Advertising Trisquel & FLOSS

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vinzv

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Hi,

I was thinking about Trisquel and how it gets recognized in the (tech)
public sphere. While digging trough the wiki I stumbled upon the
article on "Proposed policies, procedures, & solutions" where it states:
"Team Leaders
[...]
marketing / press relations / artwork lead / active in fund raising (to
learn about and write up press releases, seek donations, etc)"

Is there anyone working on that parts of Trisquel? If not, are there
people around willing to join me in forming a team for public relations
and such?

vinz.

tomlukeywood
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i know how to use kdenlive(video editor) and have made several projects using it before
and i know more of less how to use gimp

so i could help with some advertising

vinzv

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@ Tom
That's great, especially as I hardly have any experience with video
production. :)

@ all
So there's no one really in charge with public relations?

vinz.

lembas
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I'll be glad to assist with what little skills I have. I'm sure if you make the work publicly available, many others will pitch in as well.

vinzv

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Yeah, I'll sketch down some ideas and proposals tomorrow. Let's see who else jumps in! :)

strypey
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That's great Luke, I'd been starting to suspect we all talk about being able to edit graphics or video on GNU+Linux because the applications exist, but nobody had actually *done* it ;) If you could point me at some simple instructions for getting started? I really just want to reliable tips on:
* minimum hardware specs
* getting the necessary software installed and configured to run reliably
* importing, cutting, and sequencing video, audio, and subtitle elements
* importing, deconstructing, and sampling from audio-visaul clips

Would you be willing to create or improve manuals on photo and video editing on FLOSSManuals.net?

Chris

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I do and/or have done a bit of graphics and video editing over the years.

What's worked for me in the past (and still does):

OpenShot
GIMP

There are some decent tutorials on GIMP so you can apply some of the same techniques to make your images look near-perfect. They may not come out quite as professional-looking due to time spent and/or skill, but in my experience the average person won't notice anyway. Most people will be like "You did that yourself? How'd you do that?"

Here is an example on how to take a product and make it reflective similar to what professional graphics designers do for large companies (ie Apple, Sony, Microsoft, etc):

http://zoffix.com/other/Gimp-Tutorial-Reflections-of-Non-Flat-Objects

Basically if you can follow the directions you can create some pretty impressive looking material.

Here is a brochure that I made (older version which is out of date, but none-the-less) using all free software:

https://www.thinkpenguin.com/files/brochure-5-25-13.pdf

Or an example of the reflection effect in action:

https://www.thinkpenguin.com/sites/all/themes/B7/images/front_page1024x768.jpg

The brochure took the most time. The reflection takes a mere 10-20 minutes maybe at the most. The more time you put into it the better you can get it too. A lot of the stuff I've done was more quick and dirty to get the job done, as I just don't have that much time and I have more important projects to work on/coordinate/figure out how to finance/etc.

I've also used Inkscape, although am far from a professional/good with it. This is another great tool though.

marioxcc
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What software did you use to make the PDF?.

vinzv

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I used Scribus.

davidnotcoulthard (not verified)
davidnotcoulthard

I'd help a bit as well if I can (can I?:)

Now, I think Quidam should make it official.

(Anyway my first suggestion would be to at least move the FAQ to the front page of Trisquel's website.

People come there wanting to know what the F Trisquel is and it can't hurt to serve them as soon as they arrive with answers to the questions they were probably asking themselves)

Magic Banana

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The front page already has a link to https://trisquel.info/faq (search for "F.A.Q.").

As for knowing what Trisquel is, the text displayed in large letters at the top of http://trisquel.info is:
What is Trisquel? Trisquel GNU/Linux is a fully free operating system for home users, small enterprises and educational centers.

It looks like a good summary.

vinzv

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Maybe we could get the FAQ to the top menu as it's quite hidden at the moment? Or have it linked below the "What is Trisquel" box in the center besides the screenshot?

Dave_Hunt

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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

I vote for moving the faq to the top. I need another look; it may be
time to add and/or change some questions and answers.

On 07/21/2015 11:18 AM, name at domain wrote:
> Maybe we could get the FAQ to the top menu as it's quite hidden at
> the moment? Or have it linked below the "What is Trisquel" box in
> the center besides the screenshot?

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vinzv

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I think everybody can help! At least by stating opinions or throwing in ideas. :)

On making something official it's a bit too early I think. I have a non-formal "go" from aklis on #trisquel-dev which - at least for me - is enough at the moment. As soon as we have some things to be published I'd come back to Quidam to get it approved.

I started a wiki page to collect everything. Feel free to dump in anything that comes up your minds, guys!
https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/marketing

davidnotcoulthard (not verified)
davidnotcoulthard

...Yeah but I actually meant providing the FAQ on the home page before the user actually searches for it or otherwise find their own way to it as I think it significantly increases the chance of the FAQ being seen by the people who need to see them.

Forgive me for quoting Steve Jobs, but.....

"A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them."

And yes the front page does present a good summary - but in terms of actually making people interested in trying Trisquel I think it goes rather nowhere, in turn decreasing the number of people who try Trisquel.

Those who want news and recent forum posts can look for them themselves. Those who need to see the FAQs..........maybe won't bother looking before concluding "aahhh.....those statements in forums about how Free Software doesn't work with most hardware and how unuseable it is and how ridiculous it is are probably true. I'll just leave.....". If the FAQ is shown to them before they conclude that, then it'd be much better.

I also think the front page and the FAQ should provide decent defence against false FUD from Redmond and/or Cupertino and/or people's natural instincts. Questions like "Will Trisquel play my MP3, MP4, Quicktime files?" should be answered as soon as people arrive at the front page (or at least in the FAQ - and questions like those aren't even in there when I'm pretty sure people frequently ask themselves things like that when thinking about fully free OS').

Speaking of advertising, I suggest against always starting with "What is....?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

SteveGeemaggio
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Hello vinzv,

This is a very good idea. I've been thinking along the same lines myself but I just wasn't able to put it into words. Also my lack of experience in the area of marketing put me off suggesting the idea.

If there is anything I can do I would be more than happy to help in any way I can.

Trisquel is unique in that it is completely free as in freedom But it's also User Friendly! This very combination is what I believe will attract many more users. It's just a matter of getting the word out there and having very accessible material to read up on to encourage more users to make the jump to freedom. (Easier said than done of course :-P )

Trisquel has such potential and I just hope one day to just bump into some random Joe Soap in a cafe and see that he's using Trisquel to design a presentation or something. That would be cool.

Anyway, love the idea,

Steve

Dave_Hunt

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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

I've been spotted in a cafe, using Trisquel to play games, watch vids,
chat with friends, etc. Did anyone notice? Well, on one occasion,
someone asked what I was using and a brief discussion followed, with
"it doesn't look like Linux", as one of the early comments. As you
might guess, my terminal window wasn't in the focus. LOL. The
machine was talking to me--- an attention getter, sometimes.

On 07/21/2015 12:10 PM, name at domain wrote:
> Trisquel has such potential and I just hope one day to just bump
> into some random Joe Soap in a cafe and see that he's using
> Trisquel to design a presentation or something. That would be
> cool.

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lap4fsf
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I have often seen Trisquel GNU/Linux's Logo reads as:

trisquelgnulinux

This does not reflect the view of GNU Project.

The logo should be renamed like:

Trisquel GNU/Linux
OR
Trisquel GNU+Linux

Also please add these Logos (The old website hosted them. Don't know why
ruben removed them.) with respective hyperlinks, on Trisquel's Front
page; This is a great way to spread the free software philosophy to new
members and can be used in Advertising campaigns.

All the Best, vinzv....!!

100% FREE SOFTWARE.png Join now!.png
leny2010

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The title is given as Trisquel GNU/Linux when it's in plain text, such as the output of

lsb_release --all

However, the logo uses different font weights for the GNU and the Linux even though they're run together. So to me, as someone from a Western culture at least, it does make the GNU and Linux distinct. Personally I prefer the more recent logo.

davidnotcoulthard (not verified)
davidnotcoulthard

Yeah, but the fact that the first 3 letters of gnulinux are a tad more thick than the ones after it wouldn't seem meaningful (if noticeable) to the user who knows nothing about Free Software (i.e. those who Trisquel should really be advertised to, in my opinion anyway!).

Such users won't do lsb_release --all either, which means they wouldn't know whether, or why, the GNU part bears more significance than many in the FLOSS community gives it credit for.

Cyberhawk

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I have set up a website (with my own personal server machine). Unfortunately, it runs on a Raspberry Pi, which isn't the 100% free software friendly solution to do this. Replacing the Raspberry with a similar, more free software friendly system is on my to-do list.

Trisquel is definitely getting a mention on my website in the "links" section. The site has a very retro-look however (due to my limited connection speed).

I have created a pixelart, lowcolor rendition of the logo. Is anyone interested in using it? (2-colors, 30x30 pixels)

vinzv

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Am 27. Juli 2015 14:48:29 MESZ, schrieb name at domain:
>I have set up a website (with my own personal server machine).
>Unfortunately,
>it runs on a Raspberry Pi, which isn't the 100% free software friendly
>
>solution to do this. Replacing the Raspberry with a similar, more free
>
>software friendly system is on my to-do list.
>
>Trisquel is definitely getting a mention on my website in the "links"
>section. The site has a very retro-look however (due to my limited
>connection
>speed).
>
>I have created a pixelart, lowcolor rendition of the logo. Is anyone
>interested in using it? (2-colors, 30x30 pixels)

Sure, that's great!
Maybe put it up on the wiki for convenient access?
https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/marketing

Cyberhawk

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My site is sort-of a visual throw back to a BBS and serves for sharing pictures that I take. It should not be mentioned on the marketing page. But maybe the pixelart rendition of the logo can be used by someone else?

trisquel-full.png
lap4fsf
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Hi vinzv,

Today I got this FSF Giving Guide (back to 2014) from a friend.

A printable version of same is available from here.

I hope you can edit this 'Flyer' and distribute to the participants as described here.

onetechbuddy
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FSF flyer recommends ThinkPenguin and not Libreboot laptops.

Screenshot from 2015-07-29 09:00:42.jpeg
JadedCtrl
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ThinkPenguin laptops are more likely to appeal to people newer to free software-- they're more modern, more powerful, etc.

onetechbuddy
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Agreed. However, gluglug laptops are very affordable and suitable for students and people with moderate income. Plus, Librebooted.

SuperTramp83

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Well, the list of computers you can install libreboot on is growing -> http://www.libreboot.org/docs/hcl/index.html#supported_list

The greatest thing about the gluglug's X200 however is not libreboot but the fact they managed to successfully remove ME and AMT, the Intel's Management Engine system, and Intel's Active Management Technology firmware, thus making a truly libre laptop (a one that is not backdoored) and a hardware that truly respects your freedom.

And this is why AFAIC there is only the gluglug's X200 out there and all the rest is just standard hardware you can NOT absolutely trust. All the rest is just "free software friendly", that is to say works with a 100% libre OS, aka "laptops with a wifi adapter that requires no non-free firmware and an integrated INTEL GPU for 3D acceleration, if you need 3D acceleration.."

https://www.fsf.org/news/libreboot-x200-laptop-now-fsf-certified-to-respect-your-freedom

cheers!

jxself
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"And this is why AFAIC there is only the gluglug's X200 out there and all the rest is just standard hardware you can NOT absolutely trust"

And the X60, which also has libreboot and never had those other anti-features things to begin with.

davidnotcoulthard (not verified)
davidnotcoulthard

The Think Penguin might be a tad modern but Ivy Bridge in 2015? (I know, I know, it's not really ancient.....but neither is anything that runs Vista).

Might as well go as old as X200, I say (what with a wonderful input system and the nonexistant chance of people noticing at first glance how old your laptop actually is since the new X2XX laptops don't look all that different from it)!

The problem is that since it's 7-8 years old already (and, more importantly I think, the fact that it predates intel's Core iX nomenclature) people probably think it's not quite powerful enough - which is untrue given the fact that I've just smoothly transitioned from a (OK, Celeron with 2GB of RAM) Ivy Bridge laptop to an HP Compaq 2710p not really newer than the x200 and am now using Cinnamon with its wonderful transitions on it (screenshot in the screenshot thread).

Yes, the laptop's old, but it's still useful (it came with VISTA for goodness' sake! It can't be that slow - it simply can't), but people don't realise that. Making people realise how useful it still is needs to be done.

Bottom line: If you've got the Libreboot X200, make a video showcasing how useful it still is today with modern somewhat animation-heavy desktops, and/or talk (or otherwise negotiate:) Francis Rowe into putting that video (or his own video of that kind) on Minifree's home page.

SuperTramp83

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sure jxself but it is no more available. You can't purchase one anymore. You can still buy one on ebay or something and then pay for the libreboot installation service though..
I wonder if this service includes the removal of the ME and AMT or just the libreboot installation.

tomlukeywood
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"the removal of the ME and AMT"

i have installed libreboot on my x60 myself

are there other restrictive features in these machines even after installing libreboot?

do you need to do more?

hack and hack
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To my knowledge, there's no AMT/ME in the X60.
Actually there is ME, but it's disabled in Coreboot (Most likely the same for Libreboot).
http://www.coreboot.org/Intel_Management_Engine

SuperTramp83

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Hmm..you are right hack and hack. The X60 doesn't have AMT and the ME is disabled. I should have checked that before posting my previous comment. My bad.
The question applies to the X200 - if I buy an X200 on ebay or somewhere else for cheap and send it to the gluglugs guys, is the removal of the nastiness included in the service or just the installation of libreboot?

Also how good is the thinkpad X60? Can it play a good quality 720p movie without stuttering and such. What about the high temperatures issue? I read several guys were lamenting the high temps. And also the overly high use of the CPU. How good is it?

tomlukeywood
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"Also how good is the thinkpad X60? Can it play a good quality 720p movie without stuttering and such."
definitely
" What about the high temperatures issue?"
I personally don’t have this problem i imagine its due to some x60 collecting dust over time but you can always clean them out
"And also the overly high use of the CPU. How good is it?"
the cpu is fine i run trisquel 7 on myn(not mini) with no problems and it can play games like for example hedgehog wars or teeworlds or mintest or openarena its a good machine

the specs of the x60 i have are
2.25GB ram 1.66ghz cpu 500gb HDD

i upgraded the ram from 2gb to 2.25gb(i had a spare 256mb laying around)

davidnotcoulthard (not verified)
davidnotcoulthard

Battery life when browsing the web with 4 tabs one of which playing video at half-brightness?

tomlukeywood
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my x60's battery is dead
i use it plugged into a wall

however my x200 which i assume is similar in battery life
can go at half brightness for about 2 hours and 45 mins
and for about 2 hours on full brightness

but you can get bigger battery’s that can can go for twice as long for the x60 and x200

alimiracle
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same for me my x60's battery is dead
hhhhhhh

davidnotcoulthard (not verified)
davidnotcoulthard

Is that the X200 battery life with the 4-cell battery?

tomlukeywood
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yes

davidnotcoulthard (not verified)
davidnotcoulthard

So (9/4)*(11/4) hours at half brightness with a 9-cell battery then - 6+(3/16) hours of battery life.

Not too bad I guess.

lap4fsf
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I have added the 100% FREE SOFTWARE and Join now! logos with the related comments on their use; (say, licenses to be used, attributions and other advantages in using them.)

This is my first edit on the trisquel wiki.

So feel free to express your comments....!!

vinzv

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I finally found time to build a small info flyer. It's DIN Lang
(105x210mm) sized. Maybe you want to have a look and comment/criticise?

See here:
https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/marketing

Best regards,
vinz.

DennisD
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Feel free to post this on the marketing wiki

AttachmentSize
Document-1_1.pdf 1.17 MB
DennisD
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Feel free to post this on the marketing wiki

hack and hack
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I like it.

Maybe I would have emphasized the words freedom, privacy and market-freedom, in bold or something. Same for Trisquel GNU/Linux, as these are the hooks, the selling points.

Also, maybe borrowing from comparative advertising would help drive the point faster and harder. In most people's minds, let's say there's Ubuntu, Windows 10, Apple.

It shouldn't be legally risky to for example paste part of Windows 10's licence to show part what makes Trisquel different and better. With some more punch.

But yeah, it's a brochure, not a book. Probably not enough space.

AS for the image choices on the first page, it essentially features GDM/Login, GIMP, The programs-rich repo, and file-managing and video. Which is good already.
It can be crowded fast, but some "impressive" software to feature could be Blender, LMMS, Krita, something code-related (an IDE or a text-editor), a browser, email client, LibreOffice (reusing ideas from your text). Talking with the images about the power of free software.
That's probably too much, but it could give a fuller, more striking picture. Maybe the desktops organised in a grid showing these softwares could be an option, provided it's readable (not too small).

Last but not least, "Enjoy Computing. Enjoy Privacy. Enjoy Freedom." I'd add privacy as an important feature that could motivate people. I know it worked for me. Or maybe "Regain control of your computing. Enjoy Privacy. Enjoy Freedom." Yeah, too long.

Anyway, just a few remarks.

antiesnob
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DennisD
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I am willing to help. I am currently working on a marketing slick/flyer as stated in a previous post. I should have a little something later in the week.

muhammed
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I saw a few ad related efforts on the forum recently; I put them on one wiki page so you guys can keep track of what others are working on.

https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/advertisements

Edit: I just saw the Marketing page on the Wiki ... I'll close the Advertisements page and put the links in the Marketing page. Sorry for not reading the topic first.

MeNoMore
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IDEA!

"Trisquel GNU/Linux for first time users, how to install and line comands"? Since I am not a previous Linux Distro user, I needed to pick it all up myself. Not all of us are born into the Code-LIfe. (:

I think that would be a big advantage point toward marketing Trisquel GNU/Linux; because only programmers are known to work with Linux Distros, and I think this is much easier than the other Operating Systems. We need to get a bigger market for Trisquel GNU/Linux.
Sure, there is a "how to install" F.A.Q topic, but when I looked at that I spaced out completely, as I am sure most of the Non free Operating System users do. Something complicated like that puts a ignorant, interested user off. And, sure there is downloadable "how to" books, but none really explains in detail how to install from a non-free OPerating System, and not everyone downloads "how to for dummies" books, plus there is not one for Trisquel.

lembas
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Now all we need is you to write one! It is true that often teachers who are overly familiar with a subject fail to see what the pupils find difficult to grasp. 4 eyes see more than 2 eyes and fresh eyes see better than tired eyes.