From: Jürgen A.Erhard (jae+debian@jerhard.org)
Date: Sat Aug 02 2003 - 03:27:10 CEST
>>>>> "Andreas" == Andreas Müller <amu@debian.org> writes:
I just *have* to voice my concerns...
Before I deal with the points in your mail, some general thoughts:
Debian booths represent Debian. But what *is* Debian? What *image*
does Debian have, in the community (and Debian *is* community-driven!
Lose sight of that, lose the soul of the project), and among its
users?
What image does Debian want to portray of itself?
Debian is a volunteer project. Debian is *not* a company. So, why
should Debian look(!) "professional" (for some definition thereof)?
Why should Debian try to emulate KDE (which targets a different
audience, I think)?
Debian is "the Universal Operating System", yes. But: what does this
actually mean? Could mean two things: a) it's the OS for everything:
server, workstation, desktop, embedded devices, you name it. b) it's
the OS for everyone: poweruser, hacker, home network admin, big
corporation admin... and the *clueless luser*.
I'm all for a), but not for the luser part of b). b) is well-served
by the SuSEs and RedHats out there. (I could rant about some more
about this, but this is not the place).
So, who is our target audience? Who do we *most* want to come to our
booth(s)? First answer this, then go from there.
[snip]
Andreas> Establishment of a event group which ensures a
Andreas> professional event appearance.
I'm unsure about this group. Might work, but just forming a "group"
(to me, debian-events-eu, this very list, *is* this "event group")
isn't a magic solution to everything.
I'm sure about the "professional event appearance". I don't like it.
To be more specific, I don't like what people *mean* when they say
"professional appearance". Look at the KDE booths. You want emulate
them, it seems.
If instead of "event appearance", you'd say "event planning", then I'm
all for it.
Andreas> Good hardware, it will be begun with finding sponsors,
Andreas> who places identical hardware.
I say "No" to that. It doesn't fit in with Debian, at least not the
Debian I (and a majority of our users, I think) like.
Debian is, among other things, *lots* of platforms. "identical
hardware" would mean i386, probably. Would *look* "professional", but
wouldn't look "debian".
Andreas> Continues to be with a clear identification of the booth
Andreas> personnel .....
Badges. That's it. Shirts? Well, either you get someone to sponsor
them, or you demand people to buy them. So, an entry fee for helping
with the booth would get established.
I could rant on, but I think I've made my point... if anyone is
interested in a *constructive* discussion (including "you see this
wrong, and this is why:"), I'm game.
Bye, J
PS: I was booth personnel at LT '99 and 2000, and chatted up a number
of visitors at both times, so I'm no outsider to Debian booth
business. But I see a disturbing (only for me, I'm afraid) trend
here... but that's not the primary reason I didn't do booth duty since
then.
PPS: I left Martin in the CC, since the image of Debian is something
he should be / is concerned with.
--
Jürgen A. Erhard
MARS http://mars.jerhard.org
"Outside of a dog, a man's best friend is a book;
inside of a dog, it's very dark." -- Groucho Marx
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