wiki reorg - main page introduction, main FAQ

Stroller stroller at stellar.eclipse.co.uk
Tue Jul 22 03:45:47 CEST 2008


On 22 Jul 2008, at 01:25, ian douglas wrote:
> ...
> Can we start discussing how we want to split the wiki into new
> categories, etc., or an overall organizational plan, who's going to
> volunteer for things, etc.?

Hi there,

I said in a previous message that I think the main FAQ is presently  
overlarge, unwieldy and uninteresting.

Can I propose this as a topic for discussion?
Anyone agree or disagree?

ISTM that a main FAQ is something that most people will look for on  
when first indulging an interest in Openmoko and the Freerunner. On  
many OSS sites "FAQ" is one of the main site navigation elements, and  
is used to tell newcomers everything they need to know as an  
introduction.

Right now the main FAQ begins with:

   Q: What is OpenMoko? What is the Neo 1973? What is the Neo  
Freerunner?
   A: OpenMoko is a software platform and the world's first completely
   open mobile phone software stack. It is based on Linux and allows
   users and enthusiasts great freedom to customise their phone... The
   FIC Neo FreeRunner is the second Openmoko phone and is now available
   for sale!

Great! But the FAQ then rapidly descends into questions about JTAG  
and USB speeds. The two subjects are not related. Perhaps a start is  
to split the more technical elements into a "Technical FAQ"?

Perhaps, with the statement "FAQ ... is used to tell newcomers  
everything they need to know as an introduction" I am wossisnaming my  
own preconceptions over the purpose of the FAQ? Perhaps it shouldn't  
be an introduction at all? Perhaps it is simply a repository for  
random (FA) questions?

A concern of mine over the wiki reorganisation is the introductory  
purposes of the main page. There's not much there to direct new  
owners to helpful "getting started" articles and HOWTOs.

The "Introduction to Openmoko" title is written in a gopping shade of  
green, but that section also doesn't tell newcomers the most useful  
stuff - the first link is to the "Openmoko" page [1] which seems to  
be nothing more than a long list of random hardware & software notes  
all mixed together. Shouldn't the "Openmoko" page be more friendly?  
Sure, "Openmoko is the distribution that we're creating for phones  
and eventually other mobile devices." but we shouldn't we also say  
that presently it runs on the [[Neo1973]] and [[Freerunner]] phones?  
"Look at all this great stuff you can do with it!!" we should declare!

Back to the "Introduction to Openmoko" section of the Main Page - who  
cares about "The original core team" if they were last responsible  
for Openmoko in August 2007? Does "Trademark Policy" need such a  
prominent position? Surely the first screenful of text on the main  
page, the first the reader sees before they scroll down to explore  
further should be *really* *useful* and *really* *informative* stuff.  
Couldn't links to the Trademark Policy be relegated to the foot of  
the page? Likewise it has been stated in the first paragraph that  
"Openmoko is a Free Software project" - so surely we don't need to  
waste one of the following bolded links on "License"? (again, I feel  
that can go at the foot of the page?) The bolded links should be  
reserved for stuff that most newcomers are going to need most  
frequently.

Stroller.




[1] http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Openmoko




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