Redesign of downloads

[Josh Boyer]

On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 12:17:35PM -0700, Toshio Kuratomi wrote:
>> 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?

"What does it let me do?" is sort of a silly question.  All the spins allow
you to do the exact same stuff, just with a different look to _start_ with.

If you know what a server or C++ is, you are probably knowledgeable enough to
click the "more info" link (aka spins page).

>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

The "what is" and "what sets apart" is one of the explicit goals for the spins
page.  Not the default download page.

>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 ]


You're missing the targeting part here.  We aren't looking to redesign the
default download page and keep the exact same content.  We want it simple,
targeted at new users, and with a clear an easy link for differentiation
present (to the spins page).

>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 they can differentiate that on the spins page.

josh