fp.o translation volunteer
by Greg DeKoenigsberg
David Barzilay has graciously agreed to serve as the guinea pig for the
first fp.o translation: into Brazilian Portuguese.
So. Now need to decide how, exactly, we structure the translated wiki
pages.
The simplest way: create language subsections. That would mean, for
Brazilian Portuguese:
fp.o/wiki/Extras would be translated to fp.o/wiki/br/Extras
It may not be the most elegant way, but it would probably get the job done
more quickly.
I'm also open to better ideas -- but the quicker we can move, the quicker
we can take advantage of Mister Barzilay's good will. :)
--g
_____________________ ____________________________________________
Greg DeKoenigsberg ] [ the future masters of technology will have
Community Relations ] [ to be lighthearted and intelligent. the
Red Hat ] [ machine easily masters the grim and the
] [ dumb. --mcluhan
17 years, 11 months
Fedora based distributions: An overview
by Rahul Sundaram
Hi
There is a recent effort being made as part of the Fedora marketing team
to create a list of Fedora based distributions which includes the
project links, package listing, contact details etc classified into
several groups based on their functionality.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/DerivedDistributions
I had committed to sending a mail with my ideas on this a few meeting
back and you got it now. I would like to invite more volunteers to
participate on this effort and send in your feedback.f
The numbers game
The number of Linux distributions continue to explode in a phenomenal
rate. There are 345 active distributions at present not counting 64
discontinued efforts. A large number of them are however derivatives
based on other distributions, in particular Red Hat Linux/Fedora and
Debian. The ones that are build from scratch are much lower at 28.
Factoring in distributions that were originally based on some
distributions but have evolved into independent ones we can put the
numbers at approximately 35.
Fedora Derivatives
Fedora is the second highest base for a large number of distributions
right after Debian. There is a impressive 63 distributions based on
Fedora and 13 others based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux which itself is
based on Fedora. I havent counted Mandriva and others which are now far
apart from their lineage.
That puts the final count as 76.
Source: http://distrowatch.com
Classification of Derivatives
There are a fair number of reasons to create new distributions and
derivatives help you reach there better if you choose a appropriate base
depending on the requirements. Some major categories include the following:
* Live CD's: These is potentially the biggest group and they provide
value as rescue cds, demonstrations and technology showcases etc
* Regional: These include GUI and docs in their native language, locale
information with potentially more utilities for input methods and
changes to accommodate hardware in that particular region
* Niche groups: New technology, product demonstrations etc that appeal
to a limit audience like terminal servers and low end hardware. These
might eventually evolve into a mainstream technology or product
* Package mix: Changes in default set of packages, branding and other
specific targets like games or edutainment software.
* Commercial offshoots: Productizing a distribution appeals to many
groups and for several different uncategorized reasons
Collaboration
Fedora as a project provides ample opportunity for such derivatives to
collaborate with each other and with Fedora itself. As an example, the
Live CD distributions can base themselves off Kadischi, Fedora's Live CD
generation tool and contribute towards improving it helping themselves
in the process.
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/LiveCD
Agenda items could include the following
* Contact and discuss areas and projects where we can have a win-win
arrangement
* Provide templates for new project proposals and sub groups within
Fedora. Provide webspace, cvs access, mailing lists, bandwidth and
publicity for such projects wherever appropriate
* Make it easier to create derivatives and branding. Fedora potentially
benefits from being a base for different people to explore different areas
Let me know your thoughts
regards
Rahul
17 years, 11 months
AWOL this week
by Colin Charles
There's a meeting later today, but I'll be awol. I have just had to
leave at this moment. Greg or Patrick can write notes. See you next week
--
Colin Charles, http://www.bytebot.net/
17 years, 12 months
Fedora Logo I saw on ff.org
by Tejas Dinkar
I saw this really brilliant logo posted by 'sailor' on
fedoraforum.org<http://fedoraforum.org>
I don't remember seeing on the mailing list, so I uploaded it onto my site,
and changed the size into all the standard icon sizes.
If i get a vote, this one has it
Sailor has done an amazing touch up of the origninal 'infinite freedom' idea
http://tejas.nipl.net/fedoralogos
The icons do get a bit grainy after we shrink them past 64x64, but I think
that with a bit of touching up, this can be fixed.
17 years, 12 months
Meeting Minutes - 2005-09-22
by Patrick W. Barnes
== Present ==
Colin Charles (bytee_)
Marc Wiriadisastra (StrikeForce)
Patrick Barnes (nman64)
Rahul Sundaram (mether)
Tejas Dinkar (tejas)
== Notes ==
* Mentors: We've had more people join, but we need to advertise it.
News postings and mailing list messages seem good.
ACTION: Marc to write up an article and post to Rahul's list of news
sites, CC-ing fedora-marketing-list.
* SOP: Nobody stepping up. We need a volunteer to take over this one.
* Fedora-based distributions list: tejas making progress, first sites
listed. He needs help writing the reviews.
* Wiki: Have gotten some suggestions, looking for raw HTML support to
make improvements.
web-devel mailing list?
--
Patrick "The N-Man" Barnes
nman64(a)n-man.com
www.n-man.com
--
17 years, 12 months
Meeting
by Marc Wiriadisastra
Was there a right up relating to last nights meeting?
I haven't seen one come through?
Regards,
Mar
18 years
The ongoing Fedora Forum discussion
by Greg DeKoenigsberg
So here's a snippet from this thread on FedoraForum.org, from jspaar:
"But trying to spin this like it was an open process in which the
community was highly involved? As Greg DeK. spelled out in the marketing
list discussion, he has paid a professional to do it according to Red
Hat's specs, and he has signed off on the result (allowing for minor
tweaks) before 99% of the "community" has even become aware that it
existed."
(http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showpost.php?p=370607&postcount=69)
This is a fair point -- to an extent.
We wanted enough input to validate the direction the logo should take.
The mechanism we used to gather that input was the Fedora marketing list.
Why? Because this is *precisely* why the Fedora marketing group exists.
And yes, that *necessarily* excludes 99% of the Fedora community -- but it
*includes* the 1% who care enough about the direction of Fedora's brand to
get *directly* involved.
And *those* people were *highly* involved in the process around this
decision. These people were submitting logo ideas -- some good, some
not-so-good, some not-at-all-good -- for *months* before we commissioned
this version -- and that *very* active debate *directly* informed Matt's
choices, as he made clear in his top-notch presentation.
But, y'know, it's not code. It's a logo. In code, it's frequently the
case that "one way is better." In design, that's *almost never* the case.
Therefore, our process was to:
1. Gather input;
2. Designate someone to create the logo;
3. Validate the logo.
It was all done completely transparently, too.
And because there are roughly as many people who like the logo as who hate
the logo, and because that is generally true with *any* design task (as
most designers will tell you), and because people generally respect the
thought process that led to the logo, the logo is probably a winner.
Matt Munoz, the talented designer who came up with it, has the final say
at this point -- because as jspaar also points out, "benevolent
dictatorship is necessary or nothing gets decided." In this case, that
guy is Matt.
That's basically my last word on the matter. Feel free to repost links to
this message all over teh intraweb.
--g
_____________________ ____________________________________________
Greg DeKoenigsberg ] [ the future masters of technology will have
Community Relations ] [ to be lighthearted and intelligent. the
Red Hat ] [ machine easily masters the grim and the
] [ dumb. --mcluhan
18 years
