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Hal Steger and Alberto Onetti - both of mobile open-source leader Funambol - discuss open-source marketing in the Enterprise Open Source Journal. Well worth a read, especially for those who persist in believing that open source succeeds in the absence of good marketing. In fact, real commercial success in open source comes as a direct result of savvy marketing.
News flash to old-school software vendors: an "API" doesn't make your product "open" and it certainly doesn't make it "open source." For the second time in two days, I've seen product marketing claiming a product was open because the vendor supplies an application program interface. Phooey.
...occasionally I run into press articles that "round up" a half dozen such marketing misdirections from various marketing departments in one place. The December 1 BusinessWeek article called "Cost-Conscious Companies Turn to Open-Source Software" is such an article. And it's the second such multi-marketing-oriented misdirection article I've seen this week.
One of the discussions we had during the marketing and outreach session is whether the marketing should emphasize "Free" or emphasize the benefits of GNOME.
The leader of Microsoft’s integration efforts around open source software and its proprietary technologies is expanding his role by adding the title "general manager of Windows server marketing," further indication that Microsoft plans to crank up the volume on its Windows/Linux story.
SeoSamba launches a completely redesigned version of SeoToaster, its high-performance and open source free CMS software, coupled with a free eCommerce solution built for SEO & marketing.
Microsoft and Apple have PR people and marketing budgets to get the word out about new software, but open-source projects, for the most part, don't. They rely mostly on word of mouth (or blog) promotion.
