While Apple and Microsoft have been fighting an advertising war between Macs and PCs this year, one operating system has been very quiet. But that's all about to change.

The Linux Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to evangelizing Linux and providing financial and legal support to developers of the open-source operating system, is launching a new ad campaign.

The group is taking a cue from Microsoft's user generated "I'm a PC" ads, asking Linux users to submit videos demonstrating the "I'm Linux" theme. But unlike Microsoft's campaign that paid Jerry Seinfeld $3 million for two commercials and acquired user videos for free, the Linux Foundation plans to compensate the winner of its contest with a free trip to Tokyo to participate in the Linux Foundation Japan Linux Symposium next October.

The group hopes the submitted videos "showcase just what Linux means to those who use it, and hopefully inspires many to try it."

The Linux Foundation may not have the $300 or $486 million that Microsoft and Apple spent on their battles between John Hodgman and his look alike, but it does have the support of flocks of dedicated Linux users and a strong online community to defend and promote whatever comes of the contest.

The winning video will be screened at the Linux Foundation's annual Collaboration Summit in San Francisco in April, 2009. The contest does not officially begin until January 26, but users can begin submitting videos right now.

Photo: Gizmodo

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