Release notes have a launcher - maybe we should remove that

[Christoph Wickert]

Am Freitag, den 29.08.2014, 00:05 +0300 schrieb Elad Alfassa:
> Hello all.

HI Elad,

thanks for bringing this up.

> As you may know, we ship a launcher called "Release Notes" in our
> default install.
> During the F18 Launcher Purge[1] Allan asked the docs team to remove
> it from the default install, but his request was rejected[2].

To me it looks like the removal was rejected for good reasons, In the
bug, Robyn pointed out some important points, e. g. our release
criteria.

If you disagree, please be so kind to respond these points and make sure
the release criteria get updates accordingly. 

> But now we have guidelines[3], and the guidelines state:

I was under the impression that these guidelines were not ratified yet.
Because of all the netspilts, we were not able to discuss them at full.
Some of my questions were not answered and my concerns were not
addressed. Last but not least, I did not have a chance to cast my vote.

> * An "app" is an application as defined by the GNOME 3 HIG[4]
> * An app launcher SHOULD Launch software that is an actual app - see
> the GNOME 3 HIG for the exact definition
> 
> And the release notes, well, are not an app (per the definition in the
> GNOME 3 HIG).

The removal of the launcher from the package affects more than just
GNOME or the workstation product. Therefor arguing with GNOME guidelines
is moot.

> Moreover, I don't really think users expect to find release notes
> inside the OS itself - no other OS does that.

Most of our users are not migrating from other OSes but are existing
users. As they had release notes in the past, it is save to assume they
expect them.

> We can link to the release notes in our download page, our help page
> on the website (which will be linked from start.fpo once I finish
> implementing the new designs we got), and a bookmark in Firefox
> (pointing to a local copy of the release notes) - so the release notes
> won't exactly be invisible or inaccessible.

None of these sound compelling.
      * We cannot assume people actually download the ISO. As an
        ambassador, I distribute quite a number of media.
      * A bookmark in Firefox assumes people already are searching the
        web, otherwise they wouldn't start a browser. People who expect
        to find them locally will not do this.

I'm not saying the release notes need to be shipped with the OS itself.
These days, a link to a website should be fine, if it is displayed
prominently in the OS. That is not in the browser. Or are bookmarks
searchable in the dash now?

> We could also go the extra step (of craziness) and copy the release
> note PDF into the liveuser's Document directory (in the kickstart),
> where it will be indexed by tracker and thus accessible via documents
> and people who search for "release notes" in the shell would be able
> to find it (why would they do that? I don't know). It's possible, but
> for me it seems extremely crazy and unnecessary.

I wouldn't call it crazy, but it's definitely everything but elegant. 
      * It will not help us with installs but only in live mode.
      * But in live mode, tracker should not be run.

But I wouldn't call it unnecessary either. I still believe there is a
need for the release notes in a prominent location.

> While I'm aware what I'm suggesting here might be a little bit
> controversial, I do think it is something which we should consider.

I read through this thread and I did consider your proposal. However I
remain skeptic.

Before I can make a final decision, I need to be sure that all
stakeholders were involved in this discussion and agreed to your
proposal. This not only includes the other desktops but also the docs
team. I'm afraid that their hard work is significantly degraded if we no
longer ship or prominently show it in our default product.

I suggest we continue this discussion once the other groups signal they
are fine with this change.

Best regards,
Christoph


> 
> [1] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Design/F18_Launcher_Purge
> [2] https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=846316
> [3] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Elad/Draft_app_guidelines
> [4] https://people.gnome.org/~tobiasmue/hig3/application-basics.html
> -- 
> -Elad Alfassa.