 90?" 91? 839,723,435? What?

      People stopped caring about that issue at least 100 years ago.

  • Slashdotted (Score:3, Informative)

    by AceJohnny ( 253840 ) <<jlargentaye> <at> <gmail.com>> on Wednesday April 08, 2009 @02:40PM (#27507119) Journal

    Slashdotted. Use Coral Cache [nyud.net].

  • I thought the videos were very well done.
    The only thing stopping me from going Linux are the games. We desperately need the game industry to start porting the games. I honestly believe that is the only thing really standing in the way.
    What are the odds that MS is somehow involved in that?

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by internerdj ( 1319281 )
      I'm thinking that the bigger thing standing in the way of that is an open operating system. The fact that anything outside their code might be modified has ramifications for both anti-cheating measures and the bigger profitability hit: DRM. How happy do you think the publishers would be if someone worked around their "protections" by denying the DRM specific system level calls?

      • Are there any DRM'd programs on Windows that haven't been cracked despite the closed nature of the platform? Any that are remotely popular, I mean.

        There are even ways around Steam's protection.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by internerdj ( 1319281 )
          I'm not denying that. What you are saying is that a game studio should go to their publisher and push for porting to another platform that has around 1% market share of desktop operating system. That platform is also an OS that makes it even easier to defeat DRM schemes. All of that because people work to crack software on a more difficult platform to crack?

          • What you are saying is that a game studio should go to their publisher and push for porting to another platform that has around 1% market share of desktop operating system.

            Whoa now, I never said they should port games to Linux. I'd love it if they would, as it's the only thing I use Windows for and dual-booting sucks, but it's probably a poor business decision for most companies.

            I just said that there won't be any significant difference in the ease of piracy on either platform.

            That platform is also an OS t

          • Because if your doing it write, it doesn't take much work to port it. DRM is a lost cause, but anti-cheating tools ONLY work if you don't trust the operating system, if you want to make it hard to cheat on a game, you could require signed openGL stacks for the game to run, that stops 90% of the aimbots and wallhacks out there. Sure you lose out on Gentoo users and its not full proof but no anti cheat method ever is.

      • A game can generally be run inside a debugger or inside a virtualized Windows instance. DRM and anti-cheating measures might be part of the equation, but I'd bet that part is very small compared to the parts played by market share and DirectX.

      • That depends. Locking people in with the likes of DRM is one way to profit from hardware. One that won't be easy to make people swallow.

        There are others. Consider the huge variety of hardware types that is in need of an OS. Because it's cheaper to use a generic CPU+RAM+storage solution and slap a customized OS on top then to customize dedicated hardware chips.

        What are the manufacturers going to use for an OS? Windows is not flexible enough, plus anybody who deals with Microsoft ends up regretting it more or

    • What are the odds that MS is somehow involved in that?

      If by involvement you mean a majority market share, the odds are very high.

    • I don't see it as a desperate need. I like games, but am happy playing console games. And in one way, I appreciate console games even more -- they are cheaper and when you play against others, you can bet that they are using the same hardware configuration and that if they have any advantages, it's not the computer they are using.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
      My problem is similar, namely specific software apps I depend on or really like. GOM, Photoshop, Vegas, Premiere, Indesign, etc.--all are non-negotiable. Most of them don't work under WINE, and their OSS equivalents are jokes. :-(

      • Funny, that's exactly my problem with Windows and Macintosh: the software I want to run doesn't run on it, and the alternatives that run on those platforms are jokes.

    • If you mean that most game companies prefer DirectX to OpenGL or SDL for developing games and Microsoft developed DirectX (or bought someone who did and makes updates to it -- I don't recall), then yes, Microsoft plays a very big part in that.

      MS does some nasty things and I don't care for them as a company, but some credit for what they do right wouldn't kill you.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Kadagan AU ( 638260 )
      The only thing stopping me from going Linux are the viruses. We desperately need the virus industry to start porting the viruses. I honestly believe that is the only thing really standing in the way.
      What are the odds that MS is somehow involved in that?

      I just want to feel like I'm a part of the botnet crowd! I wanna fit in!

      • No joke. When I first asked for a Linux desktop one of the reasons given by the security team was that there were no virus scanners for Linux viruses.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by rts008 ( 812749 )

          Just point out Clam AV to them. Hell, it's in most distro repositories.

          But at this point, AV scanners for *nix are about as useful as a boat anchor for an airplane, so there is a reason not many exist for *nix.

          • Clam AV is not very good. But there are commercial AV products for linux. Sophos [sophos.com] make a very good product, for example.
          • It is extremely usefull. ClamAV integrates with samba, MTAs, FTP servers, and proxies to make sure that the Windows machines that use the services provided by the Linux ones can't participate in a bot-net, either infecting or getting infected.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by hmar ( 1203398 )

        The only thing stopping me from going Linux are the viruses. We desperately need the virus industry to start porting the viruses. I just want to feel like I'm a part of the botnet crowd! I wanna fit in!

        I think that is one of my users...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by pmarini ( 989354 )
      why the heck would one need Microsoft to create/port games to Linux ?! (unless you think that Microsoft is an entertainment company and not a serious business... one second, need to wipe my tears...)
      anyway, things are going to change as there is this guy, you know, the artist formerly known as the creator of QuickTime, who came-up with this neat idea (yes, I'm overaged) that the games can run on a server farm and you simply need a broadband connection to play them (that is, receive the video output and sen

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
        Cloud computing sounds like a great idea until you realize the scale and cost of the server farm needed and the crazy-insane bandwidth requirements. Maybe for simple games, but for anything even close to cutting edge, there is just no way.

  • Finalists (Score:3, Funny)

    by electricbern ( 1222632 ) on Wednesday April 08, 2009 @02:45PM (#27507221)
    Only one can Win, but everyone can Linux.
    Sorry for the pun.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by pmarini ( 989354 )
      how is Microsoft going to name their OSS alternative ? Minux !

      Microsoft Minux Windows is Win-Win situation... but you can still Linux around with Samba !

      (yes, this is pun re-intended, oops)
  • This sounds bit like trying to dress up RMS as a Wall St. accountant.

  • although it is a bit creepy is by production value the one that is "best."

    My personal fav is "Linux pub" though, both funny and shrewd. They would have gotten extra points if they had a machine that went ping once Tux got in.

    • "Linux pub"...both funny and shrewd

      ...and *very* French :-)

      • ...and *very* French :-)

        Hahaha, so true.

        I liked the actors. I knew what was coming at the end, but the delivery of the "il n'y a pas" line still made me chuckle.

  • "The future is open" video positions Linux in relation to Windows. I think it's time to move beyond this.

    There was time when some people saw Linux as a reaction to how bad and how evil Windows was.

    That was a long time ago. In the mean time Microsoft has become much less powerful, and Apple has shown us that there can be something even worse then MS (in terms of Linux values, that is).

    Linux is about freedom and community and [fill in the blank]. It is not just the anti-windows.

    I vote against "the future i

  • You gotta be kidding.

    The only one that's on message is the rock-paper-scissors one, and it was still as crazy as a chocolate kettle.

  • WTF is Linux? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by 4D6963 ( 933028 ) on Thursday April 09, 2009 @04:03AM (#27515129)

    Do you guys even realise that there's no such product as Linux? Saying "Get Linux" is like saying "Got Milk?", except that anyone knows where to get milk. Where does my mom buy that "Linux" thing? Or is she supposed to find out what Linux is and figure out which distro is good for her?

    Market an actual product for fuck's sake!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by skeeto ( 1138903 )

      Where does my mom buy that "Linux" thing? Or is she supposed to find out what Linux is and figure out which distro is good for her?

      Not to mention if you do a Google search for "linux" the first result is the worthless linux.org domain squatter. The third result is an "under construction" page.

      • Yes, but when the average consumer is looking to buy something online, do they search for it on a search engine, or in the 'search' box of their favorite store's website? There are plenty of 'Linux' search results on Walmart.com for various Linux books that have CDs and/or DVDs, some of which are for OpenSUSE or Fedora.

        My wife barely knows what Linux is, other than seeing me using that 'weird thing she knows nothing about', but when she shops online, she goes to specific store websites, generally not to go

    • I disagree, though your analogy to the "Got Milk?" campaign is quite apt. The message is not "go buy Linux" but "Linux is good for you."

      Linux-based products have been on the marked for a while now, and are seeing a real surge in netbooks, but many, when faced with a system that comes with "Linux" or "Windows," make the choice simply out of a fear of the unknown. The customer hasn't ever hear of that Linux thing, but they've heard of Windows, so they'll go with that.

      This campaign is more of a PSA, intent on

    • People know it's a "computer thingy", so they'd ask their tech-attuned relatives for advice, I would presume.
      In a business context, would the manager get the right picture form their MIS/IT guys?

    • Insightful? Really? Wow. Super-awesome point-missing.

      I'll refrain from commenting on your mom. Everyone else meaner than me, reply below with your speculation about what 4D6963's mom gets or doesn't get!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by 4D6963 ( 933028 )
        Well, you could try and explain the point I missed instead of being a short-fused twat.

    • Saying "Get Linux" is more like saying "Get an Automobile". There are tons of different types of automobiles out there from compact cars to sedans to luxury cars, sports cars, SUVs, crossovers, motorcycles, trucks, etc., from different manufacturers.

      The general public has no problem figuring out what an "automobile" is, and then figuring out which one is 'good' for them individually. Why should a computer operating system be any different?

      One of the main benefits of Linux is the freedom it provides. Free

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by 4D6963 ( 933028 )
        Are you fucking kidding? Did you miss the very point I made? Automobile, milk, same thing, I already addressed that question, anywhere knows where to get those, no one know what is Linux or where to get it. In other words : people have no fucking clue what you're telling them to get.

        • I do understand what you are saying. People don't even know what Linux is, but isn't that the point of advertising? These ads can tell people what Linux is. Granted, a lot of people probably don't even know what Windows is. They might know that there's this Windows XP or Windows Vista logo that comes up on their screen, but just know that it's what's running on their computer. We can tell them that there are many other alternatives out there if they are looking for a change.

          When the average consumer se

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by 4D6963 ( 933028 )
            Well you seem tog et what I was trying to say, but ultimately the fact remains that it's not exactly very straightforward for anyone motivated to go from watching such a commercial to actually getting Linux running on their PC.

            • I received an email a while back about a Linux Test Drive website that seemed interesting. The site appears to be gone now (Linux Test Drive [linuxtestdrive.org]) but some information about it can be found here [debuntu.org].

              It sounded like a pretty good idea anyway. Perhaps have a Linux commercial, like the Freedom one from the contest, and pop up a link to this testdrive site at the end so the person seeing the ad can get some help picking out a Linux that works for them.

  • ...My vote's with the office one.

    It was a funny ad, but with substance, arguing some specific advantages of the product that it's trying to sell (reliability, low cost, active community).

    Ads without substance suck (although they're still effective in a tactical sense. :()
    * Funny ads without substance are good only for the humor value IMHO

    This appeals with a practical message, but uses humor to help drive the point. I like it.

    Furthermore, it would be accessible and relate-able for non-techies.

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