frantisek holop wrote: > dear list, > > before Theo brings up the (very) valid point of haven't > been able to see any proposed design (even if rejected > without looking) i would like to ask fellow designers > or anyone who feels like to make an openbsd site design > proposal just to show that actually there is interest > in making the old pages retire after so many years of > faithful serving. > > i am willing to host all the participants' efforts > as a central "repository", or even only links > to these pages. > > make some noise people, so we can say at least we tried. > > -f
Like FreeBSD and NetBSD's "redesign our web site" contest. Riiight.. No. We've spent way too much time laughing at those already (both the process and the results). You can do what you want, but your work will be ignored. OpenBSD is NOT a committee-run OS project. I think a lot of people miss this. If there is ONE THING that distinguishes OpenBSD from most other OSs out there, it is the fact that OpenBSD is the work of a small group of people following the lead of *one* person. There is no question of direction, there is no "five different products to accomplish same task, because we don't have the guts to make a decision and endorse just one". As has been pointed out repeatedly, OpenBSD developers develop the OS for their own use. If your uses are compatible with the developer's goals, OpenBSD is for you. If not, you quickly realize not to waste your time. You don't see OpenBSD flopping around without a clear direction. You don't end up wondering, "will they change directions to meet my goals, or will they abandon my goals?". If or when Theo decides the web site should be restructured, it will be restructured. If/when that happens, I would be very surprised if something other than one of two things were to happen: 1) Theo rebuilds it and says, "here's the new design". 2) Theo hires/selects ONE PERSON to redesign it, and looks at the result and says, "here is the new design" (or rips someone's head off). Committee design is NOT what we are about. You don't see contests for CD designs or release themes. Contrary to what some people think, we are not a web-design company. Our product is not a super-cool website. Our product is an OS we need and use. The website is just an information source about the product, maintained by software developers and documenters. When I write material to help other people with similar interests use OpenBSD, I'm not worried about if it uses the features of the best of the current crop of browsers, I want to get the information across effectively. I measure my success based on the information conveyed, not how pretty it is. I have reason to believe I do a half-way decent job at this. If someone wishes to prove they can do a better job, go for it, I'm sure Theo would love to have a more productive person doing what I do (and what he would like me to do that I'll never have time for). I won't fight it. I have not been bored in well over 20 years, I have NO problem occupying my time. BTW: quality of work will be judged on content, not "style". Nick.
