Sunday, August 31, 2008
Open Source Public Relations?
I know of many public relations professionals but none who contribute their knowledge to charitable causes. I wonder what you would get if you combined open source with public relations?
I have realized that my futile attempts of encouraging industry analysts to provide deeper coverage on open source will go nowhere. The challenge is that analysts have substituted spoonfeeding for actual research where open source projects will almost always lose against their closed source counterparts.
So, instead of fighting the analyst game where the only way to get coverage is to reach deep into your pockets and pull out lots of lint, that open source projects instead consider the notion of open source public relations.
Open source projects shouldn't get in line to issue press releases but instead should always result in leveraging the answer that is most open. In analyzing other methods that were viral such as the 2,000 Bloggers project, why can't others within the community leverage the same tactic?
For example, OWASP has several thousand attendees throughout the planet. Imagine if a simple message went out asking all attendees to post one and only one blog entry that contains links to each other. Everyone who cares about Web Application Security and their blog ranks would rise immediately.
Popularity in the blogosphere is driven by links and we all know that hyperlinks subvert hierarchy. So why aren't you already linking to OWASP...
| | View blog reactionsI have realized that my futile attempts of encouraging industry analysts to provide deeper coverage on open source will go nowhere. The challenge is that analysts have substituted spoonfeeding for actual research where open source projects will almost always lose against their closed source counterparts.
So, instead of fighting the analyst game where the only way to get coverage is to reach deep into your pockets and pull out lots of lint, that open source projects instead consider the notion of open source public relations.
Open source projects shouldn't get in line to issue press releases but instead should always result in leveraging the answer that is most open. In analyzing other methods that were viral such as the 2,000 Bloggers project, why can't others within the community leverage the same tactic?
For example, OWASP has several thousand attendees throughout the planet. Imagine if a simple message went out asking all attendees to post one and only one blog entry that contains links to each other. Everyone who cares about Web Application Security and their blog ranks would rise immediately.
Popularity in the blogosphere is driven by links and we all know that hyperlinks subvert hierarchy. So why aren't you already linking to OWASP...
