Linux.com: Does Linux Need Marketing? Jul 4, 2001, 19 :30 UTC (7 Talkback[s]) (5099 reads) (Other stories by Mark Miller)
According to the author, Linux doesn't need marketing but marketers need Linux.
"I can respect the desire to make Linux a major player in the business world but is it a technical challenge or a mainly
marketing challenge? I don't think the technical hurdles are insurmountable; after all, we have supercomputers running
Linux. Surely, making Linux a player in the business world will take less than that. In fact, I have my doubts that Linux isn't
already there. Giving credit to marketing guys for enterprise adoption of Linux is a bit of a stretch. Enterprises run Linux
because it's a better OS than the alternatives: Geeks got Linux to that point on their own, the marketing departments only
came in recently. It is still a debatable question about whether or not marketing is a good thing for Linux or free software...."
"Linux will survive and thrive without those who would squeeze every dime from it and leave it as soon as the growth
projections dip. Linux will do this because Linux meets a need (Marketing 101) and benefits from powerful community
evangelism (Marketing 201 ala Guy Kawasaki). Please feel free to make money from Linux, sell to those that want that, just
don't try to make it sound like Linux needs marketers when it is marketers that need Linux as the 'Next Big Thing (tm)'."
