Re: Content Milestone - Mapping

[Brian Cameron <Brian Cameron Sun COM>]

Paul:

> I'll be honest here - I don't really think like a developer, so any help 
> here is appreciated.

There are really two types of developers.  People who write a GTK+ or
GNOME based program (or are considering writing one), and people who
develop on the GNOME desktop itself.  It is probably better to have
clear pointers for the first audience since they would likely be less
familiar with the GNOME community and how to navigate the community
processes.

However, it would also be good to have a top-level page for people
who work in the GNOME community with pointers to things like internal
processes (e.g. the release team process, how to use GIT, how to
get involved, etc.) that are generally useful.

> Right now, we have two pages scoped - Platform, and it's sub-page, Why 
> GNOME Platform?

The GNOME desktop is divided into 3 sections:

- Dependencies - Free software that GNOME needs to run, but which isn't
                 directly maintained by the GNOME community, or blessed
                 to be a part of "GNOME".
- Platform     - Those are base libraries that people would most likely
                 use to write their own GNOME or GTK+ program.
- Desktop      - These tend to be private interfaces, such as libraries
                 which only provide function for other GNOME programs.
                 Also libraries which are not considered mature enough
                 for general use.

The main difference is that Platform libraries have an ABI policy which
guarantees that they will work on upgrade.  If you write a program which
uses a Desktop library, then it could break when you update to a new
GNOME desktop.

This is also described in more detail here:

  http://live.gnome.org/ReleasePlanning/ModuleRequirements/Platform
  http://live.gnome.org/TwoPointTwentyseven/Platform

There are also a number of desktop integration points that are not
libraries.  Like "how do I add an application to the Start menu".  Some
of these sorts of interfaces are defined by FreeDesktop specifications
so that people can easily install programs in a standard way and expect
them to work across all desktops which support the specification.

So, it's good to market that GNOME has a good solid set of Platform
libraries and integration points.

> We can put the high level links you mention on the Platform itself, or 
> as Lucas mentioned on Support -> Developers.  Off the top of my head, I 
> would think the content would be a Platform introduction, and at least 
> "Learn More" with those kind of links, and lead into the "Why" page.

Yes, providing people with pointers to explain the Platform, and the
FreeDesktop specifications supported by GNOME is probably a good start.

> If you have recommendations on subpages that should be included in 2.28 
> / 2.30, let me know what your recommendations are, and then the key is 
> finding writers who can help bring that content to life in our timeframe.

The GNOME release team maintains the existing pages that explain this
sort of stuff.  Perhaps we just need to help direct them as to how to
reorganize the information so it can also be useful to a more general
audience?

Brian