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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