[BadVista Advocate] RFC

[Don Hensley]

This is not in any great order, it's just a stab at a coherent road to 
possibly start us out in a unified but broad direction. (I have a fear of 
narrow approaches. I think hackers work best when working on their own, but 
in collaborative groups --Just my take is all).

- - - - 

1.  Set up a lot of cross linked and badged sites for our projects. A sort of 
BadVista Ring, we already have enough of us to make a good core. This 
diversifies the reach of our project, and helps all the Ring sites gain 
Google rank.

2. Each site should "do it's own thing", but use heavy cross linkage to other 
sites (within the Ring - so there is a cohesive wholeness to the links) to 
show aspects that any one site is not delving into as deeply as the linked to 
site is, for that particular subject. This gives us the ability to coordinate 
both sites to play well off the strengths of the other site - because we have 
a back end communication that is not apparent to the visitor.

Among our Ring sites, I would encourage deep linking, as well as just linking 
to the home page. Let the Ring links do the home pages, let deep links do the 
internal work of leading people around. Use "open in a new window (tab)" so 
the visitor does not lose where he was.

3. For that back end communication we need a wiki for resource management and 
a board much like Slashdot only without the vote system (actually the Bruce 
Perens Technocrat.net site does just what I have in mind). That way we can 
track separate subjects and proposals by individual - and reply in a cogent 
manner, instead of what we are doing now.

4. We link back to BadVista.org, of course, but mostly we try to use this mail 
list as a recruiting ground for more participants, and general pointing out 
new sites and findings. That gives us the drawing power of the FSF to find 
ever more adherents to the cause. Of course we advocate joining the BadVista 
Advocate program (and the FSF!), and provide links to the 
http://badvista.fsf.org/mailman/listinfo/advocate and FSF.org sites for those 
that wish to take part, at whatever level.

5. We need to link heavily to already existing sites that cover much of the 
ground that there is little point in our repeating. With luck eventually some 
of them will link back to our sites.

6. I do not think we need to pick a particular Distro, or try to create our 
own. But I do think we should all use one or two Distros like gNewSense (it 
is a Distro, you can download the ISO from here if you want): 
http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/Features --but it is also more then just a 
Distro, because you can use Builder and create a Distro to your liking.

This does not mean limiting your self to just gNewSense, or any particular 
Distro, just that we all should use some agreed on totally Free Distro, like 
gNewSense, as our shared Distro for explanations when ever we are working the 
notion of Free Software into our pages.

Links and excerpts from the GNU philosophy pages would go well at the 
appropriate points.

7. Also one might consider showing off  http://www.lnx-bbc.com/ it is the way 
the FSF Associate Membership Cards are done (an entire GNU/Linux mini distro 
on a business card sized (and shape) CD.

8. We should actually introduce the players and explain what they do and how 
they work to create the entity generally known as GNU/Linux.

By this I mean start with the Logos. Like the KDE dragon Konqi, the Gnome foot 
print, the GNU GNU, the Linux penguin (Tux), and so on.

Do lightweight intros into what each of those projects are, and where they fit 
in the scheme of things. Link to another persons site on the Ring that is 
doing a more in depth look at what ever your not going into in depth, like if 
you are a Gnome user, link to a KDE users site (or several of the RING sites) 
in your description of KDE. Deep link as required in descriptions of each 
project, to other Ring members sites.

A sort of distributed attack on the perception problem, make it fun and 
educational. And I think each of us probably can, and does, reach a different 
segment of end users that we each can present stuff to as fun. Lets try to 
use that diversity, with a combined strategy.

That way we can use our expertise to good instruction, and feel free to talk 
about your favorite Distro... just always return to the shared pure GNU/Linux 
Distro of choice (like gNewSense) as the example of totally Free Software.

A pragmatic method, but consistently pointed at Free Software as the ultimate 
goal.

9. Along the way, without making a big deal out of it, slip in little things 
like how Vista does not allow you to control things like how you interface 
with your own computer. Explain why it's so much more useful to be able to 
change things, or have a community to ask for changes, rather then just being 
at the mercy of one monopoly. The ***AA's are a monopolistic group too, not 
just Microsoft.

Easy segueway into why DRM is harmful, why Treacherous Computing is dangerous.

10. Have ever more layered pages that go into these subjects in more depth, if 
the visitor wishes to follow up on some point you have made.

BIG DISCLAIMER: I'm no good at jazzy web sites, and I don't know much about 
marketing. These are just things --Starting points, for a possible road to 
follow.

There have been so many good ideas tossed out already that I am a bit 
overwhelmed, so this is actually a sort of outline to bring our efforts into 
some cohesive form.

I read at least one person that said he'd managed to explain what an API was 
to a pointy haired boss, I'll bet he and all you people can improve on my 
little list. Probably in ways I'd never imagine.

So this is more like a RFC, if you will.

So bring on the comments.

Don.
-- 
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