Re: release notes: first draft

[Davyd Madeley <davyd madeley id au>]

On Tue, 2006-03-07 at 07:29 +0100, Quim Gil wrote:

> Marketing people, we need mass media friendly headline for this release
> notes to help journalists write something about them. To me the non-free
> codecs friendly GStreamer 0.10 and "The GNOME desktop is now measurably
> faster" would be the two candidates to be remarked.

Journalist ready press bytes are meant to be handled by the press
release. As far as I know, no one has put their hand up for this yet.

> http://www.gnome.org/start/2.14/notes/C/index.html
>
> - The first paragraph could include at the end a link to "What's New For
> Users". As Murray says, the chances of people not finding this link in
> the right column are high and most insiders know already the generic
> text explained after the screenshot.

Now done.

> - Before the screenshot I would add a second paragraph (or bullet list)
> sumarizing what's new. We don't intend to detail everything but give the
> highlights. Something like "The GNOME desktop is now measurably faster.
> Local searching has been improved through Natilus, the GNOME help
> browser and the new Deskbar, that can also integrate with Google Live,
> Yahoo and Beagle. A powerful and integrated GNOME Screensaver replaces
> Xscreensaver. The GStreamer multimedia framework offers official support
> for non-free codecs like MP3 or WMA through licensed plugins. Popular
> GNOME applications such as Evolution, Epiphany, Gedit and Ekiga (the
> former GNOME Meeting) also incorporate new features. Also, a new
> Administration Suite is offered to systems administrators featuring the
> Sabayon users manager and Pessulus lockdown editor."

Hmm, I will think about this.

> - Before the screenshot I'd add a brief third paragragh with something
> like "You can test GNOME 2.14 through <link>our LiveCD</link>, the
> <link>GARNOME</link> development tool or any <link>software
> distribution</link> shipping it."

I think a link to Installing GNOME might work here.

> - Consider adding direct links to thr mentioned applications: Abiword,
> Gnumeric, etc. In the other pages too. Ideally these project pages would
> have in their homepages prominent news related to the GNOME 2.14 release
> explaining in detail what's new. Of course we can't control this but at
> least we can facilitate this fluent user experience by providing the
> direct links from the release notes.

I can't remember why we decided not to do this last time. Maybe there
wasn't a reason.

> - "the GNU Image Manipulation Program" is mostly known as "the GIMP".

I was recommended against this as it is a derogatory term for people
with disabilities in some English dialects.

> - Consider linking to http://gnome.org/projects/ instead of
> gnomefiles.org so we keep users in our website and we prioritise the
> official GNOME projects. You could add then something like "You may find
> more GNOME related software at <link>gnomefiles.org</link>".

Ok.

> http://www.gnome.org/start/2.14/notes/C/rnusers.html
>
> - Consider a first paragraph summarising to make it easier to
> journalists and other lazy readers.
>
> - I'm good at being an average user and I get confused at the Deskbar
> explanation. I think a screenshot capture where I see the deskbar in its
> context would help me understanding it. I might be a potential user of
> this new feature, maybe the explanation can be improved.

You're saying that the current screenshot is insufficent?

> - In Better editor I would delete "and creating personal and business
> websites is now a piece of cake for anyone." because... well, despite
> Gedit improvement it's not "a piece of cake for anyone", nor we want to
> recommend hardcodeing pages to create personal and busines websites. I
> mean, is a sentence and a topic not essential in the release notes.

I'll think about this.

> - "Also new, is the ability to write plugins for Gedit in Python" this
> paragraph belongs to What's New For Developers.

Probably.

> - Consider deleting "For whatever reason, some users will wish to
> continue using Xscreensaver. This will still be possible and you should
> consult your vendor documentation on how this should be achieved." since
> this is the same for almost any application distros or users choose
> (i.e. Firefox vs Epiphany, Thunderbird vs Evolution, etc).

There is a lot of contention about gnome-screensaver, I really mean A
LOT. The release notes are meant to note all aspects of the release,
including the fact you don't have to put up with our interface facism if
you don't want to. I'm pretty sure when we announced Epiphany we said
that things would continue to work with other browsers (but I haven't
gone to check).

> - "... take advantage of the latest GStreamer; including Totem, Sound
> Juicer" the applications should have the same font used in previous
> cases (and link, as suggested).
>
> - "GStreamer 0.10 will also allow users to take advantage of multimedia
> plugins distributed by 3rd party vendors to offer support for licensed
> codecs that where no free codec is available." something in this
> sentence is confusing.

You're right. I'll attempt to rewrite it.

> http://www.gnome.org/start/2.14/notes/C/rninstallation.html
>
> - "some already have development versions with GNOME 2.14 available." we
> should link them, either stating them in the release notes (a
> consideration to those working in the edge of GNOME) or listing them in
> your Get Footware page.

I wanted to avoid naming distributions.

> - If possible, I would make even clearer that there are relatively easy
> ways to get GNOME 2.14 for the average/advanced user, leaving the others
> only to developers. Live CD and distributions could go in a nice looking
> , logo featured, download now etc style. Garnome, jhbuild and source
> should go apart, with a title like "Developers resources" or something
> disuasive to average users.
>
> - The "Note" at the end of the page could go at the beginning of the
> listing itself.
>
> - Can the list of packages be put in a paragrapgh with commas instead of
> the huge listing? It's the biggest "artifact" of the release notes and
> in fact is interesting to just a buch of people. If I'm a user and I've
> clicked to the "Installing GNOME" link it looks to me like something
> important/relevant when (to me) it's not.

Yeah, I was thinking of doing that.

> *** Additional comments
>
> I'm not following the release cycle, just the Planet. There are some
> things I remember that interested me and there is no mention in the
> release notes. It's probably because they are not implemented yet in
> 2.14 but just in case.
>
> - There is no mention to Tango, Cairo and other design / look&feel stuff
> that seemed to be relevant by reading the Planet in this release cycle.

That's because none of it is relevant to this release.

> - The real time collaborative edition features planned or developed
> around Abiword and Inkscape, are they ready?

Not GNOME.

> - Also, with the OpenDocument format media awareness I think we should
> mention something about it. It might not be something essential in the
> context of the whole 2.14 but it's something that can get interest in
> the context of the free software media/community.

Not GNOME.

> - This is the same reason why I think we should explain more and better
> the GStreamer & MP3 + non-free codecs love story, giving more relevance
> to it in the release notes, going together with an explanation of how
> great ogg 100% formats are abd how good GNOME plays with them. It hits
> one of the most popular activities users perform and also hits one of te
> most popular topics that media bring to headlines (music downloads, file
> sharing, free vs non-free etc).

I'm not quite sure what you're saying here.

--d

-- 
Davyd Madeley

http://www.davyd.id.au/
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