[sf-lug] Fwd: Help Linux Flourish

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Jim Stockford (jim.stockford at gmail.com):

> i get things like this from time to time. What do you all think?

In my first reply, I took the lazy way out, and referred people to the
list of worthwhile (Linux-relevant) donation causes that I maintain
inside the LDP's Linux User Group HOWTO.  

I call that course of action "lazy" because it ducked your implied
question about whether I consider the referenced "Tux500" cause, the one
at these sites, to likewise merit financial support:

    http://tux500.com/
    http://www.tux500.com/goal.php
    http://lobby4linux.com/
    http://linux-blog.org/index.php?/archives/198-Indy-500-and-Linux-Not-Newsworthy.html

Here in California, local culture dictates that we must never be
judgemental -- doing which is considered Bad and Wrong.  I was born here
but raised elsewhere, so y'all are welcome to regard me as an uncouth
auslander:  I'm about to be judgemental, Bad and Wrong.

In short:  no.  


> This is the same approach that Mozilla Foundation used to publicize
> and advance FireFox and has proven to be effective and worth the
> effort in increasing its rate of adoption. 

Mozilla Foundation was not, and is not, a bunch of often-juvenile-acting
OS-advocacy people.  They had and have a realistic and long-term plan
for publicity.  They have names, rather than just pseudonymous handles
like "helios".  They took the trouble to set up an actual foundation
with accountability to the public.  

If you read a sampling of Lobby4Linux's materials, you may or may not
have the same impression, but I recomment at minimum considering
carefully whether you want to rely on their projects' longevity or give
them money.