If this is a metric we are interested, we can easily get better ideas of unknowns with polls. Though not scientific, its better to hold up claims we have than nothing.
A marketing activity would be to do polls, announce on the download and home page, and announce via social media updates/tweets. An example of a poll. http://micropoll.com/t./KEtFbZQfYy Why do you use Apache OpenOffice? A. I saved money, I would have had to pay for an Office Suite. B. I like this free alternative the most. I wouldn't pay for Office Software. C. I like this free alternative the most. I would pay for Office Software if I had to. How many computers do you have Apache OpenOffice installed on? A. 1-2 B. 3-4 C. 5-9 D. 10+ (Not A)'s generally have to pay for multiple licenses. This gets us closer to cost avoidance, not value provided. But its another metric that is also impressive and has strong wind in companies. Samer On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 1:00 PM, Rob Weir <robw...@apache.org> wrote: > On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 12:04 PM, janI <j...@apache.org> wrote: > > On 6 February 2013 17:50, Rob Weir <robw...@apache.org> wrote: > > > >> On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 11:42 AM, janI <j...@apache.org> wrote: > >> > On 6 February 2013 17:33, Rob Weir <robw...@apache.org> wrote: > >> > > >> >> On Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 10:45 AM, RA Stehmann > >> >> <anw...@rechtsanwalt-stehmann.de> wrote: > >> >> > Am 06.02.2013 14:43, schrieb Rob Weir: > >> >> >> Yes, yes, we're a non-profit organization. We don't charge for > >> Apache > >> >> >> OpenOffice. We don't pay developers. But we still do produce > >> >> >> something of value, and that value can be estimated. > >> >> >> > >> >> >> People need office productivity software. The main alternative to > >> >> >> OpenOffice is Microsoft Office, perhaps the "Home and Student" > >> >> >> edition. The latest version (2013) sells for $139.99 on Amazon. > >> This > >> >> >> is for the downloadable version. > >> >> >> > >> >> >> We have averaged 153K downloads per day of Apace OpenOffice over > the > >> >> >> last week. That is an average value to the public of $21.5 > million > >> >> >> per day. Or $7.833 billion (7.833 thousand million) per year. > >> >> >> > >> >> >> To put that in perspective, here are comparable annual sales > figures > >> >> >> for some familiar companies: > >> >> >> > >> >> >> -- Campbell Soup Company: $7.882 billion > >> >> >> -- Royal Caribbean Cruises: $7.657 billion > >> >> >> -- Mastercard, Inc: $7.391 billion > >> >> >> -- OfficeMax: $7.094 billion > >> >> >> > >> >> >> > >> >> >> So we're providing tremendous value to the public. We should be > >> proud > >> >> >> of what we've accomplished over the past decade. > >> >> >> > >> >> >> Note: We could certainly debate the exact value provided to > users. > >> >> >> Determining what a user would do if they did not get AOO for free > is > >> >> >> tricky. But the logic above is similar to how the BSA estimates > >> >> >> losses to Microsoft from software piracy. They assume that the > >> person > >> >> >> who pirates Office would buy it if they did not pirate it. So it > >> >> >> seems fair to use that same logic to estimate the value provided > to > >> >> >> users by a legal free alternative like Apache OpenOffice. > >> >> >> > >> >> > > >> >> > Freedom is far to expensive. > >> >> > > >> >> > (I think you have to multiply the download figures, because people > >> have > >> >> > the really used right to share AOO and they have the right to > install > >> it > >> >> > on any number of computers.) > >> >> > > >> >> > >> >> Of course, Microsoft also has multi-user and multi-PC licenses as > >> >> well, which sell at a discount to the price of a single-user license. > >> >> So it is not strictly a multiplication. But it does make our value a > >> >> little greater. We also have Base and Draw, so we have additional > >> >> applications than just Home and Business has, but we're not quite > >> >> Office Professional since we don't have Publisher. > >> >> > >> >> But I think the numbers are a good rough estimate. > >> >> > >> >> -Rob > >> >> > >> > @Rob. > >> > > >> > Nice work as usual, digging out these numbers. I think however (along > the > >> > lines of Dave) that this is realy something the press could use for a > >> good > >> > story, and it would be so much better to tell it to the world, > instead of > >> > just us in here (we already know we provide a great service). > >> > > >> > I can already see the title "how non-profit organisations help > goverments > >> > and companies save billions to counter the crisis". Any reporter would > >> like > >> > that :-) > >> > > >> > >> OK. I'll form this into a blog post. > >> > > just a question, does ASF / AOO never do press releases, I am used to > that > > e.g. a blog post goes hand in hand with a press release. But I am not > sure > > what the politics are in ASF. > > > > It depends on what you mean by a "press release" If you mean a > formal press release, submitted to a wire service, that could be done. > But those services are not free. > > At the other end, we have the informal tone of the blog, which > sometimes gets notice by the press. > > In between we can have pages on the website that are in the form of a > press release. We did that with the 3.4.0 release, for example: > http://www.openoffice.org/news/aoo34.html. That got a lot of > coverage, but I suspect the newsworthiness of the topic is more to > credit than the page format. In fact, we had originally drafted it on > the blog and then moved it to the website due to some last-minute > technical issues with the blog. > > One way to think of it is this: a press release is designed to be > easily consumed by the working journalist. It has a clear lead, is > easy to read, has material that can easily be quoted, and of course is > newsworthy. A blog post is more conversational, more leisurely, might > have more personality, and the audience is more for the users and the > larger community, We probably want a mix. > > > We also had our respin, which we did not even publish internally in asf, > > and I see other projects write a lot about their releases. > > > > We did have a blog post on the respin, as well as an announcement sent > out to annou...@openoffice.apache.org (9000 subscribers). But I don't > think anyone sent it to annou...@apache.org. We should probably > include them for release announcements. > > IMHO the missed opportunity is in engaging the local media, discussion > forums, blogs, technical press, etc., for these new languages. We can > issue a press release, but no one in Korea will ever hear about it. > > -Rob > > > rgds > > Jan I. > > > >> > >> -Rob > >> > >> > >> > rgds > >> > Jan I > >> > > >> > > >> >> > >> >> > Regards > >> >> > Michael > >> >> > > >> >> > > >> >> > > >> >> > >> >
