Linux and The Indianapolis 500

LXer Feature: 08-May-2007 The idea to have the Open Source community sponsor a car in the Indianapolis 500 put forth recently has more than just the Open Source Press taking notice. Here is my take on it.

First a disclaimer: I am in not in any way, shape or form involved with the Tux500 campaign. I happen to know several of the people involved but other than that I have no connection to it whatsoever. With that said I am free to express any opinions I may have on the subject, which I plan on doing right now..

It all started several weeks ago when Bob Moore and Ken Starks made public the idea of sponsoring a car in the Indianapolis 500. The idea being to have one of the cars say "Linux" and/or have a big "Tux" logo on it. A very cool and very bold idea. Having your name on one of the cars in the biggest motorsports event on the planet does not come cheap. Here's the funny thing, its not the amount of money but where its going to be spent that has gotten underneath some peoples skin. Some like the NASCAR or Motorcycle circuits more and others don't believe that people who watch any kind of Motorsports are who the Open Source community should be advertising too. Then there are those who just don't like anything and some, ok one, who thinks its a scam of some kind.

Does anyone remember when Firefox had the two full page ad in the New York Times? At the time I was very involved in the Spread Firefox campaign and I remember when Asa Dotzler and others proposed the idea of raising money to put an ad in the New York Times and tell the world about Firefox. Something like that had never been done before. Many people immediately questioned why they had chosen the New York Times instead of another publication. Others thought that we should make the ad smaller and put it in several newspapers at once and still others just didn't like it no matter what paper or publication was mentioned. Sound familiar?

Well Asa stuck to his guns and took the time to explain over and over again that putting the ad in the New York Times, because of its national and international circulation would have the greatest effect possible for the money raised. The majority of people involved agreed and the donations came pouring in. So much money was raised that instead of the original one page idea it became two pages in size making certain that the ad could not be glanced over by the reader. Also, having the names of the people who donated to the campaign incorporated into the actual design of the ad was a stroke of genius.

Now whether or not you like the idea of taking out a full page in the New York Times or painting an Indy League Racing Car with Linux logos is your own prerogative. Like it or not you have to respect the fact that someone is trying to do something, anything to get the word out and let the world know about how great Linux and Open Source Software really is. I believe that taking action, any action is better than inaction. The arguments over whether the money is better well spent on something else or your preference of one newspaper or racing league over another are counter productive to what is trying to be achieved, especially the curmudgeons who don't like anything and have to tell everyone about it. The arguments for not taking action never change, no matter the source.

One of the things I like about about Open Source is that it gives the individual the choice to do what they want and nothing more. You can use the software and walk away if you wish. You do not have to participate in the community at all and no can make you. That kind of freedom makes people want to participate and it is just one of the reasons that the Open Source Community is as strong as it is. It is the voluntary bonds of common interest we create that are the strongest and it is the voluntary, and mostly volunteer Open Source Community that is one the strongest communities of common interest on the planet, I challenge anyone to refute this.

The Indianapolis 500 is the single largest Motorsports event on Planet Earth. It is a one of a kind car race with no equal inside or outside of the United States. There are race teams whose only purpose is to attempt to qualify and run in that one race. It is the only race that gets the attention and feeds the imagination of people of all ages no matter where they are or what country they are from. For an entire month people from all over the world watch, listen and read about what is going on in Indianapolis. If you have ever seen a car and know what a "race" is, then you have heard of the Indianapolis 500. It is that full month of publicized qualifying, testing and good old fashion "grandstanding" leading up to the actual race that make it comparable to the World Cup in every way.

With all the corporate entities refusing to help because they think that having a car in the Indy 500 with a Linux logo on it is not enough to make them want to help, it is up to us to make this happen. Its up to us as a community to show the world what we are capable of. With Red Hat not wanting to help, and Novell and Dell playing us against Microsoft, what I have done in response is to contact all of the vendors in our Pre-Installed Linux Vendor Database and ask them for their help in sponsoring the Tux500 car. I can only hope that some of them will like what they see and donate to the cause. I have also been telling everyone I know about it as well. I am only one person but I know I am not alone in my efforts. I am a part of a worldwide community of people who believe in Free and Open Source Software.

My personal goal in writing this article is to inspire you to help out, to tell others and through your actions show the world just how powerful this community is. Are we going to raise the whole $350,000? probably not, but it does not mean that we have failed if we don't. Are we going to be able to raise the minimum $25,000 so that we have a Linux Logo on the car period? I hope so. That goal is certainly within reach and if we do we will have done something that has never been done before. We will have shown the world that a community of people can come together to promote something that they believe in so strongly that it got put on a car in the Indianapolis 500 for the whole world to see.

And just what is it that we will get in return for our support? The ability to tell the world that we were a part of putting a car in the Indy 500. We were a part of making the world take notice of Linux. I don't know about you but that is something I want to be a part of. It is something I am going to brag about to any who will listen to me for a long time to come.