FSOSS

The selling of Linux and Open Source : Do we suck at this or what?

If Linux desktops and Open Source solutions are the answers, then we might just be doing a terrible job at getting the message out. By anybody's count, the 'year of the Linux desktop' has come and gone a few times now. Arguably, the open source community has a better product, but it's impact in the marketplace is uninspiring. Marcel will explore the techniques we've used to sell Linux (including FOSS), analyzing what works and what doesn't. He'll present some outlandish ideas for improving our image and, hopefully, making a bigger splash.

Marcel Gagné, Author of "Moving to Linux: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye!" and Linux Journal Columnist

Marcel Gagné (Canada's Linux Guru), is probably best known as the award-winning author of the Linux Journal 'Cooking with Linux' series, for which he received the Readers' Choice award for favorite column four years in a row. His fourth, and more recent book, the second edition of his immensely successful "Moving to Linux: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye!' is available in stores now. One of the best known voices of the Linux and open source world, he has written numerous articles on Linux and open source projects for various publications including Linux Journal, InformIT, Unix Review, SysAdmin magazine, and several others. He also appears regularly on radio, at industry shows, user groups, universities, and as the Linux guy on Tech TV's "Call for Help". He has written about, installed, and taught many open source applications including the Linux desktop environment itself, as well as the popular OpenOffice.org office suite. A long-time systems and network administrator, Marcel is a published science fiction author and editor, a pilot, an avid science and astronomy buff, and a former top 40 disc jockey. He also folds a mean Origami T-Rex.