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List:       kde-promo
Subject:    Re: [kde-promo] nepomuk / baloo naming implications
From:       Jos Poortvliet <jospoortvliet () gmail ! com>
Date:       2014-02-21 5:10:56
Message-ID: 32399204.h5kOuL01Ky () linux-dzru ! site
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On Friday 21 February 2014 00:24:08 =C0lex Fiestas wrote:
> On Thursday 20 February 2014 22:29:30 Tassos Koutlas wrote:
> > Hello all,
> > =

> > I know this comes out of the blue but I have decided to weigh in this
> > debate, sorry but it turned out rather long. I am a KDE user since the
> > RH6.5 days back in 1999. I've experienced first hand the evolution of K=
DE
> > and all the controversy surrounding the 4.x release, the bad press on
> > nepomuk and so on. I have been however in numerous occasions presenting
> > KDE
> > software to students and professional groups and I have been outlining =
its
> > merits, vision of the future and cutting edge technology included in ea=
ch
> > release.
> > =

> > But let's step back a bit and think about KDE as software. What has alw=
ays
> > been its number one advantage over other desktop environments (DE)? I
> > believe it's been primarily consistency and platform integration and
> > secondarily a unified UX (a distant third IMHO was stability but rememb=
er
> > back in the day you had to recompile Xfree86 from source to be able to
> > play
> > DIVXes so stability for non technically inclined people is out of the
> > question). People are using or switching to KDE to experience consisten=
cy,
> > integration and unified experience in a FOSS desktop environment. In my
> > opinion regardless of trolling and early criticism the 4.x releases
> > strengthened KDE in those respects. Recently there was an article showi=
ng
> > KDE having a concrete 30% of use in a very fragmented market.
> > =

> > Having said that, my initial reaction at the Baloo announcement over at
> > planetkde was a sense of relief; I guess bad feelings on nepomuk overwh=
elm
> > me too. However my next reaction was a sense of disappointment feeling
> > that
> > we yet again rush new technology when in fact should spend our time
> > strengthening KDE's core values (consistency and integration). Please n=
ote
> > however that these were my personal immediate reactions and they don't
> > necessarily reflect reality. I understand that Baloo will be better than
> > nepomuk in those respects and that it would be able to provide all
> > integration nepomuk was destined to do. I also don't want in any way to
> > diminish Vishesh's contributions on building a better and more suitable
> > tool, he is doing a great job advancing KDE on that front.
> > =

> > But we, as a community, have to understand that technology developed in
> > the
> > context of KDE ultimately aims to serve people. Let's face it as far as
> > software goes, a DE is as people-centric as software can get. People ca=
re
> > about solutions and products that deliver them. Please note that product
> > in
> > this context is used as an entity in a competitive market claiming mark=
et
> > share, not necessarily reflecting monetary attributes, after all a prod=
uct
> > is much more than a price tag. As a product, KDE, is destined to be
> > something more than the underlying technology, it must have a unified
> > front
> > presenting itself to others in terms of narration, a set of core values
> > and
> > principles, a certain community ensuring continuity.
> > =

> > The above serve as a compass when arguments arise. Developers may change
> > and users may increase or decrease, the project as a whole, however, can
> > continue to fill market needs as it always did and it can expand
> > incorporating new narrations based on values and principles. How these =
are
> > presented to people matter. They matter because they define how people
> > perceive the project and how the press perceives the project. For insta=
nce
> > if our core values are consistency/integration/stability then marketing
> > Baloo as anything different than the continuation of nepomuk is invalid.
> > If, on the other hand, we want to be perceived as a project where cutti=
ng
> > edge technology is presented to the user as soon as it is available then
> > keeping nepomuk brand alive is invalid. But we cannot do both at the sa=
me
> > time.
> > =

> > If we ultimately care about people and how KDE is offering solutions to
> > people, then we have to treat it as any other technology product. There
> > are
> > three distinct characteristics in a technology project targeted at
> > different audiences:
> > (a) technology related matters targeted at developers,
> > (b) marketing related matters (including product/user relationships,
> > distribution/promotion matters, copywriting material and so on) targeted
> > at
> > people,
> > (c) and community related matters target at people to ensure project
> > continuity.
> > =

> > So there is a question, given that KDE is an advanced project in terms =
of
> > technology and technical vision how can this can be communicated back at
> > people both in terms of users and press?
> > =

> > First and foremost kde-promo mailing list is a very good step at
> > coordinating efforts made, as are the development of the Visual Design
> > Group (VDG) and the Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) group. But these
> > alone
> > are not enough. The cornerstone of these efforts is to distil and decide
> > the core values of the project in terms of its audience. Then to change
> > our
> > idiosyncrasy towards the project given those values and principles. What
> > that ultimately means is that instead of feeling that each component of
> > KDE
> > is vertically aligned we should change to a more horizontal approach.
> > Developers may have authoritative control over the technical merits of a
> > component, identity characteristics however should be vested in people
> > with
> > expertise in the marketing/promo space and the usability space.
> > =

> > To conclude with my thesis, I would like to thank you all for your effo=
rts
> > building KDE, an indispensable part of my everyday computing experience.
> > My
> > thoughts above have been piling up for quite some time now. I don't know
> > if
> > my expertise is adequate enough to contribute at the marketing/promo sp=
ace
> > of such an important project as KDE, but I indent to get more acquainted
> > with efforts so far and participate more.
> > =

> > Best regards,
> > =

> > Tassos
> =

> I just want to say that I have really enjoyed reading your email, thanks =
for
> supporting us all these years.

+1

On a related note, Vishesh, Peter, Kevin and myself had a productive =

discussion last night about our communication. We realized that the point =

Aaron made about our communication about Baloo being different from our =

initial plan of not talking to users about these details is very true. What =

the underlying tech is named is irrelevant - what matters for the user is =

Desktop Search. So, the article will be about that - not Baloo or Nepomuk.

I will work on integrating the feedback from the thread(s) as well as this =

aspect into the article, ask for feedback again, and then - it is good to g=
o =

as far as we are concerned.

I think this not only makes everybody happy but it is also the most obvious =

solution :D

Hugs,
Jos

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> =

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