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Re: Open Source - Enterprise Consumer Participation -- request for Article


Stormy:


How do GNOME users play with the GNOME community?
by Stormy Peters

GNOME has 14 million users. These users use GNOME technologies and


"users use" is a bit awkward.
software in a multitude of ways. Some GNOME users use the full GNOME desktop on their workstation. Others just use GNOME applications like multimedia tools for photo editing or listening to music. Still others run GNOME software on their smart phone. Some users might even be using GNOME in the doctor's office. When their doctor uses an Supersonic Imagine scanner, they are using GNOME technologies to detect breast cancer. What is true in all cases is that the end user probably didn't download GNOME or the GNOME applications directly from GNOME. 

I always like the One Laptop Per Child example, and its always nice to
highlight accessibility users who love having access to free software that
meets their needs.  Though you do touch on a11y later, but highlighting
the savings comparing Microsoft a11y solutions to GNOME's is really very
compelling and you do not dig into that much, though you do highlight
that OpenOffice saves money compared to Microsoft Office.

Perhaps should say "directly from the GNOME community".
The GNOME project produces a lot of very powerful and useful software for millions of users. This software is produced by the GNOME community, a community of developers. 

Not just developers.  Also translators, QA testers, documentation writers,
etc.
With several thousand developers and many fans, it's a community that is long lived, vocal and pretty close knit for such a large group. GNOME users are represented in the community by technical users. And while the GNOME community reaches out regularly to non-technical end users and is extremely welcoming of any that approach the community, the world of the non-technical GNOME user and the GNOME community rarely interact. Why do the users and the community rarely interact? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? 

Might be nice to give some examples of how the GNOME community "reaches
out regularly to non-technical end users".
The GNOME developer community would like to hear more from end users - they think about them all the time. However, there are several reasons that non-technical GNOME users and the GNOME community do not interact as much as the GNOME community would like. 

    * The main reason GNOME users and community don't interact is
      because most GNOME users, whether they are using a desktop, a
      netbook or a cell phone running GNOME Mobile technologies, they
      all get GNOME from a vendor, not the GNOME community. They might
      not even know they are using GNOME! They might be listening to
      music with Banshee, editing their photos with gimp and managing
      their finances with gnucash and yet have no idea that they use
      "GNOME". They probably got their GNOME technologies from a vendor,
      either a Linux distribution vendor or a hardware vendor. So when


I think it's better to avoid using the term Linux.  Solaris and FreeBSD
and others ship GNOME but are not based on Linux.  At any rate, we should
be inclusive of the main participants in the GNOME community.  Also,
I think it's better to say "GNU/Linux" to keep our friends at the FSF in
good graces.


      it comes to interacting with the GNOME community, the first thing
      the user has to do is find the community! So when they run into a
      problem with GNOME (or they have something good to say!), they
      usually end up on a Linux distribution site. Or if they were using


See comment about Linux above...


      a Garmin 880 GPS, they'll call Garmin, not GNOME, when there's an
      issue with the software. In most cases, this is a good thing. The
      end user is using a product from a company that happens to include
      or be built on GNOME technologies. While the GNOME community of
      developers would like to hear their feedback, it doesn't always
      make sense to introduce an additional relationship to the end
      user, not when they've paid for a warranty or support from a vendor.
    * Another reason users don't always end up interacting with the
      GNOME community is the communication tools that are used by the
      community. Most non-technical users end up on forums. Whether
      that's their preferred method of communication or not, I couldn't
      say, but it's easy to find via a Google search and easy to jump
      in. Whereas most GNOME hackers hang out on IRC and mailing lists.
      To find the GNOME community on IRC, you have to look for IRC, the
      conversations are not typically picked up by search engines.


Would it be good to highlight which specific IRC channels or which mailing
lists are good for end-users to seek help with, providing more of a pointer?


    * Lastly, GNOME users often look for the GNOME community only when
      they've encountered a problem and they discover that to report it
      they need to learn bugzilla or subscribe to a mailing list. So by
      the time they are reaching out to the community, they are not
      looking for relationships or to make suggestions, rather they have
      an immediate problem that they need help with. Instead of finding
      someone who can immediately answer their question (although that
      does happen), the process directs them to tools like bugzilla that
      they may not be familiar with.


Likewise, would it be good to highlight where to access bugzilla?  Maybe
would be nice to have a section of links at the end with some helpful
direction on where to go when an end-user wants to participate or file
a bug or whatever.
So if GNOME users don't participate in the GNOME project through the traditional GNOME community channels, how do they participate? How can users contribute? How can they be part of the community? We often talk about users being the ultimate testers and contributing bug reports, and if they are technical, perhaps a patch, or maybe some documentation. But users contribute in many other ways. 

    * Users test software. Some users do test software. Hopefully end
      users are testing already well tested software but occasionally
      they run into problems. Or they get excited about a new project
      and download a non-released version that still needs testing. At
      the Maemo Summit, I heard a Nokia manager thank a group of
      developers for being his guinea pigs. In a sense, all open source
      users are guinea pigs. The ones earlier in the process contribute
      by reporting any problems they run into. The others continue to
      make sure it works. They also contribute feedback via blog posts,
      talks, articles, etc.


Could we find a nicer term than guinea pigs?


    * Users spread the word, recruiting more users and developers to
      open source software. I know a high school student who discovered
      Open Office and Google docs. She saved her mom the money it would
      have cost to buy Microsoft Office. I'm sure she told her friends
      and her mom told other parents. Happy users spread the word about
      the software they are using. GNOME software now includes great
      integration of system and applications (like plugging in your
      camera and having F-spot automatically import pictures) as well as
      very reasonably priced software that meets accessibility needs.
      Many people are finding that many accessibility solutions from
      speech synthesis to drawing tablets to eye trackers work well in
      GNOME and the software is free.


Free Software is a good fit for organizations which want to push "Free
Trade".  There could be more activism encouraged in this realm, I think.
When you go to a place to purchase your free trade coffee, it would be
good if you were also encouraged to use free software.


    * Users motivate developers.  When users talk, blog or show GNOME,
      they are not only spreading the word, they are also giving kudos
      to the developers, something that's incredibly motivating. GNOME
      developers enjoy writing software but they also really enjoy
      hearing how that software is changing people's lives, from the kid
      using a XO in Africa to the kid in the US that can't see using a
      screen reader. Knowing your software is helping someone else is
      very motivating.
    * Users also lend credibility to a project, enabling it to grow.
      Hearing that Firefox has had millions of downloads or that GNOME
      has 14 million users definitely makes it sound like something
      that's safe to try and maybe even something you should try.
    * Financially. Directly and indirectly users contribute to the
      financial well being of GNOME. Sometimes they purchase support or
      products from companies that sponsor the GNOME Foundation.
      Sometimes they contribute directly to the GNOME Foundation through
      Friends of GNOME. All of these contributions flow back to efforts
      that support the project from hackfests to usability studies.


Users should also be encouraged to file bug reports and enhancement
requests so that the community can address issues they find pressing.

You also make no mention about users groups, or how a reader might connect
with one.
Users are the audience for GNOME. The GNOME project's goal is universal access. Making sure technology is available to anyone, not just technical people, regardless of culture, financial well-being or physical ability is what GNOME is all about. The fact that people use it makes the project a success, the developers happy and keeps the whole thing going.
The GNOME developer community works really hard to understand its users and to make sure that the default options, the ones that most users will first encounter, make sense. They have also put a lot of thought and effort into making sure that GNOME is accessible to all users regardless of ability. They work hard to communicate their core values to all users: free software, internationalization and localization, usability, and accessibility, and to make sure users are welcome, especially at GUADEC, our annual conference. But whether users show up in the developer community or not, they are definitely contributing members of the GNOME community. 

The end of this article doesn't really seem to communite "what next" to
the reader.  Shouldn't we finish off the article with some direction on
what interested readers can do to get involved in a more concrete way?

Brian
On Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 12:20 PM, Stormy Peters <stormy gnome org <mailto:stormy gnome org>> wrote: 

    Donald Smith is asking me for an article about issues that consumers
    face when contributing to open source software. I think it would be
    interesting to write about how GNOME users contribute from open
    source software. Everything from people using it as their desktop in
    their home to consumers of GNOME mobile to consumers of products
    like Supersonic Imagine.

    Anyone interested in working on this? You can have full authorship
    :) or I'd be happy to co-author with folks.

    We could also post the article to other places like GNOME Journal
    and blogs.

    Stormy


    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: *Donald Smith* <donald smith eclipse org
    <mailto:donald smith eclipse org>>
    Date: Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 8:12 AM
    Subject: Open Source - Enterprise Consumer Participation -- request
    for Article
    To: stormy gnome org <mailto:stormy gnome org>


    Stormy,


    I am the guest editor for a special issue on "Enterprise Consumer
    Participation" of the Open Source Business Resource (www.OSBR.ca
    <http://www.OSBR.ca>).  OSBR has become a very well read and
    respected resource in the business community and has a fantastic
    track record of publishing great articles for the past couple
    years.  Doug Levin, Mike Milinkovich, Russ Nelson, Cliff Schmidt and
    YOU are some examples of recent OSBR authors.  Contributions have
    come from organizations like FreeBSD, Mozilla, EA Mobile, Intel and
    many others.


    I would like to invite you (or someone you trust and could
    designate) to contribute an article to the January 2009 issue of the
    OSBR.ca.  I would be open to your ideas for content, but I think it
    would be fantastic to have you reprise your October 2007 article but
    from a pure software Consumer perspective – I.e., what are the
    issues that Consumers (non ISV's) face when contributing to software?


    The length of the article needs to be more than 1,500 words and less
    than 3,000 words. Author guidelines are available here:

    http://www.osbr.ca/ojs/index.php/osbr/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

    The first draft is due by December 17th.  Please let me know ASAP if
    you are able to contribute or have any questions.


    The editor of the OSBR.ca is Ms. Dru Lavigne (dru osbr ca
    <mailto:dru osbr ca>).  She will ensure that your article is a great
    article should you choose to contribute.


    -          Don


    Donald Smith

    Director of Ecosystem Development

    Eclipse Foundation, Inc.

    P:+1 613 224 9461 x231

    C:+1 613 292 5160

    F:+1 212 918 1619

    Are you going to Eclipse Summit Europe?  http://eclipse.org/go/ESE D





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