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List: kde-promo
Subject: [kde-promo] Re: 4.7 release notes early?
From: Justin Kirby <justin () neomantra ! org>
Date: 2011-02-10 23:17:08
Message-ID: AANLkTime3A87tQczDxhbOpPJpTEeMrgaGsEdYq_CRD4+ () mail ! gmail ! com
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On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 6:15 PM, Justin Kirby <justin@neomantra.org> wrote:
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 5:09 AM, Sebastian K=FCgler <sebas@kde.org> wrote=
:
>
>> On Thursday, January 27, 2011 01:36:02 Vivek Prakash wrote:
>> > On Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 5:12 PM, Albert Astals Cid <aacid@kde.org>
>> wrote:
>> > > A Dimecres, 26 de gener de 2011, Markus Slopianka va escriure:
>> > > > Hi.
>> > > > I was thinking we could start the 4.7 release notes early. They
>> could
>> > > then
>> > > > also serve for the betas and RCs.
>>
>> Good call, Markus.
>>
>> > > And translators will have more than -5 seconds to translate.
>>
>> Indeed.
>>
>> > Let's use https://promo.notes-dev.kde.org/14 for it. I've inserted th=
e
>> 4.6
>> > announcements as a template.. as the 4.7 feature plan [1] is updated,
>> let's
>> > clear out the old information and replace it.
>>
>> Probably best is to start with empty categories: Plasma, Apps, Platform
>> and
>> fill in bullet points there, otherwise it gets too hard to distinguish n=
ew
>> from 4.6 items (yes, can really be an issue, not know when exactly
>> something
>> was added). The text for the individual items needs to be written
>> completely
>> anyway, so I think it's better starting with a clean slate.
>>
>
> Just to take this a step further, can we brainstorm a bit about how to
> improve the process of translating the "Feature Plan" page into the "Feat=
ure
> Guide" and "Release Announcement" products that we create? Right now the
> process is tedious and there appears to be low motivation to get it done.=
I
> think if we make the tasks of creating these things easier then more peop=
le
> will be willing to help. So how do we do that?
>
> Basically every time a new release comes out I always wonder the same few
> questions:
>
> * What changed from last time?
> * Would an end user care about this change? If so, why?
>
> Just looking at the existing Feature Plan for 4.7 when I read a lot of
> what's on there I think that maybe that's nice for helping developers kee=
p
> track of tasks, but much of what is there is not something users will car=
e
> about. Conversely there are things that users *would* care about, but
> they're explained in such a short cryptic manner that I have no idea what
> the change really is without either emailing the developer or searching b=
ack
> through posts on Planet KDE to see if they happened to blog about it or
> something.
>
> So how can we change the process so that we can not drive developers craz=
y
> with extra work, but also make it easier on our team to figure out what i=
s
> really important about this new release so that we can clearly explain th=
is
> to our user community? I have a couple of suggestions to get the ball
> rolling, but I would really love some feedback from developers who may be
> following this list as well as the rest of the promo group...
>
> 1) In the Feature Plan page we add a column called "Importance" and
> developers can put either "major" or "minor" to signify if the feature is=
a
> big deal. Perhaps we don't even bother putting "minor" changes in the
> Feature Guide, and those things are only mentioned in the full release no=
tes
> or tracked on the Feature Plan page? (I don't even know how release notes
> are generated to be honest)
>
> 2) In the Feature Plan page we add a column called "Blog URL" which
> developers could use to post a link to a blog entry that summarizes the
> feature more verbosely, ideally explaining in that blog entry why users
> should care about this feature
>
> 3) I already see in the etherpad doc that was created that there is some
> question over whether Marble should get a spotlight mention in the main
> release text. Should we add a column to the Feature Plan page that allow=
s
> people to request consideration for such a mention? That way if there ar=
e
> doing some really huge overhaul and feel that special attention is deserv=
ed
> for this we can be aware of it?
>
> Ok, so that's just a few thoughts anyways...what do you all think? And
> what other suggestions do you have for improving this process?
>
>
>
>> We also need to poke developers somewhat regularly to update the Feature
>> Plan.
>> I'll do that just now, in fact.
>>
>
> How do you go about doing that? I've wondered more than once if there is
> some master mailing list we could use to alert all the developer groups
> about something...or do you have to mail individual lists or specific
> people?
>
Doh...I should read all my email before I start responding. I just got to
the one where you pinged a bunch of the developers about this :) Thanks fo=
r
putting the plug in about making it human readable...that's a good start
towards some of the issues I described above!
-Justin
>
> -Justin
>
>
>>
>> > [1] http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.7_Feature_Plan
>>
>> Cheers,
>> --
>> sebas
>>
>> http://www.kde.org | http://vizZzion.org | GPG Key ID: 9119 0EF9
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> This message is from the kde-promo mailing list.
>>
>> Visit https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-promo to unsubscribe, se=
t
>> digest on or temporarily stop your subscription.
>>
>
>
[Attachment #5 (text/html)]
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 6:15 PM, Justin Kirby <span \
dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:justin@neomantra.org">justin@neomantra.org</a>></span> \
wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px \
#ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"> <br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="im">On \
Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 5:09 AM, Sebastian Kügler <span dir="ltr"><<a \
href="mailto:sebas@kde.org" target="_blank">sebas@kde.org</a>></span> \
wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px \
#ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div>On Thursday, January 27, 2011 01:36:02 Vivek Prakash wrote:<br>
> On Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 5:12 PM, Albert Astals Cid <<a \
href="mailto:aacid@kde.org" target="_blank">aacid@kde.org</a>> wrote:<br> > \
> A Dimecres, 26 de gener de 2011, Markus Slopianka va escriure:<br> > > \
> Hi.<br> > > > I was thinking we could start the 4.7 release notes \
early. They could<br> > > then<br>
> > > also serve for the betas and RCs.<br>
<br>
</div>Good call, Markus.<br>
<div><br>
> > And translators will have more than -5 seconds to translate.<br>
<br>
</div>Indeed.<br>
<div><br>
> Let's use <a href="https://promo.notes-dev.kde.org/14" \
target="_blank">https://promo.notes-dev.kde.org/14</a> for it. I've inserted the \
4.6<br> > announcements as a template.. as the 4.7 feature plan [1] is updated, \
let's<br> > clear out the old information and replace it.<br>
<br>
</div>Probably best is to start with empty categories: Plasma, Apps, Platform and<br>
fill in bullet points there, otherwise it gets too hard to distinguish new<br>
from 4.6 items (yes, can really be an issue, not know when exactly something<br>
was added). The text for the individual items needs to be written completely<br>
anyway, so I think it's better starting with a clean \
slate.<br></blockquote><div><br></div></div><div>Just to take this a step further, \
can we brainstorm a bit about how to improve the process of translating the \
"Feature Plan" page into the "Feature Guide" and "Release \
Announcement" products that we create? Right now the process is tedious and \
there appears to be low motivation to get it done. I think if we make the tasks of \
creating these things easier then more people will be willing to help. So how do we \
do that?</div>
<div><br></div><div>Basically every time a new release comes out I always wonder the \
same few questions:</div><div><br></div><div>* What changed from last time? \
</div><div>* Would an end user care about this change? If so, why?</div>
<div><br></div><div>Just looking at the existing Feature Plan for 4.7 when I read a \
lot of what's on there I think that maybe that's nice for helping developers \
keep track of tasks, but much of what is there is not something users will care \
about. Conversely there are things that users *would* care about, but they're \
explained in such a short cryptic manner that I have no idea what the change really \
is without either emailing the developer or searching back through posts on Planet \
KDE to see if they happened to blog about it or something.</div>
<div><br></div><div>So how can we change the process so that we can not drive \
developers crazy with extra work, but also make it easier on our team to figure out \
what is really important about this new release so that we can clearly explain this \
to our user community? I have a couple of suggestions to get the ball rolling, but I \
would really love some feedback from developers who may be following this list as \
well as the rest of the promo group...</div>
<div><br></div><div>1) In the Feature Plan page we add a column called \
"Importance" and developers can put either "major" or \
"minor" to signify if the feature is a big deal. Perhaps we don't even \
bother putting "minor" changes in the Feature Guide, and those things are \
only mentioned in the full release notes or tracked on the Feature Plan page? (I \
don't even know how release notes are generated to be honest)</div>
<div><br></div><div>2) In the Feature Plan page we add a column called "Blog \
URL" which developers could use to post a link to a blog entry that summarizes \
the feature more verbosely, ideally explaining in that blog entry why users should \
care about this feature</div>
<div><br></div><div>3) I already see in the etherpad doc that was created that there \
is some question over whether Marble should get a spotlight mention in the main \
release text. Should we add a column to the Feature Plan page that allows people to \
request consideration for such a mention? That way if there are doing some really \
huge overhaul and feel that special attention is deserved for this we can be aware of \
it?</div>
<div> </div><div>Ok, so that's just a few thoughts anyways...what do you all \
think? And what other suggestions do you have for improving this process?</div><div \
class="im"><div><br></div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" \
style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<br>
We also need to poke developers somewhat regularly to update the Feature Plan.<br>
I'll do that just now, in fact.<br></blockquote><div><br></div></div><div>How do \
you go about doing that? I've wondered more than once if there is some master \
mailing list we could use to alert all the developer groups about something...or do \
you have to mail individual lists or specific people?</div> \
</div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Doh...I should read all my email before I \
start responding. I just got to the one where you pinged a bunch of the developers \
about this :) Thanks for putting the plug in about making it human \
readable...that's a good start towards some of the issues I described \
above!</div> <div><br></div><div>-Justin</div><div> </div><blockquote \
class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc \
solid;padding-left:1ex;"><div class="gmail_quote"> <div><br></div><font \
color="#888888"><div>-Justin</div></font><div class="im"><div> </div><blockquote \
class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc \
solid;padding-left:1ex"> <div><br>
> [1] <a href="http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.7_Feature_Plan" \
target="_blank">http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.7_Feature_Plan</a><br> <br>
</div>Cheers,<br>
<font color="#888888">--<br>
sebas<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.kde.org" target="_blank">http://www.kde.org</a> | <a \
href="http://vizZzion.org" target="_blank">http://vizZzion.org</a> | GPG Key ID: 9119 \
0EF9<br> </font><div><div></div><div><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div></div><br> </blockquote></div><br>
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