Re: Slightly OT: Comments, ideas, or suggestions for improving websites
Antony Gelberg wrote:
I don't understand what you want to do other than run a website and
collaborate with other websites, whatever that means in this instance.
What I want to do is cut down on the redundancy. Whether I run it or not
is irrelevant. I would like to be involved, yes. Collaborating in this
instance means not having 10 websites that post the same thing over and
over again; working to specialize to limit overlaps, maybe even being
open to trying new things and ideas.
As for the FAQ comment, I'm really missing your point. The answer is
pretty clearly stated. For a site thats only been around a short time, how
many frequently asked questions would you expect? Maybe just make up a few
and claim they're frequently asked as many do?
Oh. Is the one that is there frequently asked?
Yes. Of all the communications I have received regarding the website, it
is far and away #1; hence the title of 'FAQ'.
Anyway, the point of this post was to gather ideas and suggestions. Do you
have any?
Yes. Put your efforts into improving existing infrastructure rather
than reinventing the wheel.
Such as? You can only improve areas you can affect. For example, taking
from your list below, how would you suggest people get involved with
improving planet.debian.net? At the time we began forming,
Debianplanet.org had basically gone dead for almost 2 months, and had
been extremely sporadic prior to that. Several people have told me that
they attempted to contact that site over the course of that period and
received no response, so they assumed it was dead for good. I can't
verify those claims; just mentioning it to illustrate my point.
If you don't like it the way it is, then please give some
suggestions or ideas to improve it. Jump in and help out, or at least give
us an example of someplace you would consider to be doing things better.
Given that your site is embryonic, I would consider almost every
well-known debian resource is doing things better. Examples are:
http://www.debian.org/
http://www.debian-administration.org/
http://www.debianplanet.org/
http://www.aboutdebian.com/
http://planet.debian.net/
http://www.linuks.mine.nu/debian-faq-wiki/
So, by virtue of being embryonic, things are done poorly? I'm not trying
to be difficult, but it seems you're implying that a site must be
well-established to be "better"? I know of and visit all of those sites
often; some are very well done and they all serve their purpose I
suppose. But comparing some of them to what I have been discussing here
is really apples to oranges.
I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to respond to this. I
honestly do value your opinion, don't take this the wrong way and think
I do not. But I get the impression that your suggestion is that we
should all just forget about it and maintain the status quo. If that is
your overall opinion, then I would respectfully disagree. If no one ever
started something new, that list would be quite bare.
If nothing else then maybe we can affect some positive change this way,
maybe we find a niche and fill it for those who would welcome it, who
knows? If I had all the answers I wouldn't be asking here. If I were
wanting to do this just for my own sake, why would I even bother asking
for suggestions? I just feel that there is plenty of room for a
different and new approach to this entire subject. As was noted in
another post in this thread, other distros have multiple websites run by
users, why shouldn't Debian? I don't think that should be discouraged as
long as it is done properly (i.e. making it clear that it *is* a third
party resource and not an official Debian project, etc.). I would like
to think that if we can gather some inputs and work out a way to fill a
niche then that possibility deserves exploration; thats the point of
this entire thread. IMO change and progress are good things as is trying
to work together. I am hoping that if we gather the ideas and
suggestions, we can provide something that people want and will use. If
it fails, at least we can say we tried.
One positive effect that has already happened from our work is that
several members of DebCentral have moved from various derivatives and
are now running mainline Debian. With a bit of support they realized
that they already knew the basics of a Debian system from their
experiences with derivatives, and all of them are very happy and
satisfied with their "new" software. If nothing else, maybe we can
educate some people and grow some into productive members of the Debian
community. I would call that a niche that would have a positive effect.
Anyway, I hope this finally explains to you exactly where I am coming
from on this. Its my opinion, and something I believe in and want to
attempt as my way of trying to give something back; hopefully it will be
the first of many times I have the opportunity to help out and give back
to Debian. I respect your opinion, and appreciate your time. If you're
set against these ideas, thats fine by me. I didn't expect everyone to
fall in love with it, and honestly I was really prepared for a response
along the lines of yours. Its understandable, and I've seen the same
response on this list before on any number of subjects. Thanks for your
inputs and I will keep them in mind.
Josh
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