[libreoffice-marketing] Re: [libreoffice-design] Moving to LibreOffice 8?

[Mike Saunders]

Hello,

On 06.04.23 22:12, Eyal Rozenberg wrote:
> 
> Great, what's the problem? Why should we be in a rush to get existing 
> users to upgrade from 7.5 to 7.6?

Well, one argument is that we have very limited resources to support two 
branches. LibreOffice 7.5 won't be around forever, so at some point 
we'll need to push people to update to 7.6/8.0, as the previous version 
won't be maintained and could potentially have security issues.

On Reddit, social media etc. we see lots of posts from people using 
ancient versions of LibreOffice, and have no idea that there are newer 
major releases. There are various reasons for that, but IMO we need to 
keep people up-to-date. Not for quarterly sales targets as a 
CompuGlobalHyperMegaCorp, as you say, but because it's better for us all 
in the project when people are using maintained and supported versions.

> So, 
> we should be at least skeptical about copying MS behavior regarding MSO 
> in which their marketing wing is calling the shots.

Agreed that we shouldn't copy problematic behaviour, but if our goal is 
to raise awareness of LibreOffice as much as possible, and get it into 
as many hands as possible (and I know not everyone agrees with that), 
then we have to be aware of the market in which we're operating, and 
competing.

IMO, it's a lot like the whole "using proprietary services to reach 
users" debate. Arguably, as a FOSS project, we should avoid closed 
platforms like Twitter and Facebook. But we make a compromise and are 
active on those platforms, because they are very effective for reaching 
new users and communicating with them.

So I think our marketing has to balance these things. If we only care 
about the technical side, we could use XTerm-style numbering (just keep 
bumping a single number with every release). But as if we want to reach 
Microsoft Office users and make a compelling argument to them, our 
marketing has to fit.

And I know that Italo has a ton of experience and knowledge in this 
field, so his perspective on this is very valuable IMO.

Cheers,
Mike