Fedora core suggestions

Fri Apr 21 18:39:03 UTC 2006

Those are some truly great suggestions; No one reasoning logically
should have any reason whatsoever to be offended. 

It would be nice if the newly-revamped Fedora governing body could
include representation from the non-technical community.  I realize this
is probably a "pie-in-the-sky" expectation, and I can't imagine how one
would go about selecting a person (or persons) for this role, but if
this could somehow be accomplished then the distribution itself would be
more universally appealing.

This is not to imply that the current state of the distro is not
excellent.  Successfully preparing for release something as complex and
feature-complete as Fedora Core is a daunting task well undertaken to
date.

Here are a few quick suggestions off the top of MY head.  I realize some
of these have been mentioned before:

1.  Pre-release non-technical user testing.   

Integrate this process early in the testing phase.  Document the
findings and make them easily accessible to everyone, not just the core
developers.  Host local "touch and feel" sessions to attract users who
might want to have a say in the future of the project but don't have the
technical background to contribute code.

2.  Marketing.

Get with the Mozilla people if necessary and figure out what they're
doing "right."  Just about everyone's heard of Firefox by now.

3.  Ego-containment.

Leave the egos at the door.

4.  Be more open-minded.

>From the parent post:

"Upgrading needs to be fail proof from version to version. Previously
installed drives with personal user data needs to be able to be retained
without fail from upgrade to upgrade if the user isn't doing a clean
install." 

Response:

"Fedora is very decent at this already."

This sort of response shows no willingness to re-examine current
practices and is very off-putting to people looking to become involved
in the project.

Before you bother flaming, I realize these are very general statements.
The point is to foster discussion.

DP

On Fri, 2006-04-21 at 18:54 +0100, Andy Green wrote:
> Alo Tsum wrote:
> 
> > how generating revenue to put back into the project and make it more 
> > self sufficient. So I have a few suggestions which I think the Redhat 
> > company itself should take note of. Firstly Redhat while promoting Linux 
> > among enthusiast is also in the business of making money. On that front 
> > I believe that they should not only attempt to evangelize Linux in the 
> 
> Hum let me send out an alternate view: Free Software is outside the Sell 
> and Evangelize paradigm.  It exists, it can be offered, but its meaning 
> in the world is that it honestly is there for people to use if they have 
> a use for it.  This is something different than commercial OSes that are 
> there despite you asked to NOT have it, that are shoved down your 
> throat, sold to you, lock you in and so on.
> 
> > The Fedora project is the perfect tool for this and here is how. The 
> > fedora team should focus SOLELY on making the operating system run as 
> > smoothly and as fast as possible, interacting with a HUGE number of 
> > hardware configurations. Installation needs to be as smooth as silk and 
> 
> Wll no argument there since that is useful for everyone.
> 
> > upgrading needs to be fail proof from version to version. Previously 
> > installed drives with personal user data needs to be able to be retained 
> > without fail from upgrade to upgrade if the user isn't doing a clean 
> 
> Fedora is very decent at this already.
> 
> > install. Now I would like to move on to "partnerships" Fedora project 
> > should look into making "partners" or some other creative term to define 
> > other Linux projects and organizations. In this partnership Fedora will 
> > tightly enforce standards which will ensure that any software created to 
> > run on fedora is following say the OIN and the GPL standards to the 
> 
> RHAT can confidently claim to have written the book on following "GPL 
> standards".
> 
> > by following strict guidelines they would become Fedora project 
> > "partners" and in turn they would be promised that their software will 
> > be included in the fedora core release. Also by following strict 
> ...
> > approach is keeping in mind that projects such as Fedora and other Linux 
> > distributions desire to penetrate more into the home desktop market,
> 
> Hum again with the 'market', Free software doesn't compete in that 
> sense, it is offered in the hope that it is useful, you can imagine it 
> as demand-led.
> 
> > which then also means more users will or could eventually equate to 
> > greater adoption of the platform in other industries as a result of user
> 
> No insult intended, but you or I don't get paid on the basis of 
> adoption.  I'm sure we're both pleased if there is increased adoption 
> and maybe you or I will spend some time if we think it will increase 
> takeup.  But nonetheless offering a Free OS like Fedora is a different 
> game than selling Commercial OSes.
> 
> > Now say a "ambassador" from Fedora can start making the rounds to Dell 
> 
> Hum this is the thing, Fedora just is and Dell can take it up if they 
> like.  "Selling" a Free OS seems like a bit of an impedance mismatch. 
> Why should people already pouring effort into the OS with no direct hope 
> of return act to improve Dell's worldview as a charitable act if Michael 
> is too locked into Bill's gravy train to do it himself?
> 
> > at a premium. Fedora core could charge a VERY minimal fee for this 
> > training, so say charge enough that it would generate revenue that can 
> ...
> > The future of Linux if to be taken seriously should not be relegated to 
> 
> If a Free OS is taken seriously is up to the potential users.  I take it 
> real serious already.
> 
> > There needs to be a con[ce]rted effort on the parts of all parties 
> > involved to take Linux to that next phase of existence other wise Linux 
> > as a brand, while it may grow some what will not see its full potential. 
> > With the software being a open and free model we still have to realize 
> 
> No.
> 
> -Andy
> -- 
> fedora-devel-list mailing list
> fedora-devel-list at redhat.com
> https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-devel-list
-- 
=======================================
David-Paul Niner, RHCE
dpniner at dpniner.name
Florida, United States of America

Public Key for GPG key 1FCE01A2
available from http://www.dpniner.name

GPG Fingerprint for key 1FCE01A2: 
9147 2826 BF20 962D C53E  6B1C 97FD 77A6 1FCE 01A2
=======================================

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.