Re: Writing the 2.16 release notes (and press release)

[Vincent Untz <vuntz gnome org>]

Hi all,

(adding gnome-journal-list on CC since there are some people with
unnatural abilities when it comes down to write/proofread english on
this list ;-)) (but I don't think we need to send replies there, so
please try to not spam them when replying!)

Le lundi 21 août 2006, à 15:39, Davyd Madeley a écrit :
> On Mon, Aug 21, 2006 at 09:27:20AM +0200, Vincent Untz wrote:
> > Ping again since the release is in nearly two weeks, and we want
> > translations...
> 
> I've really dropped the ball on this, because I'm over committed.
> Someone else really needs to take the lead and let me just fill in
> where I can.

Here's the new plan:

 + if you can help, send a mail here, and add your name with a small
   list of what you can do at the end of [1]

 + deadlines:
   - August 24: the features list at [1] is frozen, meaning that we can
     start writing the notes
   - August 26: skeleton of the release notes available
   - August 30: the release notes text is frozen so translators can do
     their job
   - September 6: go live

 + (short) description of the various tasks:

   - coordination: well, that's the job of the person who will slap the
     others when they're late ;-)

   - writing the release notes front page: this is the first page of the
     release notes. It usually contains a screenshot of GNOME and some
     explanations about GNOME. See [2] for an example.

   - writing the start page: it should be quite easy, but we can improve
     it. See [3] for an example.

   - preparing the wgo front page: I'm not sure what's needed here since
     I'm not up-to-date with the latest wgo development

   - creating the skeleton of the release notes: people will triage the
     new features to help write a skeleton of the notes.

   - writing text: that's the hard work. two or three people would work on
     transforming the skeleton in real text.

   - proofreading: you know what this means :-)

   - taking screenshots (or screencasts!): we'll need screen{shot,cast}s
     for the new features. In the past, we've been modifying the
     screenshots so they have drop shadows. It doesn't take that long.

   - putting everything on wgo: if we're still with the same wgo system,
     this implies adding all files to CVS and make this work.
     I can help here if necessary.

   - creating a live cd (or even better, live cds for various
     languages): this is really something people like. I don't know how
     hard this is, though.

   - asking people to upload 2.16 screenshots to art.gnome.org: users
     like to see screenshots.

 + if we want a press release, we also some people to work on this. Any
   volunteer?

Most of the work could be done by a small team, but having more people
would really help make things better!

Quim told me he could do some work, and coordinate all this, but he's
fine with someone with more free time to step up :-)

Thanks,

Vincent

[1] http://live.gnome.org/TwoPointFifteen/ReleaseNotes
[2] http://www.gnome.org/start/2.10/notes/ [4]
[3] http://www.gnome.org/start/2.14/
[4] the 2.12 and 2.14 release notes are broken. We have to fix this.

-- 
Les gens heureux ne sont pas pressés.