[Mageia-dev] Identifying Target Markets

Fri Oct 1 15:01:58 CEST 2010

On Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 00:43, Michael Scherer <misc at zarb.org> wrote:
+
+>
+> Yup, the distro that make you become expert, something like that.
+>
+> One thing we must not forget is that we need people that contribute if
+> we want to survive. A commercial distribution requires money ( and
+> therefore users that can bring money , either directly, or either
+> indirectly ( service, ads, etc )) to survive. We are not a commercial
+> distribution, so the pressure is lower with regard to money. But we
+> still to have people that develop it, and if we cannot pay people for
+> that directly ( since we are not a company, even if maybe some companies
+> will help us later ), we need to directly use contributions as a way to
+> ensure our own sustainability.
+>
+> SO IMHO, this is what we should seek if we want to survive. Gathering
+> contributions should be one of our goals.
+>
+> The second point is that we are here because we want community
+> empowerment. So community also must be a strong point, especially since
+> it will appeal to people that would allow the community to survive.
+>
+> So again, I think that empowerment should be another one of the goals.
+>
+> Now, we must ask ourself "what is pushing people to contribute".
+> There is various papers, like this one
+>
+> http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1113/1033
+>
+> ( I let the analysis as a exercise for the moment ).
+>
+> And we need to find a way to combine this with others goals.
+>
+> While a traditional motivation in free software is to solve our own
+> problem ( and that's also part of community empowerment ), this is not
+> enough. We also need to think to more than us. And I think that's the
+> complex part.
+>
+> We have 2 choices. Either we try to find a market where no one went, or
+> a market where someone went, and try to be better. Or maybe both.
+>
+> --
+> Michael Scherer
+>
+> I agree.
+
+One way towards that goal is something I thought about since some years :
+lessen the divide between the GUI and CLI approach to computers, and OS's in
+particular. And thus between the 'user' and the 'geek' cultures (even if
+geeks are users too).
+
+In particular : that the GUI tools, for example the GUI draktools, provide a
+link (button) to a short explanation of how they do what they do. For
+example : what are the configuration files that are changed, and how.
+
+It could be seen as an extension of what is possible with an icon of the
+Panel : a right-click gets you to see what it does : the command is visible.
+
+When I was teaching an introduction to OS's, I used Mandr/ake/iva this way
+for
+people mainly familiar with Windows : the GUI functions are similar, even if
+different, but you can have a 'readable text' access to what really happens.
+
+At first I just told them which configuration files where concerned. Later I
+wrote some simple perl scripts using fileschanged  (
+http://fileschanged.sourceforge.net/)
+to let them find it themselves. But there were many limitations : for
+instance KDE configurations are not writen to file directly.
+
+Anyway it would be much more helpful if it is incorporated in the GUI tool
+itself (eventually as an option).
+It would encourage progressive exploration of the underlying workings.
+For anybody, but evidently exploratory behavior is more prevalent in younger
+people.
+
+Viewed with some optimism, if this approach is extended, it could lead to an
+experience similar to that of people who came to programming through contact
+with the early 8 bit microcomputers. (Many people lament the disapearence of
+that path of access).
+
+>From the 'magic' point of view it would point to : Magea : the School of
+Magic
+
+-- 
+
+Frederic
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