Re: [HACKERS] Toward A Positive Marketing Approach.

Oh, and please don't cross post unless it is actually pertinent.
The place to discuss this type of thing is on pgsql-advocacy.
I apologize for crossposting my response.

--elein

On Thu, May 18, 2006 at 01:32:51PM -0700, Michael Dean wrote:
> Greetings Guys
>
> As a newbie person moving away from my technical background to
> marketing, I think a refreshed course for pg is needed!  So far I have
> read all 5000 or so of this month's emails and want to make a few
> remarks IMHO:
>
> 1.  We should treat all marketing efforts by hackers/programmers as
> social bugs.  Get some marketing pros (debuggers) in on this, or the
> popularity of postgresql will continue to pale in the real world.
>
> 2. Reward ISP's who newly support postgresql.  Give them free links,
> somehow give them free expertise, give them focused help so that
> offering postgresql to their customers will not end up in disaster as in
> the past.  Less than 4% of ISP's worldwide support postgrsql. WHY?, if
> pg is SO GOOD, and SO MUCH BETTER???
>
> 3. Reward existing FOSS projects that make sensible provision to
> accomodate postgresql in preference to other more "commercial" db's.
> Free links, mention in newsletter, listing on websites, whatever it
> takes to start pulling other open source communities behind postgresql.
> A good example is bitweaver.org, a great integration project, very
> professional, helpful to small businesses, but needs some promotional help.
>
> 4. Stop being too cheap.  Money Talks!  Offer to PAY premiums to major
> OSS aps who don't do pg, or don't do it well enough.  Like Compierre,
> like Drupal.  Ask me if i would contribute $1000 to pg.org if the money
> (guaranteed) went to get MY chosen favorite programs totally in
> postgresql, even if forks were necessary?  How many others DON'T
> contribute because they fail to see a coherent, systematic program of
> promotion, just more of the same, free linuxworld booths and bof's year
> after year, no affinity to the commercial realities out there.
>
> 5. Make it easy, NOT hard, to come to postgresql.  Provide a
> decision-tree selection software for ALL databases which is vendor neutral.
>
> 6. Offer to assist nerwly popular university based applications around
> the world, such that they authomatically choose postgresql to base their
> software on.  A good example, the educators who wrote LAMS, adopted a
> sensible database approach, but then went solely with mysql.
>
> 7. Provide marketing based brochure models licensed in the creative
> commons which is something more than a mere enumeration of pg features.
> Something decision makers in companies can sink their teeth into, not
> the programmers who work for them that do what they are told.  These
> must speak to TCO and ROI over time.
>
> 8. Stop mentioning mysql in every breath.  It serves them, not pg.
> After all, mysql must be better, or why would these folks at pg be so
> specifically, vociferously and universally concerned! talk only about
> pg, make comparisons to the whole field of db's, don't single anyone out!
>
> I would be willing to bet that a bounty of just $50 would be enough to
> influence major and minor FOSS projects to give pg major support.
>
> Anyway, this is from the heart, I know many persons will be outraged at
> this upstart coming out and saying these things, but then again, I like
> to live dangerously and I am not required to attend Java100.
>
> Michael
>
>
>
>
>
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