Proposal: Website Redesign, Visibility Improvements, and Structured Standardization Process for freedesktop.org

[Philippe Westenfelder]

Dear freedesktop community,

I’d like to open a discussion regarding the public-facing presence of 
freedesktop.org, as well as the internal structure of its 
standardization process.


      Website and Landing Page

Currently, the root domain (|freedesktop.org|) redirects directly to 
|/wiki|, which presents a raw wiki front page as the main landing page. 
While this page contains some general information and a brief mention of 
donations, it is essentially a *wall of text* without real visual 
hierarchy, navigation aids, or a clear structure for new visitors. The 
presentation is dated and not particularly welcoming—especially for 
those unfamiliar with the project.

Some specific issues:

  *

    The site is *not really responsive*, making it difficult to view or
    navigate on mobile devices.

  *

    There is *no clear landing page* that introduces freedesktop.org as
    an organization or collaboration effort.

  *

    *Donation options are buried* at the bottom.

  *

    The *visual design and information architecture* make it hard to
    understand what freedesktop.org actually is and what projects it
    encompasses.

  *

    The site (and some services) are *not reachable via IPv6*, which is
    increasingly expected from modern infrastructure.


I believe the site would greatly benefit from a *proper homepage*, 
separate from the wiki, that clearly and concisely explains:

  *

    What freedesktop.org does and why it matters

  *

    How it relates to Linux/Unix desktop interoperability

  *

    Which projects are under its umbrella

  *

    How to contribute or donate


      Standardization Process

Aside from the web presence, I also want to suggest *formalizing the way 
freedesktop.org handles specifications and standards*. At present, many 
specifications exist in various states across different wikis, Git 
repositories, or documents, without a consistent life cycle model.

Taking inspiration from the IETF's RFC process, freedesktop.org could 
adopt a similar structure with:

  *

    Clear document stages e.g.: /draft → proposal → review → accepted →
    deprecated/.

  *

    A central, versioned, and searchable archive of specifications

  *

    Transparent governance: who reviews or approves proposals?

  *

    A clear way for contributors to propose new standards or improvements

This would improve transparency, long-term maintainability, and 
community participation—especially from distributions and external 
developers who rely on these standards.
I know freedesktop.org is not a real standardization organization, but 
maybe we could still benefit from this structure.


      Summary

In short, I propose:

 1.

    A redesigned, dedicated homepage for freedesktop.org (not based on
    the wiki).

 2.

    Improved structure and visual clarity, including better donation
    visibility.

 3.

    IPv6 availability for all public services.

 4.

    A structured, RFC-style process for standardization efforts.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, and I’d be happy to contribute 
time or resources if there is interest in moving this forward.


Best regards,
Philippe
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