On the other hand I don’t see why FOSS would need any kind of self-promotion. We should concentrate on the product and let the market decide by word-by-mouth approach.

If they don’t believe word-by-mouth is enough maybe it’s because they don’t believe in their product that much. I agree with that.

Thanks for the post, I think it’s very important to point out these issues.

Another point that should be stressed is that KDE’s marketing people have always been very honest and are doing a great job in covering the community with what’s going on internally. There also happens to be a great deal of interest in the media as well, from journalists, we’ve learned that they very much appreciate those tips (refering to Jos here), and that it’s a good tool to make their lives easier.

The bits about having KDE people writing for 3rd party media is by the way interesting in its own sense. We’ve seen that not only software developers have better chances of finding a job, but also, for example writers. In fact, it’s an excellent way for contributors to be able to earn some extra cents (remember, they’re often not paid to do this). This is a healthy Free Culture community at work. It’s not subversive (or anything like rocket-science to someone intimate with the concepts of promotion). If it weren’t meant to be information accessible to other projects but some confidential secret tactiques crap, it certainly wouldn’t end up on the PlanetKDE. I do think that the “sound impartial” bit is right on its own, but it certainly nothing illegal or inadequate to actively take care of good media coverage. It’s an essential part of communication within the wider Free Software community. We’re not an Island.

Lastly, I’d like to address your concern that we’re pissing off our own people — we’re not. Core developers (and they’re not the only one involved when you create a user-oriented desktop) are closely involved with the whole process, it’s not like ‘all of a sudden some marketing peeps have taken over’, but much more a sign of a diverse community of Free Desktop people.

So all in all, I do support your “call for honesty”, but I do not think it’s wise to limit ourselves to keep thinking inside the box.