On Sun, Nov 29, 2015 at 5:40 PM, P J P pjp@fedoraproject.org wrote:
On Sunday, 29 November 2015 1:36 PM, sankarshan wrote:
Has there been a corresponding effort/method to measure it through all the duration that DVD distribution has been in place?
It is intriguing to respond to a question with another.
Because I don't know if there was such effort.
If there has not been any way to deduce the impact of DVD distribution on user base, is your first statement based on perception?
Partly that and partly being optimistic. It'd be a stretch to write off DVD distribution as having zero impact, which is probably why we have the FreeMedia program running.
Why would be a stretch? The FreeMedia program works on the basis of tickets. And I am not sure if anyone does actually check (a) for unique recipients (b) geographical coverage of the media distribution.
We have the FreeMedia program running because it requires the project to invest a very minimal amount of money while depending largely upon the goodwill of the volunteers mailing the media out. If you discount the cost of the media, every single DVD mailed costs around 35 INR. It might seem little, but 100 units of such mailing is a good amount of money to ask volunteers to bear the trouble for.
The question then comes up - why are we asking them? Is it making the project itself complacent to find (a) ways to measure impact (b) ways to create a participant base (c) ways to have a feedback loop
I'm not sure of the exact number but would be it a reasonably accurate estimate that around 5000 units of DVDs of various Fedora releases have been produced and distributed via channels viz. FreeMedia, Events, UGs? And if there are 500 unique recipients of such media, has this list or, any other channel (Ask Fedora etc) heard from at least 10% of these recipients? I think when Rejy sends out the FreeMedia DVDs, he adds a note about "how to seek and receive help".
IMO DVD distribution and recipients becoming active participants are two different aspects, which need not be connected. They could still be using Fedora and upgrading to newer versions. When news papers distribute free copies, it is not expected that the recipients would start writing editorial comments and columns.
Why are they different aspects? A few emails back you mentioned that in your opinion the distribution is a way to obtain new customer base. Well, every campaign takes stock of whether such new customer sign-ups have actually happened. How would you do that in case of FreeMedia? There is practically no obligation for a recipient to raise a hand and state "I've installed and would like to participate".
I think the participation in the community in India is not similar to writing editorials. As a straw-man argument it is a fine stretch. Editorials are written by on-staff contributors and invited experts.
However, regular recipients of free copies do often pop up on the digital boards (newspaper forums, letters to the editor).
You continue to give something away for free if you are interested in swamping the market. A couple of years back there was a Linux distribution wherein you could write in with your detail and a nice little consignment of stickers and media ("smart stickers") would land up. Eventually, the recipients also formed LoCo groups and exchanged notes. Some of the members ended up becoming fairly expert contributors to various projects.
The percentage breakdown I provided in my original email is probably the pessimistic one. The problem is that each time this thread comes up, there is a continued narrative around "FreeMedia is making a difference". The issue here is that there is no way to figure out as such. And while we spin our wheels on it, we are missing out on the opportunity to see how else we can create the impact. Or, in other words, what are the possible answers to "We do not seem to have enough contributors to the various aspects of the project, how can we bring about an up-tick?"
There's another question which is implied - are the outcomes expected from DVD distribution aligned with the goals of the Fedora community in India?
Do we have these goals and expectations defined and communicated to the active participants?
I wouldn't know. Who are the "active participants"? What do they expect from the Fedora community in India? What do they see themselves doing within the community? In the past couple of years I've not seen this discussed. Perhaps it is time. Or, then again, perhaps it is alright to continue to believe that distributing media based on a request is the best way to create a community.