+ Marketing Open Source Software +

"Open source" is almost as hot a buzzword these days as "dotcom" used to be. Unfortunately, that's not where the resemblance ends. If you screw up your open source marketing, the backlash can be pretty nasty.

In our exclusive interview, MySQL's VP Marketing Zack Urlocker reveals how to avoid three most common open source marketing mistakes.

Marketers in the open source world deal with a technically sophisticated audience -- generally DBAs and developers -- that won't tolerate marketing fluff. "They're skeptical about puffery or anything that's too polished. There's a lot of cynicism toward marketing," says Zack Urlocker, VP of Marketing for MySQL.

How can you market to techies without a "marketing" voice or style that turns them off? Here's how to avoid three common mistakes, plus five specific tactics that work: