Response to "Getting Fedora Out of the If-Then Loop"

[Máirín Duffy]

On Thu, 2010-02-18 at 16:17 -0600, Adam Miller wrote:
> 2010/2/18 Máirín Duffy <duffy at fedoraproject.org>:
> > On Thu, 2010-02-18 at 12:17 -0600, Adam Miller wrote:
> >> I'm just going to be straight with it, would the Board be happier if
> >> the entire Spins SIG closed up shop and we got KDE, Xfce, LXDE, or
> >> anything else that were to pop up completely out of the repositories
> >> so that we can focus on the golden child? Is that what this is about?
> >> Because at this point I'm just tired of the ambiguity and if that is
> >> what's desired, then lets just say it and move on.
> >
> > Can I ask you a question:
> >
> > Do you work on non-default spins with the expectation/hope that someday
> > it will be crowned prom queen / I mean be the default spin?

> Nope, not at all. I work on it because it interests me and I do have
> hopes that others will enjoy the results just as those who put in the
> effort to make it happen, but I don't have the unrealistic expectation
> for the Spin(s) that I work on to take over the market share of the
> prom queen. 

Cool I think at least you and me are on the same page then. I think
spins are a cool place for folks to experiment and try things out
without the pressure / overhead of a Process (with a capital 'P') but
the default spin should be more rigorous in the user experience planning
we should be doing for it as it's serving as a vehicle to spread FOSS.

I don't see how (and I hope you don't either) refining the process for
putting together the default spin as a polished product impedes upon
your ability to work on what you want to work on. If you'd rather hack
on the XFCE spin, for example, that's totally cool. Nobody is saying we
all must drop what we're doing and focus solely on the default spin. (At
least I hope not!) 

> This is honestly part of why I asked the question you
> quoted because if the end goal is to stop the Spins in their tracks
> then I will simply move from "Spin" to "Remix" with a different logo
> set as to not walk on the lines of TM issues. It makes no difference
> to me, I think it would be a bit of a slap in the face to some but it
> bothers me absolutely zero. I get to do what I want, contribute to
> Fedora and my over all desktop experience doesn't change (I would just
> miss the pretty Fedora logo).

I think the end goal is to spread Fedora far and wide, and I'd like to
use the default spin as the main vehicle for doing that. I don't think
that should have any impact on the spins at all, though - and I don't
think it means they are any less Fedora.

~m