Re: Pre-release marketing and community management [Was: getting www.gnome3.org]

[Dave Neary <dneary gnome org>]

Hi,

Allan Day wrote:
> Dave Neary wrote:
> This is something that I tried to clarify in a recent message to
> desktop-devel [1]. We need an easy to understand statement here and we
> need to spread it round a bit.

There might be some usable data we can get from gitdm on the number of
code committers in GNOME modules?

>>  - We need to start talking about all that's good in shell, what it
>> brings to the table, and why it's better than what went before. Videos,
>> success stories, interviews with happy users, all that kind of thing
> 
> The first priority is to get some positive marketing on the shell out
> there. I'm working on the text for gnome3.org and Andreas is working on
> the site. Getting that up will be a good first step.

I agree. Wasn't there an original vision document for shell that framed
the design in terms of the stuff that we wanted to make easy, and the
broken stuff we wanted to fix? I remember reading somethhing like that a
couple of years back. That would be a great start.

> Another item that is high on my list is to turn the shell design page
> [2] into something positive and explanatory. Not sure when I'll get to
> that, but I'll try not to let it slip.

Cool.

>> (To allay fears of hardware compat issues)
>>  - Draw up a list of graphics cards used in desktop hardware in the past
>> 3 to 5 years, ordered by market share/volume of sales, and match that to
>> current compatibility of free software drivers for the hardware with the
>> 3D requirements of Clutter. Ideally, someone with a GNOME 2.x desktop
>> should be able to run a command, get a chipset, and be able to tell
>> before he installs how well GNOME 3 will work.
> 
> It'd be awesome if we had this.

Someone suggested that the Linux Foundation might be able to help... I
think Xorg would be a good place to start too.

I found another site with a list of a bucketload of graphics cards:
http://worldwindcentral.com/wiki/Video_Card_Compatibility

> We also need a realistic marketing message wrt hardware requirements.
> Some people won't be able to run the Shell, and it does us no favours to
> pretend otherwise. But we can still give a positive message here: 'GNOME
> 3 is a cutting edge desktop built not just for today but also for the
> future; the GNOME project and its partners are working hard on ensuring
> that everybody will be able to enjoy the benefits it brings.'

Yeah - turning the "not everyone will be able to run Shell" into a
positive is important, but it also makes it important that we allow
people to know beforehand whether they can expect it to work or not, and
that we reassure people to the user experience they get if their
hardware isn't supported and they do upgrade.

>>  - Start publishing screenshots of fallback mode on chipsets that don't
>> support it & making sure it's still a nice experience.
> 
> This is tricky. I'm personally unconvinced that we can have a coherent
> marketing strategy and promote two desktop interfaces. Saying 'we also
> have this other desktop which is really good' will just dilute the
> message. There will be people who are unable to use GNOME Shell, and we
> don't want them feeling too bitter but, to be honest, we *do* want them
> to feel like they are missing out. GNOME 3 is a great product that they
> should want to have.

I see it more as "We're not leaving our users behind, even if your
hardware isn't supported, you can upgrade to get the benefit of the
latest releases of your favourite applications, in a simplified 2D
desktop experience" (or something like that). People upgrade for the
distro, or for the apps, not necessarily for the desktop environment.

> Yeah, it's a big job, and I'm not proposing that we attempt to take care
> of the whole thing (though that would be nice :) ). The idea, as I
> understand it, is merely to be more more efficient in what is happening
> already and to hone our 3.0 PR skills before the big event. That
> basically means sharing resources (and developing them if possible) and
> experiences.

And positioning members of the team as legitimate people to answer
classes of questions. If members of the marketing team aren't empowered
to handle questions, intervene to moderate threads, etc. all the good
will in the world won't make a difference. What's that saying? "What do
you call a leader with no followers? A guy taking a walk."

>> A FAQ will help for the most predictable criticisms, and a list of
>> talking points (the "what's great about GNOME 3" list I mentioned above)
>> should help us frame the messaging around the release in March, and
>> everyone giving interviews or presentations should have these down pat.
> 
> gnome3.org will do much of this. Do we need anything else? (That's a
> serious question - there might be.)

Somemedia training & half a dozen people who can handle local media
enquiries and a co-ordinated conference drive where we try to get people
giving presentations at conferences like SCALE, OLF, LinuxTag, etc would
be good too.

Cheers,
Dave.

-- 
Dave Neary
GNOME Foundation member
dneary gnome org