[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-promo
Subject:    Re: [kde-promo] Article about Baloo
From:       "Aaron J. Seigo" <aseigo () kde ! org>
Date:       2014-02-19 0:04:24
Message-ID: 2094733.4er49HvPvj () freedom
[Download RAW message or body]

On Tuesday, February 18, 2014 22:59:57 Àlex Fiestas wrote:
> On Tuesday 18 February 2014 21:09:21 Jos Poortvliet wrote:
> > To me, it sounds like a 'have your cake and eat it too' solution. I \
> > always like those. The article already mentions that the API's and \
> > widgets are simply taken from Nepomuk. For application developers and \
> > many users they are the FACE of Nepomuk. So, we kept Nepomuk. The \
> > backend is changed - from
> > Virtuoso to an abstraction layer called Baloo.
> > 
> > Sounds like good spin if you ask me ;-)
> 
> Technically this is a lie, their api has been changed 100% (not a single
> line compatible), virtuoso and Baloo are nothing alike. 

Yes, the API has changed. This happens sometimes in projects.

If Baloo is meant to displace Nepomuk (it is) then it is not simply another \
 product but a successor .. and keeping naming and some level of visual \
design  continuity (e.g. not changing the icon / logo people have come to \
recognize)  can help us communicate that.

The widget and their API has remained the same, and the user-facing 
functionality is essentially unchanged. The underlying storage/retrieval \
API  has changed, however; this is, as the article already notes, to \
address the  desire for a more streamlined API in that area. (Nepomuk was \
indeed very  complex for querying, e.g.).

So the question is how to best communicate that set of improvements, which \
may  not be "change the name" since all the work is still ahead of us from \
that  point. The idea that changing the name will communicate "stuff that \
needed to  be changed has changed in a positive manner" is not true; it \
requires putting  effort into stuffing meaning into that new name with \
months (or, more  realistically, years) of communication effort. Without a \
name change, we still  have work ahead of us, but the communication path \
can be a lot easier:

"This is the replacement for the old Nepomuk. It fills the same needs \
Nepomuk  has been servicing. The widgets and their API have been retained. \
The  underlying store/retrieve API has changed, however, and for the better \
..  here's how: <...>"

With just a couple sentences, we are able to skip the entire "what is \
baloo?"  thing and get right into the heart of things. It also allows KDE \
to save some  face; Phoronix was not entirely wrong in criticizing KDE for \
tossing out a  major public R&D investment.

> Baloo is not even semantic in the way Nepomuk is.

This is relevant to nobody that uses it. If Nepomuk's particular semantic 
features had caught on wildly and there were tons of applications using \
them  deeply, this would be a valid concern. That didn't happen, however. 

For end users, most of them see "Nepomuk" and think "desktop search" or \
"file  indexing". ~nobody knows that we use(d) Nepomuk in Plasma's \
Activities, for  instance.

> Besides you will be able to have both, nepomuk and baloo running (for
> compatibility reasons).

"you will be able to have both Nepomuk 1 and Nepomuk 2 running, for 
compatibility reasons" <-- it works just as well

> Also, take into account that Phoronix (that might or might not have more
> media outreach than the dot) has already published a link to an email \
> where we explain the facts, creating now a "good promo article" in the \
> dot might be too little too late.

Phoronix is not *that* influential (thankfully). A Dot article would be a \
good  start in addressing issues, but it would also need several follow ups \
over the  course of the year in the form of widely spread blog entries, \
articles from  others in the press, etc. Muktware has already stepped up in \
this area.  Getting a message across takes repetition and time (in addition \
to a good  message); and unless Phoronix decides to re-publish that article \
every week  we've got the upper hand there.

-- 
Aaron J. Seigo

_______________________________________________
This message is from the kde-promo mailing list.

Visit https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-promo to unsubscribe, set \
digest on or temporarily stop your subscription.


[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]