Re: Installation validation test change proposal: merge USB tests into 'default boot and install', add more environment columns
Matthew Miller wrote:
This is already a problem. We're giving away DVDs because
it's
something to give away, not because it's what people really still want.
We need to find out some other take-homes that people find
useful and desirable *anyway*.
Based on feedback from Ambassadors, DVD images may still be useful
giveaways in regions with less access to bandwidth. I'm not sure what
to do about that.
My experience from the yearly Vienna Linux Week is that demand for DVDs has
been dropping significantly for the last couple years. It was still high for
1-2 years when the demand in the US had already dropped, but notebooks
without an optical drive have since become commonplace here too. (You CAN
still get a notebook with an optical drive if you really want around here,
but it is not the standard anymore.) That said, the demand might still be
non-zero. We did not have any Fedora media to give out this year (there
wasn't even a Fedora stand due to lack of personnel), so I do not have
precise data from this year.
What would be really great would be USB keys to hand out, but I guess the
prices for those are still too prohibitive. "USB burning stations" have also
not worked out all that well when they were tried at various events in the
past, though it might be worth retrying that these days. Having a reliable
nondestructive way to transfer Fedora onto a USB key would help there,
though. At least I really wouldn't feel well about just erasing every USB
stick I am handed over, nor would I have the time to check every stick I am
given with the owner (nor would I want to peek around in the owner's data to
begin with).
Kevin Kofler