The HeliOS Project is now.....

The HeliOS Project is now.....
Same mission, same folks...just a different name

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Sunday, January 18, 2009

Linux Community Begins Crafting Radio Ad


It's been discussed to distraction...whether advertising Linux would do any good or not. Well, we are not far from finding out. Our "Voice of Linux", we'll call him George...simply because that's his name; has given us some raw audio to work with.

It is awesome...truly it is.

Now we simply need to form and polish it.

Cut it, splice it, add music, voice-overs...whatever you want to do...redo it in your own voice or make your own...we are going to showcase the Linux Community talent on this project. There are multiple clips available. Our goal is to make a 15 second, 30 second and one minute spots. We want the raw power of the Open Source Community to shine through here.

Let's see what we can do.

These are going to be listened to by the entire community so put your best efforts into them. There is a good chance these will be aired on public radio stations across the nation or even the world if we can get enough people involved.

There are three files available for download. One is one minute 13 seconds, one is at one minute exactly and the third is the full ad with music layered underneath so you can get a feel for what a simple thing it is to do. The only difference between the two basic files is a few seconds cut from one to show how smoothly it can be done.

Remember, the only stipulations are that Free Open Source Software is to be used in all levels of production and all submissions must be published under Creative Commons Licensing. There will be businesses that will want to use these clips so leave room on them for the business to identify themselves and voice-in the contact information and such. Usually 10-15 seconds is sufficient.

This is for community involvement and chances are, there is a lot more talent out there than we possess. We can't really offer prizes...yet. The coffers are fairly dry, but we can publish the best of the best with the names of those who did the work. We will keep plugging away to find someone who will be willing to donate prizes. If you are someone who can help us put together a prize list, please contact us at icanhelp at fixedbylinux dott komm.

So when does it run? Who gets to run it? Who knows...? We are working several funding angles now. These spots are going to be, for some, the first information they've heard about linux. If you decide you want to submit your own original work, keep this in mind. But it's open source so make it what you want. Just remember, this raw source belongs to the community and is released under Creative Commons licensing. They are presented to you in ogg format in the spirit of open source but your entries can be in mp3 format if you wish...some simply prefer to work with that format. They had initially been uploaded as mp3's but asking you to use only open source then offering you proprietary files seemed just a bit odd.

Thanks to Mark Van Kingsley for pointing it out to this oblivious author.

We have set up an anonymous FTP account for your uploads so submit your work in tar.gz or zip format and name the file with something that will identify you as the author. The ideal thing to do would be to include a text readme file inside with your full contact information. That will put a stop to any possible confusion.

The fantastic voice talent that gave us this work has done so freely....he has our sincerest thanks. Let's see if we can make him famous. Upload your files here. http://www.heliosinitiative.org/page.php?10

Now...let the Audacity begin. Here's hoping for a Rezounding success.

Sorry.

All-righty then



20 comments:

Adam said...

"When I was sixteen, I went to work for a newspaper in Hong Kong. It was a rag, but the editor taught me one important lesson. The key to a great story is not who, or what, or when, but why." -Elliot Carver

Why is it free? To the average user Linux seems too good to be true. They think there must be a catch. Can we get a sound bite about why Linux is free, and why I care that more users are using Linux?

Anonymous said...

google "linux" and you are immediately confused - there are so many distros, so many configurations, so many options that the average computer user is likely to give up there and then
this needs an accompanying intro guide, preferably one that can get to the top of a google search

Anonymous said...

also, without an effective explanation of the free software community, the first thing most people are going to think upon hearing this on their radio is "well then how can they afford to produce and, more importantly, broadcast this ad?"

Anonymous said...

Can we get a sound bite about why Linux is free, and why I care that more users are using Linux?

I don't know...can we? Did the author not explain what this is? this is raw audio. Use it or not to create what YOU believe would be a ood ad for radio. This isn't The Commercial...it is or can be the components of it.

Don't defeat the idea with your pessimism....support it with your talent, or point it to someone who will.

Your pessimism is a glaring illustration of what is wrong with the open source community.

Don't tell people why it can't be done. You are liable to get embarrassed.

Ryan Sommers

Anonymous said...

Don't you think that the voice-in's he talks about will point people to less confusing and easy to understand websites? Read people, read.

Anonymous said...

Who the heck is "George"? This guy sounds fantastic! I'll get this out to people who might be able to do something with it.

Unknown said...

@ Ryan

I don't think any of the comments were pessimistic dude, all I believe they were saying is that the commerical needs to address those specific issues. The one poster is right...The entry into the Linux world can be terribly confusing.

They haven't been told about linuxa2z.com yet.

They will...and soon

Anonymous said...

Helios, the endurance of your enthusiasm is nothing short of inspiring - and more of it is exactly what Linux and FOSS need to succeed.

Any chance we're going to use the 877-LINUX-NOW number for this project? It's still active, paid-for and waiting to be put to use... Just say the word, and you'll have a voicemail drop box.

Unknown said...

Yes Dave, it's time to get that done...email me and we'll make it so.
helios at fixedbylinux dott komm

Anonymous said...

George is the man, our Linux superstar.
He's got a voice like mine very Macho, uh, well I tried.

This is very good Ken if a radio station would wants to use this, where would they get "rights" to use it. You know how people are Scidish out here.

Jim Tate
Indianapolis

Unknown said...

When you think about it a general Linux ad would lead a person with no knowledge of Linux confused when they do decide to go digging around for it. But if you send people to one particular distro then a war breaks out over distros.

What if this were done as a friendly competition between distro communities. Let the communities have a contest and then get as many distro ads out as you can and they would compete against each other. Would it hurt to have people thinking of Fedora, Ubuntu etc. as new operating systems rather than trying to understand Linux as a whole right off the bat?

Anonymous said...

You know Philip you have a point, but I'm
a Fedora user and if all the Newbies want to start using Ubuntu that's alright by me, as long as their using Linux !!



Jim Tate
Indianapolis,Indiana

Anonymous said...

This is a great idea, we need to spread the word. I think the ad should not stress too much free meaning gratis, it should make it clear that it also --and mainly-- stands for freedom. Let's not forget the four freedoms, and let's call the system GNU/Linux. My 2 cents.

Anonymous said...

Along with the phone #877-LINUX-NOW, be prepared to offer support if people request more information and get enthusiastic about trying out Linux.

FelixTheCat said...

The original idea was for Linux businesses to take the voiceover, add music (we used royalty-free music from incompetech.com), and add their contact information at the end. However, it's open to whatever interpretation folks want to give it or businesses need to give it. That's the glory of Creative Commons and FOSS in general.

Enjoy!

Unknown said...

@ Jim T

Hey buddy...

We've already worked out the details wiht the artist...it is released under creative commons so any licensing issues will be null/helios.

h

Anonymous said...

I'm all for free software. I use Linux exclusively and all of the software I use is free, well perhaps with the exception of my wireless drivers. However, I think that media/ads should be accepted even if they were not produced with free software.

It's ridiculous. Use what you need to get the job done. Sometimes you have to use non-free software in the name of free software. Hell, the Linux kernel was maintained using BitKeeper, a proprietary CMS.

Go for your ideals! But be practical about it.

Anonymous said...

There is nothing ridiculous about it. The idea is to prove that, for projects as simple as this at least, open source projects are more than enough to do a professional job. At least that is my take on it. From my three years of following this blog, I know this guy isn't religious about proprietary stuff. Check out his previous rants on the binary blobs offered by Nvidia and ATI.

Would you use your full-blown PS to scale a picture when gimp could do it? We're talking kindergarden stuff here with this particular project. I've used both of the tools this author mentions to do 90 percent of the work I do and I work in a sound studio for laying in undertracks. The proprietary programs some of my competitors use to do the same thing cost in excess of 500,00.

Now we can talk ridiculous.

Marvin Hagle
Beaver Creek Studios

Eric Hedekar said...

Could you be more specific as to the license that the uploaded files will be released under (Creative Commons has many varieties of formations). I need to know more before I upload any of my work.

Also, is there any way that the uploaded files could be browsed by the public?

Jingle said...

Ads are the best idea that should be spread in the world..