Redesign of downloads

[Toshio Kuratomi]

On 07/31/2009 11:10 AM, Josh Boyer wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 10:17:03AM -0700, Toshio Kuratomi wrote:
>> What is the definition of an advanced user?  I see lots of complaints
>>from people who are advanced users and also contributors.  If they
>> aren't contributors, I doubt that they'd take the time to complain where
>> we'd see it.
>>
>> One thing that I think the initial portion of the brainstorm touches on
>> but the checklist of intended audience does not is how get-fedora can be
>> a vehicle for moving people up the pyramid.
>>
>> Right now it's static in that it aims to give new users the bits and
>> that's it.  One complaint I've heard ("How can we get more people to
>> contribute to the KDE/LXDE spins if they think Fedora treats them as a
>> second class citizen to the Desktop spin?") has a legitimate basis in
>> this concept.
>>
>> We need to strive to make people who come to get-fedora to download a
>> release feel that they are becoming part of the Fedora Community.  And
>> by doing so they have the option to participate in the development of
>> the next Fedora -- through code, packaging, art, documentation,
>> marketing, teaching, or any of the other areas that we can receive help.
>>
>> Using this as the foundation of what we're trying to achieve, the idea
>> of a default spin makes a different kind of sense.  It isn't the spin
>> for newbies.  It's the spin that we think we can entice the most people
>> to contribute to one of the aspects of Fedora where we need help.  It
>> needs to solve the needs of contributors to documentation, art,
>> websites, etc as well as solving the needs of the person themselves.
>>
>> Similarly, the other spins aren't for the advanced users, they're the
>> spins optimized to bring people into different parts of our community.
>> Something like http://fedoraproject.org/en/join-fedora but with the
>> focus of getting media first, and contributing to Fedora second.
> 
> That is all well and good.  I don't see how it conflicts with the current
> plan or goal though.
> 
> Do you think the current Desktop spin is not the one that we want to present
> to entice the most contributors?  I'm a bit confused as to what exactly you
> are trying to propose here.
> 
The current focus is about bits and product, not about people and tasks.

This is what the current page looks like:

http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora

[  Get Fedora 11 Desktop Edition Now      [ KDE Fans go here! ]
This is the latest version of the         [ Have a PowerPC?  Go here! ]
Fedora Linux operating system             [ Show me all download
featuring the GNOME desktop. It's            options on one page]
everything you need to try out
Fedora—and if you like it, install
it right from the desktop! ]

What does Fedora 11 Desktop Edition let me do?  I need to run a server,
where do I go?  I'm a C++ developer, what do I want to use?
I'd like to see something more people focused.  Why do/should people
choose one of the spins over another one?  What sets them apart?  I
think we all agree with the designers that having a mass of links is
just spaghetti.  But the answer isn't to hide all the options.  The
answer should be to differentiate the options.

Here's an example of what I mean (remember this is a strawman, I'm not
involved with all of these teams so I don't know what they see as what
their special niche is):


With Fedora 11 you can browse the web, talk with friends, write novels,
run a business, design websites, or write great software.

[ Download the Fedora Desktop Edition for a
  general purpose desktop. ]

 [ Want to develop software?     [ Want to convert a PowerPC
   Try out KDE ]                   Mac into something useful?
                                   Run Fedora PPC ]

 [ Show me all preconfigured download options ]


People say over and over that it's impossible to condense all the
differences between Gnome and KDE into a single line but that's not
really the point.  The actual differences in the upstream projects are
less important here than the one thing that each of our spin creators
wants to advertise as the thing they do well.  Our Desktop spin and our
KDE spin both want to be general purpose desktops but if they were truly
the same thing, we'd only ship one of them.


And since ASCii layouts seem to be the order of the day in this email,
here's an example of why I think we need to try differentiation is so
important.

[ Get Linux, Ubuntu Edition Now       [ Fedora Fans go here! ]
This is the latest version of the     [ Have another arch?
Linux operating system                  Get Debian!]
featuring the GNOME desktop. It's     [ Show me all download
everything you need to try out          options on one page]
Linux—and if you like it, install
it right from the desktop! ]

Why would you choose to click on the Fedora link in this layout?

-Toshio

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