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I'm a big fan of Linux. I use it on my desktop and laptop to the almost total exclusion of Windows (Portal and Spore being the exceptions). I use it even though the flash player and [insert device here] support and Xinerama drive me crazy. And I evangelize it when relevant.

The Linux Foundation ran a contest to produce a TV spot for Linux comparable to and competitive with the extremely successful Get a Mac ad campaign ("Hi, I'm a Mac").

Entries ranged from creepy to super creepy (check out :27 specifically) to cringingly dorky.

The results were announced today. The winner isn't creepy at least, but it's this worthless exploration of what freedom (the libre kind) "means", without touting any of the practical benefits of Linux. It could equally well be a commercial for Windows or Mac (although it would be pretty hypocritical coming from them...). I have no doubt it won because of the hoards of Stallmanites that must be frequent visitors of the Linux foundation website. Freedom is cool and all, but I really think we should be explaining benefits in terms of a benefit to consumers, not ideological benefits that are not explained or backed up.

I don't think the exact format and ideas behind the Get a Mac commercials should be copied directly (although that has been kinda reasonable in the past). But one of the reasons the Get a Mac commercials are successful, I think, is that they explain the benefits of OSX and Apple hardware in very plain, simple to understand terms (think this one and this one. And they are real benefits, not benefits like "freedom".

SO MANY YOUTUBE LINKS.