User oriented release notes

[karderio <karderio gmail com>]

Hi :o)

I just took a second look at the 2.16 release notes[1]. Although they
were a very interesting read, on occasion they came over as perhaps a
little too technical, leaving maybe the ghost of the impression that
GNOME could be a desktop "by devs for devs".

Please don't get me wrong, the notes are a fine job, but somehow the
buzz the end user should be feeling is missing.

What could take the edge off the buzz a user should be feeling when
reading about GNOME ? Compilation options is one, links to "technical"
fd.o standards another, there's the "code cleanups" section... Not to
say these are bad, I don't mind them one bit - but telling a potential
user about "compiling" even before he has seen the contraption can
hardly promote it...

The other criticism I could raise is a lack of at least one screenshot
of the entire GNOME desktop.

A couple of suggestions I would advance this perceived problem of mine
would either be to relegate anything un-soft-and-fluffy to a
"developers" section, or create a completely "Presenting GNOME" section
elsewhere, full of much appreciated, soft fluffy topics for users.

Perhaps the criticisms I have directed at the release notes are not
meant for them at all. The notes in fact being an excellent interim,
bolstering the "About GNOME" section, which manages to say piles about
GNOME's goals without ever saying what it does or what it looks like.

Love, Karderio.


[1] http://www.gnome.org/start/2.16/notes/C/index.html