[indiana-discuss] Indiana Wish List

[Patrick Finch]

Frank Van Der Linden wrote:
> Patrick Finch wrote:
>> I won't claim expertise, but I don't think that marketing theorists 
>> would agree that the statement "we're making OpenSolaris more like 
>> Linux" weakens the OpenSolaris brand (such as it is) at all.
>>
>> Association of a brand with another leading brand in the same category 
>> usually strengthens, as does the publicity generated (how many articles 
>> have you seen about Indiana?).
>>
>> Extending the brand with new categories, however, is usually considered 
>> to weaken a brand, as is expanding its meaning.
>>   
> Hm. Several reactions I got when I tried to explain "Project Indiana" to 
> users who did not know the details would contradict that, but I don't 
> claim that this is a representative sample, of course. One reaction was 
> literally "I thought Solaris was more of a leader than a follower, but 
> it sounds like you're following Linux". I don't think that's the 
> reaction we're going for, are we?

Maybe you didn't explain it well ;)

Seriously, from what you quote, it sounds like they already had great 
awareness and of and positive inclination towards the Solaris brand, is 
that fair?  Were they a community member?  (If not, why not?)

I would a person with such a reaction is not a representative of the 
kind of person we seek to attract to OpenSolaris.  It sounds closer to 
the reaction of an existing community member.  I have similar emotional 
associations with the Solaris brand myself.

> What I have seen in positive press articles about Sun is that they 
> described how Sun got back its confidence and was doing new things 
> again, e.g. leading, not following. I like that.

I think everyone at Sun likes that.

Patrick