[ocaml-biz] target demographics

[Brandon J. Van Every]

Olivier Grisel wrote:
> Brandon J. Van Every a ?crit :
> > Olivier Grisel wrote:
> >
> >>I don't think being "too friendly" is a disadvantage
> >>especially for an open source project.
> >
> > I don't think OCaml should be viewed as "an open source project."  I
> > think it should be viewed as "a language competing in the commercial
> > arena with all the other languages, like Java and C#."
> > Thus it needs a
> > logo that the CEO of some Fortune 500 company isn't gonna laugh at.
>
> First, being "an open source project" is more and more trendy.

Encouraging, but not bankable.

> Second,
> OCaml being "a language competing in the commercial arena
> with all the
> other languages, like Java and C#" is far from being the case at the
> moment.

I don't see why this changes the growth path.  You still have to make a
slick logo, still have to convince suits...

> Look at python: it started as an open source project and its
> slowly becomming a Java competitor:

Yeah... slooooooooooooooooooooowly.

> big companies like CA (and some
> other major IT consulting firms here in Europe) are stating to invest
> money in Python and Zope. The Python and OCaml communities aren't Sun
> and it would be a mistake to try to apply the same marketing
> strategy as for Java.

I was on the Python committees with people who had the artistic talent
to make marketing materials every bit as slick as Java's.  That level of
output was simply refused by the PSF.  Guido, for instance, thought it
would be more helpful to trash the most productive web designer's
graphic design skills than to engage in a reasoned discussion of a given
logo's pros and cons.  Guido also can't figure out how unprofessional
www.python.org really looks.

To say "Python shouldn't be like Sun," like that's the problem, is just
nonsense.  Python's problem is they chase away the people who could do
real marketing for them.  Techies often just don't know how to make the
switch to bigger and better things.

> (Personnaly I don't like Java's logo at all, and

I think one should be more objective about such things.  Objectively,
Java has a good logo.  I see nothing about it that has hurt the company
in any way.  It is distinctive compared to other high tech logos.  It is
somewhat clever.  If you dislike its coloration, or thematics, or
whatever, that's pretty irrelevant.  Sun did a decent job on their logo,
and to think otherwise would just be letting one's personal feelings get
in the way.  I may not personally enjoy every logo out there, but I do
recognize decent graphic design when I see it.

> Ask 100 CTOs from the Fortune 500 companies  what is the logo
> of Red Hat Linux: how many will answer 'a penguin' ?

The correct answer will be 'no idea'.

> Get the techies addicted o a technology, their managers will
> follow. But
> it might take some time: Linux took 10 years to go
> mainstream.

Sure.  If you play the game like a techie instead of a marketer.


Cheers,                     www.indiegamedesign.com
Brandon Van Every           Seattle, WA

When no one else sells courage, supply and demand take hold.