[Fedora-marketing-list] Re: Slashdot interview with Fedora Project leader Max Spevack

[Rahul]

Nicola Losito wrote:
> 
> Il giorno 22/ago/06, alle ore 06:16, Rahul ha scritto:
> 
>> Nicola Losito wrote:
>>
>>> When you install and run Ubuntu you got enabled a bunch of features 
>>> that doesn't make feel the user on his own (Gnome sounds enabled, 
>>> when i'm supposed to enter the sudo password the screen goes dark 
>>> leaving only the appropriate window "illuminated" and some other 
>>> fancier - yes, useless, but fancier things).
>>
>> So boils down to eye candy basically.
> 
> Nope.
> It boild down paying attention to fancier, little, useful visual and 
> "desktop" tricks, that enhance user experience (hidden window asking for 
> root password instead of something that focuses the attention and so on ...


Are you referring to new dialog boxes that does not receive focus 
immediately? Thats a GNOME feature and has been in Fedora for the last 
couple of releases.


> Why would I? I dont use third party repositories.
> 
> Not a viable solution for a lot of people, and not realistic to think 
> that *now* anyone would drop the use of something they're accoustomed to 
> have (IMHO). Also, even if Livna or RPMforge are not official 
> "endorsed", in the Fedora users I know *everyone* who's got it installed 
> on a personal desktop have got them enabled. So ignoring their exsitence 
> for me is "childish" ... for the lack of a better word of my knowledge :-(

What should we do about them? We cant officially endorse any third party 
repository especially ones that carry non-free software.


> 
>>  and Fedora might not be the right choice for me at that point.
> 
> And this isn't a point to be worked on ?
> The 90% of people haven't got a nice connection, do we want to cut them 
> out _also_ because we haven't thought a way to go in their "direction" ??
> Italy, one of the 7th most rich and industrialized country in the world 
> has still no fibre connection, and *DSL are "slow", strongly asymetrical 
> and most of the time people have got pay per hours connections.
> What in Eastern Europe ? South America ? and so on ...

Yum and Pirut is getting support to access and install packages from 
media.  Pup is getting the ability to classify packages.

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=188750
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~lewk/blog/2006/08/15/pup_enhancements

This wouldnt solve the problem of getting updates over a dial up 
connection.


>>> Here i could make a mistake but:
>>> - http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/components
>>> it's clear in the division of what's "ubuntu" or "canonical" and 
>>> what's not and also ...
>>
>> It is pretty simple for Fedora and it is documented in Fedora wiki 
>> pages. Fedora Core is maintained by Red Hat and Fedora Extras, Fedora 
>> Legacy is community maintained.
> 
> OK
> but to me it seems you're avoiding to see my point :-)

Just that your point was perhaps not clear to me.

> 
> In universe / multiverse we have 99% of any additional software one can use.
> Then we can se "backports" (and these are self explainatory) a 
> "commercial" repo by Canonical (which get some way of agreement to 
> distribute Opera or Real with contracts that - i think - could be 
> obtained by any distro provided there's interest into it - Skype in 
> Mandriva installation media comes to my mind too). The rest of "ubuntu 
> 3rd party repos" are for "elite" needs into specific areas.

Again we dont support or include any software repositories that hold 
non-free software.  Other than that I dont see any difference.


> 
> For Fedora we have (at least) the repos listed here:
> http://www.fedoratracker.org/tracker.py?mode=repoSearch
> where there's no clear policy of what goes where.

This is a community side which tracks all third party repositories. For 
formal repositories included with Fedora we have clear policies

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Packaging/Guidelines

> 
> I know Fedora can't drive anyone into anything.
> But there could be a strict policy on how to provide packages for the 
> distro. 

For repositories included within Fedora there is one already as you can 
see above.


This issue i think it's related to the licences present in FC
> that's been discussed some (recent) time ago here or in the board list.
> When the licence's type area will become more "clear" we should find a 
> way to make people come into Extras or to Extras-nonfree (to say) 
> instead of making their "personal" repo, summoning up the community 
> efforts in few areas.
> 
> I'd like my distro to have the major number of precompiled packages 
> available, no matter what.
> 

Fedora Project will only include Free and open source software.


>> Things are getting better but if you want to install random 
>> repositories that's really your choice.
> 
> Indeed. But if I need these repos to get the software i need /want to 
> test to run my machine productively and i have permanent, several issues 
> with them i'll change my distro. 

If install random repositories and have permanent issues with them you 
should discuss those issues with the repository maintainers.


> 
> Again Fedora has come close to my need with 5 and it's mono inclusion 
> and such, but still it's too "complicated" to make it run on many of my 
> friend's machines since the issues i see using the various repos (or yum 
> when they're with slow lines).
> 
> I have been present at the times at Fedora and at the time for Ubuntu, 
> and they since the beginning have fought to be stable as Debian and easy 
> as RH/SuSE. 
> 
> Fedora has been (to cite Max's word) "We strive to produce a quality 
> distribution of free software that is cutting-edge, pushes the envelope 
> of new open source technology, and is also robust enough that it can be 
> relied on for server or desktop use."
> 
> To me it somewhat sounds like "Fedora is an hacker toy, build to 
> pleasure is quest for knowledge without crashing every now and then", 
> which is fine, but then at some point I, as user, and many like me i 
> think, may leave this land.
> 

Thats a very strange way to read it. Being a robust platform for Free 
software is the opposite to a crashing hacker's toy.


Rahul