[Mageia-dev] Identifying Target Markets

Wed Oct 6 20:57:44 CEST 2010

Marc Paré a écrit :
+>
+>> Targeting the school boards makes a lot of sense.
+>> Note that Openoffice targeted various gov't organisations in France,
+>> some of which ended up migrating to Mandriva as well. Maybe that could
+>> work with school boards as well. I'm tempted to try something like that
+>> with mine, in banlieue of Montréal.
+>> Just out of curiosity, what is your school board ?
+>>
+>> For the server, if Mandriva management were a little more reasonable, it
+>> would be good to partner with them. (I'd like to see something like
+>> RedHat/Fedora.)
+>> In any case, you can't go wrong with RedHat.
+>>
+>> André (andre999)
+>>
+>
+> Bonjour André:
+Salut Marc :
+(sorry for the slow reply, didn't notice it right away)
+>
+> As an example, the official word from the Ontario Ministry of 
+> Education is that if users cannot afford the use of MSOffice, that we 
+> are allowed to promote the use of StarOffice. Here is the official 
+> link: http://www.osapac.org/db/view_software.php?id=310  Sun had made 
+> arrangements to provide support through their 1-800 ... telephone 
+> service (unofficially, they had also said that they would have 
+> supported OpenOffice user queries as well, although this policy may 
+> have changed after this policy had been posted on the net). There are 
+> over 2 million students being taught in Ontario where I teach. Quite a 
+> good market to target. You can find the statistics on registered 
+> school student numbers here: 
+> http://www42.statcan.ca/smr08/2007/smr08_088_2007-eng.htm
+Interesting contract.
+I've read of similar approaches in France with OpenOffice or StarOffice, 
+where they ended up installing (at least some) Mandriva workstations.
+>
+> If we were to commit to an "Education based" install (this could be 
+> done at the point of installation where you could tag the type of 
+> distro that you would want installed) with SOLID alternatives for the 
+> most common software packages used in educational institutions, then 
+> we could make a convincing case for the installation of Mageia 
+> desktops in schools. Most governmental agencies today are sensitive to 
+> ways of cutting down on expenses.
+Selecting an "Education based" install (which could be used with other 
+software selections is what I had in mind.
+This could be called the "Education software group" (for want of a 
+better name).
+Like that you don't need a special "Education" version, it's the same 
+DVD for everyone.
+Of course, the necessary education software has to be on the DVD.
+An excellent way to promote Mageia.
+In fact, using a common DVD, students could take a copy home, and 
+install as well, the "young family" and/or "home office" software 
+groups.  (Which would necessarily overlap to some extent.)
+>
+> The only problem that I would see in doing such a promotion is that 
+> this type of usage would require a server/client solution. This is 
+> where the choice of server partnership would become important. RehHat 
+> and Suse are well-known servers options in the business world. We 
+> could then partner up with them and make sure that Mageia/RedHat or 
+> Mageia/Suse solutions are rock solid. Unless we seek a partnership 
+> with MandrivaLinux server, but in North American markets, Mandriva is 
+> really not a force to contend with and is not really known.
+>
+> Marc
+Since we're in Canada, Mageia/RedHat and Mageia/Suse make sense due to 
+the greater North American presence, but Mandriva server is a major 
+player in the European and South American markets.
+The advantage of using Mandriva server in Canada is English/French in 
+the education system in every province.
+Like I've already said elsewhere, I'd like to see some accommodation 
+with Mandriva for the commercial/server side.
+In any case, we could always offer a choice of servers.  RedHat, Suse, 
+and Mandriva all use compatible RPM packaging.
+
+André (andre999)
+