Many Linux enthusiast are despairing of the low uptake of desktop Linux and its poor availability in high street shops. This is especially frustrating because most of the people using desktop Linux would consider it to be a superior solution to the Windows based machines on offer (and it probably is). I think I have fingered one of the causes for this problem though: desktop Linux needs salesmen!
To illustrate this principle I'll use the following anecdote from Rich Dad, Poor Dad:
One day a Journalist was interviewing the author of that best-seller. The journalist being a writer herself asked the successful author what she should do to produce a best seller like he did. Much to her surprise he told her: 'You should follow some sales training!' The Journalist was shocked and said: 'I want to be a writer, not a saleswoman, why would I lower myself by studying sales techniques?' The successful author took his book, turned it around and said: 'Here it says that I am a best selling author, not a best writing author!'
Now let's transpose that to the world of operating systems: there are many talented developers and programmers that are working on desktop Linux but there are very few talented salesmen that are working on selling desktop Linux. The result: desktop Linux doesn't sell! Of course, it sells to some people, the people "in the known", but it doesn't sell well to the mass market. It doesn't sell in high street shops because no one is selling desktop Linux to the big electronic retail chains. There is no advertising of desktop Linux so there is not an overwhelming demand for it, so the retailers won't stock Linux machines.
Let's try to see this from the point of view of the retailer. What he wants to do is sell as many computers as possible. He can do this 2 ways: either he sells a product that many people want, or convince people to buy what he has. Now predicting what people want is easy for heavily marketed items like iPods and iPhones, but it is much more tricky for computers. When it comes to computer operating systems a retailer is much more likely to stock something fairly generic and to convince its customers to purchase what he has, even if that is not the best product for that customer, or not exactly what that customer wants.
If we follow the reasoning above what desktop Linux needs is either:
- Salesmen who go "sell" desktop Linux to OEMs first, then to retailers and to a lesser extend consumers. This is the "top to bottom", sell what you have approach. The problem is that you need to have a very efficient selling structure and organization to do that. Ubuntu had some success selling Desktop Linux to Dell and Google seems to be gaining some traction with ChromeOS but beyond that there is currently not much progress being done.
- A lot of very visible advertising to consumers to generate a lot of consumer demand for desktop Linux. This is the "bottom to top", sell what the customer wants approach. The main problem is that this require not only a good marketing organization but also a large advertising budget, things that desktop Linux lacks right now.
The fact is that there are many projects and organizations devoted to maintaining and improving Linux, there are a few organizations devoted to the promotion of Desktop Linux, but there are almost no organizations devoted to the sales and advertising of desktop Linux. I think that one of the reasons why the Firefox browser is much more successful than desktop Linux is because the Mozilla foundation invested much more time and energy in advertising and promoting of Firefox as a product than most Linux distribution have. As long as Linux distributions focused on the desktop do not put much more effort in their sales and adverting desktop Linux will remain a "best writing" operating system rather than the "best selling" OS it deserves to be.
18 Responses to "Desktop Linux needs salesmen!":
A very insightful post! I guess it's up to the likes of Canonical to start doing some actual advertising at some point.
Good point. Agree with the friend above that Canonical is doing it's part but, much more still need to be done and I'm not talking about SSD, kernel development or the-new-ultra-fast-implementation-of-tcp but making user's like simpler. I think that Software Centre, Ubuntu One and 100 papercuts is what we need. More/better integration between the components of the system to bring a more intuitive and less traumatic experience.
I agree with your analysis. However, re the value proposition for adopting GNU/Linux/FOSS, I think we still have some issues to work out.
When I try to convince someone to switch to Linux, the first concern they have is how they can exchange files with their friends that are still using MS/Mac or if they can work on files they bring home from their job or school. Then they ask about hardware compatibility issues.
If we can confidently respond that they will have no problems whatsoever, they will be more receptive once they understand the benefits of FOSS (ie, malware, stability, cost). I've only recently started to see how that might be achieved by using certain distros.
I know there are still some compatibility issues re MS Office-type files like PPT, doc, and xls. Then there are business apps like Access and QuickBooks.
So I guess my point is that we also need to identify which distros are as close to plug 'n play as can be (re hardware) and we need to understand how to best configure an install w/fonts, plugins, etc so that there is no diff between a Windows/Mac experience and a Linux experience.
As a matter of fact, I'm very interested in hearing about the experiences of others since I'd like to start configuring and selling refurbed boxes w/Linux. I know Helios has been using SuperOS and Linux Mint, but I haven't tried them yet myself. I've been focused on distros like PCLinuxOS for newer hardware and Puppy and Zenwalk for older hardware. Personally, my experiences with the *buntus has been disappointing.
As a user of Linux (Ubuntu, specifically), I have written about this very thing in the past. One thing that seems to be standing in the way of wide-spread acceptance (other than what you have spelled out here) is a little gadget from Apple. Since most everyone I know carries an iPod, and more recently an iPhone. While most iPods work well with Ubuntu, the iPhone and the iPod Touch don't. Add to that the music purchased through iTunes will not play on ANYTHING other than iTunes and and iPod, well, that becomes a deal breaker.
I have been 'selling' Linux for a while now (and by that I mean pushing it to friends, colleagues, etc.) and have had great success with it. But, when discussing it, as soon as they hear that it doesn't work with iTunes or 100% with an iPod, the deal is off.
If that little thing (!) ever gets working 'out of the box' with Linux, then I think we can see a better acceptance in the desktop market.
One other thing, this one regarding compatibility with Office, and other applications: For the most part, I haven't seen any major problems between MSOffice and OpenOffice. I even co-edited an employee handbook and I was using OO.o and my co-editor was using Word. Not one issue. Excel, Powerpoint, etc. there may be some minimal problems (heck, they're might be some major ones in Excel), but nothing that can't be fixed. I have seen Word documents that won't format correctly because the default printers were different! So, the idea that document compatibility will be an issue is really a non-issue. No one can say that there will never be any issues even between Windows and Windows.
Concerning Quickbook: This IS a concern. For some, this COULD be a deal breaker, too. I will say, however, that Quickbook isn't even compatible between Windows and Mac OS X versions of their software. So, again, it's one of those things where the company has you locked in to their products with YOUR data! These things need to change.
Odysseus, thanks for the insight. Your point re the iPod-Tunes-Touch-Phone is another good example of what might stop a 'sale.'
I also know what you mean about Word. I've been using OO.o since 2002 or 3 (can't remember). And I've done a significant amount of editing of MS Word docs, PPT files, and even Excel w/macros all using OO.o without any issues on the customer's end. But I had to be aware of special fonts that were in the mix or animations enabled in PPT. If somebody isn't familiar with these differences and how to resolve them, they'll be disappointed in the outcome. I'm thinking in terms of a person bringing work home from the office, not from the perspective of a contractor. And you're right about incompatibilities between Windows computers.
So now we've defined more completely what the deal-breakers might be re a switch to Linux. I'll be ready to point out to potential converts the problems that can occur even between Windows machines. But the iPod-Tunes-Touch-Phone deserves more attention.
And as you point out, proprietary sw intends to lock a customer in. And so, for a customer to regain control of his/her info, they should be encouraged to try FLOSS. I know from personal experience that once you break free, you wonder why you didn't try it sooner. All the money you could save!
Do you know if there is a discussion group somewhere that covers issues like these? It seems that this would be a worthwhile effort to help support the Linux Sales Initiative.
BTW, after seeing your pic it looks like you're a baby-boomer like me.I'm not as gray yet though, nor do I have a snappy looking hat like yours. You wouldn't happen to have an English sports car (Austin-Healey, TR-3) to go with that, would you?
I don't know of any type of conversation, but I would like to be part of one. I probably can't contribute a lot more than just experience and testing but I'm willing to do what I can.
Concerning my pic: No quite a baby-boomer (I'm a little younger than that). And, sorry, I don't have a nice sports car to go with my Donegal cap. If you have one just laying about and need to donate it, well, I'm your guy!
Come to think of it, there is a FLOSS marketing effort. I'll see if I can find the url again and pass it on.
I'd like to have more insight re this issue as well.
Off topic... owned a TR-3 for about 3 years back around '69. My fantasy car is the Austin-Healey 3000.
Re the hat... Is Donegal a brand or a style? My son wears one and was wondering what the hat design/style was called.
Here's a link to the Blog of Helios.
Austin meeting reveals keys to Linux marketing success
http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2008/10/austin-meeting-reveals-keys-to-linux.html
Note that it's a year old so some links within article might not work anymore.
Ken Starks (aka, Helios) makes several good points in this blog.
Re the Linux marketing effort... it looks like it's been discontinued. Now it's just a site that links off to three distros to download.
http://www.spreadlinux.com/
I would appreciate the link.
Concerning the hat: It's the style and where it's made. Hand made from Ireland. I got mine from Murphy of Ireland. You can find them here: http://www.murphyofireland.com/index.php
Thanks for the links. I watch the blog of Helios.
Odysseus and anyone else who is interested, here's the Linux marketing group.
http://linuxdairycouncil.net/
Thanks to Helios for the link.
It's just getting started so not much there. It's a great opportunity to contribute (ie, give back to the community).
Odysseus... I read some of your blog from late 2008. Good stuff. It helped me put some of my thoughts into words. We have common interests in that area. Maybe we'll hook up at the dairy council.
...and my son says "thanks" for the hat info.
You and your son are very welcome!
What posts did you read? Please leave a comment(s) there so we don't derail this!
OH! I just realized that my link is to an experimental blog. You can find my more regularly at http://odysseus.wordpress.com
Come by and drop a not any time.
People have tried selling Linux on the desktop and it's not a happy situation supporting it. Yet, companies will come and try; perhaps realise it isn't worth it and switch to just selling Linux on servers.
One fine day will arise when all the drivers and web content will "just work" on Linux and that's when it will automatically become a desktop OS for mainstream use.
See, the problem with this type of thought is that it is assumed that everything 'just works' with Windows or Mac OS X. The reality is they don't. You have to download drivers, install flash, install codecs, etc. in Windows just like you do in Linux. In fact, it works EASIER in Linux than in Windows. Now, granted, there are those who have driver issues be them video cards or printers or whatnot, but that is the exact same issue when a new version of Windows comes out. Things just don't work. It takes more time to get a Windows box working than it does any Ubuntu box I have ever worked on. And I do this for a living. I support Windows on a daily basis. Heck, when IE 8 came out, we were discouraging our students NOT TO UPGRADE because of compatibility issues.
Ive always thought of opening a Linux PC shop with Linux computers all over and linux devices, something exactly like the apple store and the ms store. just make a linux store. but also offer custom pc and pc repair. So you have the top 10 distros being shown in a display table. Custom PC options, linux devices for sale. it would be a hit, you would get people in that were like what is linux, what is this. show them the display table and let them see it in action with compiz enabled on some. Then tell them it only costs a couple bucks for a cd and a how to linux desktop in x,y,z where xyz is the desktop environments available or window managers. People would love it, linux is so awesome its just hard to do school work when teachers use ms apps that fail to work on linux.
> I've been focused on distros like PCLinuxOS for newer hardware and Puppy and Zenwalk for older hardware.
You've hit the nail on the head. I usually go PCLinuxOS KDE with at least 512MB of RAM, and PCLinuxOS LXDE with 256MB of RAM. Older hardware or low RAM gets Puppy Linux. I'm almost up to 10 systems installed for friends and family (none of whom have ipods because I've been their tech advisor for years) with very few problems.
In most cases I've found Linux is ready (well, PCLinuxOS anyway) for primetime RIGHT NOW. I've had one printer not work (he wanted a new one anyway) and had to tinker quite a bit to get another one running. Other than that, Linux has worked extremely well for all I've installed it for.
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