[CREATE] Focus

[Yuval Levy]

Hi all,

I realize from the feedback on my comments regarding the LG website that I 
have a different vision of the website's target audience than many here.

Comparing an hypothetical LG website with an Adobe or Corel website is IMHO 
wrong.  We already have the equivalent of these corporate / product sites: 
hugin.sf.net; inkscape.org; gimp.org; etc.

Sure, ours don't give the slick "suite" look, but I believe that's part of who 
we are, for the same reason that different projects use different GUI toolkits 
and it's perfectly acceptable.

Maybe we need a better way to communicate *interoperability* and *consistency* 
which is what the slick "suite" is all about.  How about a "create" badge on 
each project website that adheres to interoperability standards? linking to a 
single page in the create wiki that describes this interoperability and its 
benefits for the users?

A website can be everything and nothing to everybody and nobody.  I believe to 
be successful it must have a focus.  The magazine manifesto recently published 
by ginger coons on this list is a beautiful example of expression of such 
focus.  Where is that for the LG website?

Who do we want to reach with a website that is not a project/product website?

a - the general public
b - graphics enthusiasts and professionals
c - users of PG (proprietary graphics software) who do not know about LG
d - users of LG who do not know about PG
e - users of LG who refuse to use PG
f - users of PG who refuse to use LG
g - users of LG + PG
h - enthusiasts and professionals who do not yet use any graphics software 
(e.g. newbies)

any combination of the above?

(b) is a subset of (a).  (c) and (d) are mutually exclusive, and so are (e) 
and (f).  (c+d+e+f+g+h) more or less equals (b).  There are probably many more 
people in (c) than in (d) and I would even boldly claim that (d) is a category 
of time traveler from the future.

So, as long as PG is already known to the vast majority of our target 
audience, who is afraid to list / mention PG?  I am not suggesting to promote 
PG.  Ever heard of comparative ads?   Mentioning the software, neutrally, with 
a description of its purpose its IMHO not a promotion.  Especially not if most 
target audience already knows it and has favorable prejudice toward it vs. our 
products.

Ana, ginger and Ricardo have explicitly chosen (d+e+g) = users of LG as their 
target audience because they believe this market is underserved.  I think they 
are spot on and I look forward to see their project thrive.

They also explicitly ignore (c+f+h) = not (yet) users of LG.  That's good too.  
There are enough magazines catering to (c+f+h).  So far those magazines ignore 
LG.  It's the same with general computing magazines: mention of Linux is 
nearly non-existent.  So PC mag == Windows mag, and Linux / BSD / Apple users 
go to specialized magazines and ignore PC mag.  Do we want this new LG website 
to be ignored by mainstream users?  to be considered a FLOSS only website? OK, 
choose your target audience. 

The magazine is meant to "build a home for the users of Libre Graphics 
software".  good.  I'm all in favor of that.

While there is no home for users of LG software, IMHO we have already enough 
websites as home for LG software.  If what you want to achieve is just another 
website to be home for LG software, good luck to you with your project.  

IMHO we miss a *bridge* to this home.  It should reach out to (c+h), and maybe 
to (f) too.  Take their perspective.  Start from where they are.  Show them 
how LG could *complement* their world.  Not replace it (yet).

Now think again:  is mentioning PG (that most users already know anyway) on 
the LG website a promotion of PG?  Or is it just making them comfortable with 
the website so that eventually they will follow the website's recommendation 
and try something new to them?

A bridge needs to inspire confidence to users that are on the other shore, so 
that they fear not walking the bridge and come visit our side.

Preventing them from going back is IMHO against the spirit of Free software.    
They should be free to go and free to come, and the website should reflect it.

It's not, and for the foreseeable future it won't be either-or.  If we put it 
as an either-or, the vast majority will choose PG, I bet.  Most graphics users 
currently are PG-only.  Last anecdotal example I bumped into: [0]

Sure, it's Open, it's sharing, the spirit is very much ours.  But have you 
seen the tools mentioned?  That's what I am living with, pragmatically.  
because I have to interface with them if I want to get a chance at contracts 
on the local market.

An LG-only magazine is great to serve the underserved LG-only users, and to 
improve service to the LG+PG users.  There are no LG-only mags yet.

An additional LG-only website would only overcrowd an already saturated 
market.  They all have the same target audience and probably the exact same 
visitors statistics.  Not worth dissipating any energy on that.

Yuv


[0] http://photocamplondon.pbworks.com/Sessions
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