[Ambassadors] Ambassadors list and user feedback

[Henrik Nordström]

mån 2011-11-28 klockan 14:21 +0100 skrev Jukka Palander:

> So this leads us into the huge problem: No-one (other than ambassador)
> reads this list so _how_ they (other contributors) could understand what
> happens in (the battle)field? Therefore this mailing list should be
> axed? ..and we ambassadors should start being members of every other
> mailing list? ..quite of wrong way of "management".

The ambassadors list is for communication and coordination among
ambassadors. As such the ambassadors list is not read by many outside
the ambassadors group. Sure, some things may be hit via Google, but it's
not a place where outside people active go and look to find information.

As ambassadors it's our duty to spread the word on the values of Fedora
and educate users in how to become contributors to the project,
including how to provide feedback to where it belongs which is one of
many ways to contribute to Fedora.

However, feedback from users not willing to listen to answers is not
very helpful. Feedback blooms when it results in a bidirectional
exchange of ideas. Relayed feedback most often is one-way only and
therefore of very limited value to everyone involved.

As others already explained world domination is not a goal for Fedora.
First is however, which involves trying out and exploring new ideas long
before accepted by everyone else. This do frequently cause friction at
various places (users, developers, packagers, you name it) but also a
lot of momentum moving things forward. The GNOME Shell is the first real
major change we have had in user experience and therefore brings a lot
of reactions from users for good and bad. And as always it's mainly the
negative reactions that is loudest.

Personally I think it's a good change. Still a little rough but
confident it will find the right balance and make our life with the
computer a lot easier.

> Question: Are those comments we get from the field going into the bin?
> No-one wants to listen? No place to put them unless you are a member of
> a very specific development mailing-list etc to put in in a "right
> place"???

If you want to proxy the feedback rather than educate and guide the user
where to correctly provide the feedback then yes. 

> Suggestion: Some place/application for feedback given to ambassadors
> from users would be nice. Not the email list, but rather some kind of a
> database drive application where it would be easy to run analyses..
> Howtodo-donno..

ask.fedoraproject.org comes to mind as a possible channel here, because
very often there is other (and sometimes better) ways to accomplish what
is asked for. But I know it's not really what you asked for.

Any one-way feedback mechanism tends to result in a black hole. Sure, it
may be possible to draw some kind of conclusions from it by statistical
analyzis, but most likely both the feedback as such and any those
conclusions will be very skewed by various factors and
misunderstandings.

> I still feel that the most valuable feedback comes from the users. 
> Not necessarily from the "linux-novices" but from the advanced and
> semiadvanced linux users. They (normally) are not members of any mailing
> list or a group. They just use linux (whatever distribution) as a tool
> for their work and some of them uses linux for
> fun/pleasure/hobby/anything.

The most frequent feedback I have seen/heard on GNOME Shell is that its
too different, and people do not like change. Humans by nature value
comfort in what they know, and every forced change is a big stress. But
sometimes change is needed to hopefully accomplish something better in
the end.

The right question on the GNOME Shell topic to ask here on the list is
"I hear a lot of complaints on GNOME Shell when out in the field, how
should I as am ambassador tackle those complaints?"

Regards
Henrik