[tdf-discuss] Vision/Mission
Hi! This only saw a little bit of discussion on the marketing list (after the first draft was met with silence here). I like the interpretation, that there is not much to anything objectionable or to add, better than the alternatives, so I went on and placed the newest version on: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Mission Actually, I would really like to have a better definition of what is being addressed with a so called office suite. What's the thing that ties the package together? -- Thorsten Wilms thorwil's design for free software: http://thorwil.wordpress.com/ -- Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to discuss+h...@documentfoundation.org Archive: http://www.documentfoundation.org/lists/discuss/ *** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***
Re: [tdf-discuss] Re: Vision/Mission
On Wed, 2010-11-24 at 09:27 -0800, Carl Symons wrote: I use LibreOffice, but I don't use an office productivity solution (cp'd from Mission). What's needed is a phrase that accurately and succinctly provides a conceptual container for LibreOffice elements. Something that connects for users. To me, office productivity solution or office suite sound like overblown marketing (no offense meant by that). I agree that the terms office productivity solution and office suite are problematic. But note that the vision/mission statements are not directed at the public, but to the project. That means clearness trumps catchiness. How the vision/mission statement and values as a whole or in aspects can be communicated to the public is a secondary issue. LibreOffice already locates the products in the Office world. It may be that people now associate Office with the kinds of tasks that LibreOffice supports. But how about a student paper, a recipe collection, and other activities that are not really done at or in an office? Be it MS Office or any other office suite, the tools are used in other contexts as offices, no doubt. However, I would like to avoid pulling in multimedia authoring, scientific computing and enterprise-grade database management with a too broad statement ;) How about just a simple statement of the LibreOffice components? Suggestions below, none of which do the trick for me, but maybe a trigger for more creative people... As mentioned, the statement should focus on the needs and wants to be addressed, not specific solution. Listing the components implies that they are the correct solutions as is. LibreOffice Tools for Work Software for writing, presenting and record-keeping LibreOffice Collection LibreOffice Tools for (the) People writing, presenting and record-keeping might hit what it actually is about pretty well. Thanks! -- Thorsten Wilms thorwil's design for free software: http://thorwil.wordpress.com/ -- Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to discuss+h...@documentfoundation.org Archive: http://www.documentfoundation.org/lists/discuss/ *** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***
[tdf-discuss] Briefing
Hi! I got involved in logo-related discussions on the marketing list. A proper briefing should be at the root of designing a better logo, no matter if there will be a contest or not. Actually this is true for any design or development effort. So what is the most minimal core of a missions statement, what is the essence, the high level goal just a bit more specific than make the world a better place? ;) How about: Mission Statement = Develop an office productivity solution and make it and the project itself available to and accessible by a majority of humans. It follows: - Given our modern needs, there needs to be software - Internationalization - Free Software - All major platforms - Interoperability - Open, documented interfaces - Open, documented file formats - Compatibility with other solutions - Collaboration - Meritocracy (there needs to be some hurdle for contributing and based on ability*effort is best, if you care about the result) Notes = I would usually encourage defining an audience as narrow as possible, but it seems the widest possible scope is actually defining for this project. If not, please step forward with definitions of a narrower audience. The statement is phrased in a way that opens the door for education and non-software bound approaches. The word develop shall imply optimizing the process and outcome. Best possible or optimal would just bloat the statement, as it's clear that you don't want an just-acceptable solution. However, it's not clear what optimal or best possible really means in the end. But what is an office productivity solution or an office (software) suite, actually? How do you define the scope here? How do you include enough, but not too much? You could say: the solution must cover: - text documents with embedded graphics, from letters to books - presentations, including animations, embedded sound and video - doing Calculations, including in a tabular fashion (spreadsheet) - managing interlinked data and doing queries (relational database) Long term, both spreadsheets and relational database might be too specific, as they don't define the actual needs and goals being addressed. Seeing spreadsheets and relational database as solutions, can you define the problems they solve succinctly? How to rule out (given we really have/want to): - (full-featured) audio and video editing? - advanced animation features (think Flash, Synfig)? - advanced scientific and engineering needs regarding calculations, including simulations? -- Thorsten Wilms thorwil's design for free software: http://thorwil.wordpress.com/ -- Unsubscribe instructions: Email to discuss+h...@documentfoundation.org Posting guidelines: http://netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html Archive: http://www.documentfoundation.org/lists/discuss/ *** All posts to this list are publicly archived ***
