Re: GNOME 2.20 release notes

["Ken VanDine" <ken vandine org>]

I would view 2.19.x as something for the enthusiast/power user/version
chaser, but 2.20 will be a stable release.  Therefore suitable for the
masses, not bleeding edge.

--Ken

On 8/3/07, Toms <toms baugis gmail com> wrote:
> I'll take a risk to jump into discussion.
>
> GNOME release day is like finding Christmas present before Christmas. You
> open the package, read release notes, clap your hands, tell everybody about
> the cool bits we will get soon through, what's quite possible, your techy
> blog. The blog has also quite large percent of non-techy readers for whom it
> might be a real eye opener and motivator to think about a switch (of course,
> in comfort of a techy friend, who will solve any potential problems).
> Before Christmas, because jumping on bleeding edge is something that not lot
> of people would like to do, so they just find the first stable distro that
> will come with new GNOME and start to mark crosses in calendar.
>
> I think Quim in his first mail put a really nice list,  just throwing my 5c
> into pool of "enthusiasts" :)
>
> Toms
>
>
>
> On 8/3/07, Ken VanDine <ken vandine org> wrote:
> > Yes many of our users are "power users", but we are also gaining quite
> > a bit of traction in the new linux user category.  Which is what we
> > really want, the power users are easy to get.  We want the new users
> > to want to use GNOME and Foresight.  I would be very happy if what we
> > did was provide content for the ordinary user type audience.  Even if
> > it wasn't right on the front of w.g.o, but instead was available as
> > something the distro maintainers could redistribute to their users,
> > use on their websites and wikis, etc.
> >
> > More than anything I don't want us to lose release notes content that
> > can't easily be produced by distros and ISVs.  As a distro maintainer
> > I might not have as much of the information as the team working on the
> > release notes.  And for me it is important to have that information on
> > release day.
> >
> > --Ken
> >
> >
> > On 8/2/07, Quim Gil <qgil gnome org> wrote:
> > > As the maintainer of a distro with a strong and explicit focus in
> > > GNOME you will appreciate a page where to point your users, yes. But
> > > aren't Foresight users falling mostly in the audiences I'm suggesting?
> > > Wouldn't they enjoy be treated as power users, developers and the
> > > like?
> > > This would apply to advanced users or developers using Ubuntu, Debian,
> > > Fedora etc. They are anyway receiving our news through the channels
> > > they listen. But we can forget about targeting directly regular users
> > > and sysadmins, and even regular journalists.
> > > We need to be sure where is the GNOME foot standing, who is smelling
> > > it and who will speak about its beauty and its power to wider
> > > audiences.
> > >
> > > On 8/2/07, Ken VanDine <ken vandine org> wrote:
> > > > I don't completely agree, as a distro maintainer that will be
> > > > delivering 2.20 on 2.20 release day, our users want to read about it.
> > > > We should write that content, not the distro.  It is less interesting
> > > > for users of other distros that take much longer to integrate the new
> > > > version, but even those could use that content when they do release
> > > > it.  Perhaps it is something that we package and include with gnome so
> > > > when users get the update they have a way to see the release notes...
> > > > just an idea.
> > > >
> > > > --Ken
> > > >
> > > > On 8/2/07, Quim Gil <qgil gnome org> wrote:
> > > > > On 8/2/07, Murray Cumming < murrayc murrayc com> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > I also want to try putting everything on one page, but I still
> plan to
> > > > > > use the docbook translation system. We have no other way to do
> > > > > > translation at the moment, and it does work well.
> > > > >
> > > > > Yes, yes, I wasn't questioning the use of DocBook. I only meant that
> > > > > creating one page per language + external links gives less work with
> > > > > DocBook than creating the 5-6 we have done until now.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > > (*) Taking in account these customers:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Application developers
> > > > > > > Platform developers
> > > > > > > Software integrators and distributors
> > > > > > > Key software deployers (i.e. public administrations)
> > > > > > > Software & Freedom enthusiasts
> > > > > > > Tech press
> > > > > > > End users at large: not a target
> > > > >
> > > > > Please don't overlook the targeted audience of the release notes I'm
> > > > > proposing here (specially the last line with the "not a target"). It
> > > > > contradicts radically what we have been doing until now, and what
> > > > > seems to be still the current plan.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > Jorge has started a draft of the main text here:
> > > > > >
> http://live.gnome.org/TwoPointNineteen/ReleaseNotes/Draft
> > > > >
> > > > > "The intended audience is the typical end-user."
> > > > > "For Administrators"
> > > > >
> > > > > I think we have been doing this mistake for so long. The day we
> > > > > release GNOME 2.20 it is interesting for developers (the current
> GNOME
> > > > > developers, the wider GTK+ context, the free software context and
> > > > > other developers specialized in non-free environments increasingly
> > > > > interested in what we do). It is also interesting for distros, OEMs,
> > > > > engineers involved in big deployments with intense/customized use of
> > > > > GNOME,  power users and the specialized press.
> > > > >
> > > > > Not the typical end user and probably not the average sysadmin
> either,
> > > > > since they are following the distros (if they do follow them).
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > Jorge, please note that I plan for us to use the Users,
> Developers,
> > > > > > Administrators structure that we had in 2.14 here:
> > > > > > http://www.gnome.org/start/2.14/notes/en/
> > > > > > You seem to be doing almost that already in your draft.
> > > > >
> > > > > I think this is a way to repeat the same mistakes every six months.
> > > > > One page with the main flashes. There are not so many, we can create
> a
> > > > > good effect in a single shot but split the message in different
> pages
> > > > > (most of them with almost void content) is a waste of energy that
> > > > > makes nobody happy.
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > Quim Gil /// http://desdeamericaconamor.org
> > > > > --
> > > > > marketing-list mailing list
> > > > > marketing-list gnome org
> > > > >
> http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing-list
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > Ken VanDine
> > > > http://ken.vandine.org
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Quim Gil /// http://desdeamericaconamor.org
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Ken VanDine
> > http://ken.vandine.org
> > --
> > marketing-list mailing list
> > marketing-list gnome org
> > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/marketing-list
> >
>
>


-- 
Ken VanDine
http://ken.vandine.org