[Ambassadors] Re: Fedora print magazine proposal from Linux Pro Magazine

[Paul Frields]

On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 4:59 PM, Max Spevack<mspevack at redhat.com> wrote:
> [Trimming the recipient list down a little bit.]
>
> *** AMBASSADORS: PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL ***
>
>> Linux Pro Magazine (LPM) has proposed to make a special Fedora print issue
>> for F12 - thousands of magazines out on newsstands internationally with an
>> F12 DVD tucked inside. This would be very, very cool. We're trying to figure
>> out whether this is possible, whether we should do it, and (if both of those
>> are "yes"), how the balance of work would be distributed between the Fedora
>> community (perhaps with help from the Red Hat Brand team) and LPM.
>>
>> We'd love your thoughts and feedback. This is moving quite rapidly (it
>> first came up on Wednesday afternoon; we need to give a yes or no for F12
>> next week), so I've summarized the current state of things on a project page
>> at https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_print_magazine.
>
> There are a few points that I'd like to add to this discussion.
>
> (1) Nothing has been decided yet -- as a collective, we need to think about
> the ideas presented by LPM, as well as the timeline that we would have to
> operate under, the content that we would need to produce, etc.
>
> (2) There is a price tag associated with this project, that (if we say yes
> to it) will require us to get a bit clever with the way we plan for Fedora
> 12 media, especially in North America and Europe (where the magazine is
> published).
>
> If we say yes to this overall deal, it will get us three things:
>
> + Magazines (including the 32-bit DVD) on sale at news-stands and bookstores
> in North America and Europe
>
> + 1,000 magazines (including DVD) shipped directly to the Fedora Project,
> that we can do with as we choose.
>
> + 8,000 DVDs shipped directly to the Fedora Project, that we can do with as
> we choose.
>
> That means 9,000 DVDS (and 1,000 magazines) that we would probably use as
> the VAST MAJORITY of our media during the Fedora 12 cycle.
>
> We would probably *not* produce a large quantity of separate LiveCDs, which
> has been the habit for the past several releases.
>
> Furthermore, the DVDs would come in plain white sleeves (not Fedora-designed
> sleeves), and the artwork on the face of the DVD would be Fedora-related,
> but would also have the Linux Pro Magazine logo on it.
>
> I would like to know how Ambassadors feel about this.

In the longer term we really do want to move away from the Install DVD
to a Live DVD that has more relevant applications and content -- as
opposed to the kitchen-sink approach of the Install DVD. But
nevertheless, most people choose the DVD over Live CD because it's
perceived to be "more == better."

Given that fact, and being rational about our budget, I think it makes
sense to leverage this approach to provide most of our distributable
media. If that's the standard Install DVD, I'm OK with that. We should
ensure the general community understands the reasons for sticking with
the install DVD for purposes of this promotion.

Paul