FESCo Meeting Summary for 20090424

[Toshio Kuratomi]

Paul W. Frields wrote:
> 
> I think FESCo is doing the right thing by including something that
> will work for the large number of users we have who are natural
> bit-twiddlers, and require functionality beyond what the
> drivers/hardware currently make available to PA.  But I also think the
> Desktop SIG ought to be able to make a Desktop Spin that represents
> their vision.  In fact, that's something we've asked for at, e.g., the
> recent FUDCon in Boston last January.
> 
Something that jwb noticed in the FESCo meeting but didn't get explored
is that many FESCo members referred to the live spin as the "default
spin" whereas the desktop team members referred to it as the "desktop
spin".  I think this is an important thing to ponder.  FESCo has been
pushing the distribution away from the install DVD and more towards the
live images.  I think this is a good thing as it gives new (and old...
I'm going to be trying a few spins on USB before upgrading the rest of
my computers to F11) users the ability to try things out before they
settle on what they want.

However, this means that the public face of the Fedora Distribution is
not whatever the user gets after they customize the package set from the
install DVD and install those packages onto the hard drive.  It means
that the user's impression of what Fedora is is largely what they get
when they boot the "default spin" that's the first entry here:

  http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora

With this in mind, we currently have a desktop spin but it's not the
exclusive playground of the desktop team.  The spin is also tied very
tightly to what Fedora the Distribution is.  And that's why FESCo feels
the need to have a say in what's on that particular spin when it seems
to not be providing what users want.

Is this a mistake?  The desktop team gets exposure for their work by
being the default spin but they also have to contend with more
stake-holders in the results of their work.  mclasen brought up the
empathy issue from last release and I'm pretty sure the mono-banshee
feature that was pushed at the desktop team this release was directed at
getting it onto the default spin rather than what the desktop team
produces specifically.

Now I'm not on FESCo and I'm not on the desktop team, so what do the
real stakeholders here think?  Desktop team, do you get enough value
from being the default spin to outweigh the extra burden of satisfying
everyone who thinks of the Desktop Spin as the Fedora Distribution?
FESCo, if the desktop team says they want a spin of their own to
control, are you willing to figure out a different spin (or different
method) for telling user's what the Fedora Distribution is?

-Toshio

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 197 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
Url : http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/devel/attachments/20090425/44f53420/attachment.bin