Question

Choose a nonprofit organization that you think markets itself effectively. Why did you pick that organization? What external factors do you think the organization should be most concerned about? Each student should select a different nonprofit.Choose a nonprofit organization that you think markets itself effectively. Why did you pick that organization? What external factors do you think the organization should be most concerned about? Each student should select a different nonprofit.

Answer 1

Choose a nonprofit organization that you think markets itself effectively.

Linux.

Why did you pick that organization?

If asked, who are known as the most first rich and then famous people in the globe, most of the answers by general public would be Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. What do they do (or did)? Well, Steve Jobs (arguably) created the organization Apple, with products catagorized as laptops, personal computers, smartphones, Mac OS, etc; while Bill Gates created the organization Microsoft, with products characterized as Windows OS, Application softwares (MS Office), etc. They both earned with profit seeking motives.

Linux is is an Open Source Operating System. In brief, Operating System (OS) is software that acts primarily as an interface between user and computer. OS manages the hardware resources, and is the communication between the application software and harware. Linux is like everywhere in these days, from cars, tv, smartphones to servers. An open source software is something which is published to code and alter for free for everyone. Microsoft and Apple's software products are not open source, and it is supposed that we can either use it, or not. An open source provide like unlimited possibilities to what we can do as a community.

If one uses Microsoft or Apple's products, you have to pay a quite of a lot of money which will go to the organization, and that's it. You use it for a while and then there is another version to upgrade, which then further requires money. Also, after sometime, you need to upgrade even the hardware to use the more upgraded versions of the software. But, if one uses Linux products, the most basic feature is that it is FREE! Most of the Linux OS's are free, except some like Red Hat, etc, which are meant for enterprise purposes. The daily use Linux OS and application softwares are free of cost, and there are several (100s of) distros (versions) of Linux OS, like Fedora, Mint, Ubuntu, etc. They only ask money as donantions, otherwise they are free. They are stable and most secure, and are well supported by the Linux Community, the people who do this mostly in goodwill. Also, Linux products ususally require less hardware, ie if one have outdated hardware for Microsoft or Apple products, they can still use Linux, doing the same they did before.

Merketing features of Linux is quite good. Since they are open source, they are applicale to thousands of independent projects. Other than being in most of the servers, smartphones as android, many daily use electonic products, cars, etc, the most remarkable feature of them are the Raspberry Pi (RP) projects. RP is a mini computer developed as cheap and effective way of providing the tool to many underdeveloped nations in which it would be quite costly to buy the Computers, and to the general public for doing their individual projects. The RP runs with the OS of Linux, named Raspbian OS, developed form a famous and primary Linux OS named Debian. To use the daily computing tools, without any high end application, as is considered necessary to teach to children in Underdeveloped nation and in low budget institutes, like coding, writing and calculation software packages, etc, RP is just the product. But thats not its limit, since it runs with low electricity and is an open source hardware product of small size, it is being applied to many independent robotic projects, and has been gone to even space as a NASA project.

Thus, it can be said that Linux, being open source non-profit organization, is shaping everyday life with so many dimesnions, but without any profit seeking motive. It also costs less hardware requirements, and is thus proposes less e-wastes. The major achievement in economic terms is that it creates a way to reduce the deadweight loss. As the Microsoft and Apple are profit seeking organization and since they have kind of their own market, they are considered as monopolists. Even some of the antitrust laws were imposed on Microsoft. But what they do is, to seek profit, and hence, create a deadweight loss. This is more or less compensated by the Linux, and more than that, they don't do it because it gives them profit, but it provides a platform for their ideas which are considered secondary, but are still usefull to many. The recent smarphone revolution in which a mass public holds a smartphone, is possible only due to Google's investment in Android, which provides a on Linux based OS. Their moto is like as said "Create the best thing, and give it for the price of air". As being open source, there are many customizations of the OS, termed as custom rom, in which anyone with a knowledge can have the source code, and customize it according to their needs, to create their own OS of android. Examples are Lineage OS, Resurrection Remix, AOSP, etc. Anyhow, Linux does promote welfare and shape the life around us, and does affects us even though we don't know how, and all that for free of cost and a goodwill.

What external factors do you think the organization should be most concerned about?

The organization is still in its growth in many ways, but should be concerned about many things. It must check the security of the systems it creates. As more people will use it, more threat will be there. Since most people use windows, there are more malwares, viruses, etc for windows than any other product. The compatibility issues with general gaming platform is also an issue, which should be checked. But most of all, the open souce feature of it should be protected at all cost, as in the market for software products, Linux is said to be the future, only if it will remain Open source. If companies buy the organization somehow, they will become another profit seeking organization, and that would really affect it adversely.