[lug] Press Draft

[Wayde Allen]

On Fri, 5 Nov 1999, Robert L. Harris wrote:

> If anyone cares to critique feel free.  BTW, my spelling sucks so please
> report any errors you see:
> 
> 
> Dear Sir/Ma'am,
>   We would like to invite you to come out and enjoy a nice morning of
> fun, entertainment and education with us.  Micro$oft is doing a nice
> Dog and Pony show for Win2K This Saturday at the UA Greenwood Plaza,
> 8141 E. Arapahoe Road.  
> 
>   In addition we will be there, outside socializing, relaxing and trying
> to inform the genral public of the Alternative to Windows, Linux.  This
> is a semi-organized, friendly gathering with the main goal to be 
> education of the user base available.  
> 
>   We will be handing out CD's miscelaneous items from some vendors
> and answer any questions we can.  
> 
> Thank you for your time,
>   North Colorado Linux Users Group
>   Boulder Linux User Group
>   Colorado Linux Users and Enthusiasts

Hmmm ... I'm not too certain what to say about this activity.  The main
thing is that whoever chooses to do it better be darn sure that it stays
friendly and doesn't break any laws.  If it gets too confrontational this
could back fire in the sense that you would just be confirming the claims
that the Linux community is nothing more than an over zealous bunch of
hacker fanatics.

I guess the other thing is that once someone has made up their mind about
something, it is next to impossible to change it.  I'd guess that most of
the people attending this event are already hard core Microsoft users.
They are going to the event since they WANT to continue with Windows and
are interested in Win2K.  There may be a few people on the fence, but I'm
not certain I'd count on that.

My personal opinion is that generating really positive Linux press would
do far more to improve our position in the sense that those people who are
looking for a change or haven't yet made up their minds would then hear
about Linux.  How about taking this energy and using it to pump up the
install fests, mini-expo's, and the Colorado Linux Info Quest project? 

What concerns me most is the possibility of giving the established LUG's
negative press.  I'm not saying you will, but you are walking a little bit
of a narrow line here, and I personally can't say I understand all of the
legal and social ramifications.  Please be VERY careful ...!

- Wayde
  (wallen at boulder.nist.gov)