Okay, I’m going to give them to everyone without much fanfare. Here we go.
Left Leaning Host
Okay. I’ll admit that I’m not in the parameters of left or right wing. However, I know that plenty of talk show hosts are. Some may claim to be Libertarian, which is fine with me. However, appealing to their sense of reason is easy enough. A lot of those who consider themselves leftist or liberal per se have complained in the past about AT&T and the NSA. Think wiretapping and whatnot. Here’s a few talking points:
- In Fahrenheit 9/11, one of the companies that Michael Moore mentioned (in which a meeting is shown before the invasion of Iraq) the names of several companies. One of these company names that came up was none other than Microsoft.
- There has been much controversy concerning the NSA and wiretapping the phones of citizens in America. To add fuel to the fire, point out that the NSA was the very group that Microsoft went to in order to have their latest version of Windows, Vista, “evaluated.”
- Not only did the NSA “evaulate” their system, Infoworld also reported that they helped make their Operating System “more secure.” What would that mean in the context of today’s world?
- With Linux-based systems and FOSS in general, people can in fact set up sophisticated networks more rapidly due to being able to just go in and do it without paying for licenses and other red tape.
Those are just a few talking points for those hosts who are “left leaning.”
Right Leaning Host
So what do you do if you run into a Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh? Well, take a gander at these points.
- Money is leaving this country and not coming back due to outsourcing overseas when one pays for a Microsoft product. Whether it’s technical support in India, or turning their backs on software piracy in China (in addition to giving away copies of Vista at $7 a pop). The important point: they are attempting to expand and are attempting to force good, hard working Americans to pay for their expansion and any “loss” they have in China.
- With Linux-based systems, and other Free and Open Source Software, a great deal of the support centers are here in America. They helping to create more jobs in this country in other words. Wall Street is now using FOSS on their servers for example.
- As a parent, you can share the software with your entire family without having to go out and buy other “licensed” copies, thus saving the entire family money.
- Conservates (real ones anyway) often believe in not wasting tax payer money. If an open standard for doing documents and sending them via e-mail (OpenOffice.org, and yes, they can convert to PDF really quickly), taxpayers wouldn’t have to be bilked so copies of Microsoft Office and other software could be purchased and used.
Anything in the Political Underground
That’s the easiest of all. Whether it’s someone sending a news tip to Alex Jones or listening to a show on Coast to Coast AM via the Internet, Linux-based systems give users more flexibility. I have looked at the Political Underground myself, and have noticed one thing: there is a genuine interest in FOSS. They want to get rid of Microsoft if at all possible. Here are some talking points for these hosts:
- If you really want to stick it to the man, then why are you using the tools they want to enslave you with?
- Your documentaries can be watched and copied using these types of systems.
- Listeners using these operating systems can listen to your radio program online.
- Your audience can visit your sites with no problem.
- They can e-mail you too.
- Since the code is open to be seen by all, no tricks can be pulled against anybody security-wise… not even by the NSA!
Those are pretty much the talking points, and in the case of the third category, pieces of them can be applied to the other categories. Remember: research the host you plan on talking to and any guests that they have on, before doing so. I’m already covering the Political Underground, because I’ve followed it long enough. The other two categories are going to need some coverage.
Part of the science of marketing is identifying your target market. While there may be some people listening to talk radio who would become interested in FOSS from this campaign, a much more receptive ‘market’ would be people already focused on computer issues.
For example, consumer magazines are doing their readers a disservice by completely ignoring FOSS when discussing virus protection or affordable applications. Also, there are some newspaper tech reporters who at least mention FOSS (Rob Pegoraro of the Washington Post is an example), but many of those who at least recommend Macs ignore Linux. Now that Dell is pre-installing Ubuntu on laptops, there is sufficient reason for these sources to include Linux and FOSS in the discussion. If they can be convinced by a grass-roots campaign, then the word will get out to people who are already interested in computer issues.
Perhaps if you posted articles in which FOSS is not mentioned but would be a viable solution, then people could send the author various talking points to consider for future articles. As the organizer of this effort, I suggest you experiment with the various forums you are targeting and post the results so people can get a sense of what has the most chance of success.
Another thought is to encourage people participating in _any_ online forum to include a signature that mentions Linux and/or FOSS. 😉
Later . . . Jim
RenaissanceCore IDS, check it out at:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/renaissancecore
Hey thanks for the input. The target market for me is everyday users who do a limited amount of tasks on their computer. A lot of them do listen to the radio. A lot of them read print publications. I am targeting just one medium. Perhaps a new page needs to be set up in order to tackle a multimedia blitz of sorts… Thanks man.
Btw, if you don’t mind my asking, what is RenaissanceCore IDS (acronym description too please) for those who are too lazy to follow the link?