Re: ROUGH draft of GNOME 3.0 press release (request for comments)

[John Stowers <john stowers lists gmail com>]

Hi,

Comments inline, apologies for brevity; im not trying to sound rude.

I'm also not quite clear on the audience for this - if you think the
market for this release is the tech press then my comments might be less
relevant.

> Groton, MA, April 6 2011:  Today the GNOME Desktop project releases 
> GNOME 3.0, its first major release in nine years.  A revolutionary new 
> user interface, new features for developers, and a stronger 
> accessibility foundation make this a historic moment for the Linux desktop.

9 years without a major release has negative connotations, and while
'major release' has a specific meaning in software, how about something
more user facing

'Today the GNOME desktop project releases its first and most signifigant
redesign of the computer experience in 9 years' 

> The GNOME 3 platform consists of the GNOME Shell and the GNOME 3 
> development foundation.  

I would not introduce the distinction or idea of the platform or desktop
or shell or too many new terms yet.


> The GNOME Shell reimagines the user interface 
> for the next generation of the Free & Open Source desktop. The 
> innovative GNOME Shell allows users to focus on tasks while minimizing 
> distractions such as notifications, extra workspaces, and background 
> windows.

OK

> Jon McCann, one of GNOME Shell's designers, describes it as 
> "ineffable...We've taken a pretty different approach in the GNOME 3 
> design that focuses on the desired experience and lets the interface 
> design follow from that.... With any luck you will feel more focused, 
> aware, effective, capable, respected, delighted, and at ease."  GNOME 
> Shell aims to "[h]elp us cope with modern life in a busy world. Help us 
> connect, stay on track, feel at ease and in control. [To help us be] 
> informed without being disrupted."

I would put the introduction of terms here, 

'The GNOME 3 platform consists of updates to the desktop shell and the
development foundations' ... it consists of ...

> The GNOME 3 development foundation includes improvements in the display 
> backend, a new API, and improvements in  search, user messaging, system 
> settings, and streamlined libraries.  

Actually. now I'm not clear on what exactly you mean by development
foundation? Foundation in this context confuses me with the GNOME
foundation (the non-profit). Maybe platform?


> GNOME 2 applications will continue 
> to work in the GNOME 3 environment without modification, allowing 
> developers to move to the GNOME 3 environment at their own pace.  The 
> GNOME 3 release notes include further details.

OK. Maybe also say that 'not only will GNOME 2 applications continue to
work in GNOME 3 but they will also benefit from a visual refresh, to
make them look at home in the GNOME shell' or something.

> Matt Zimmerman, Ubuntu CTO at Canonical, praises GNOME 3: "In the face 
> of constant change, both in software technology itself and in people's 
> attitudes toward it, long-term software projects need to reinvent 
> themselves in order to stay relevant.  I'm encouraged to see the GNOME 
> community taking up this challenge, responding to the evolving needs of 
> users and questioning the status quo."

OK

> In addition to improvements in user experience and the application 
> development framework, this release marks GNOME making its accessibility 
> framework available to other desktop environments.  GNOME has always 
> been a leader in accessibility, making GNOME 3 a usable and productive 
> environment for everyone.  The new release enables applications 
> developed for other desktop environments to be just as accessible as 
> native GNOME applications on GNOME 3.  GNOME strengthens its legendary 
> accessibility foundation, and accelerates the pace of innovation across 
> the Linux desktop.

Addressed in other reply.

> GNOME 3 is the cumulative work of five years of planning and design by 
> the GNOME community.  McCann notes: "Perhaps the most notable part of 
> the design process is that everything has been done in the open. We've 
> had full transparency for every decision (good and bad) and every change 
> we've made. We strongly believe in this model. It is not only right in 
> principle it is just the best way in the long run to build great 
> software sustainably in a large community."

Do we want to pick this fight again?

> In partnership with Novell, Red Hat, other Linux distributors, schools 
> and governments, and user groups, GNOME 3 will reach millions of users 
> around the world.  Over 3500 people have contributed changes to the 
> project's code repositories, including the employees of 106 companies.  
> GNOME 3 includes innumberable code changes since the 2.0 release 9 years 
> ago.

Nice!

> Users and fans of GNOME have planned more than a hundred launch parties 
> around the world.  Users can download GNOME 3 from gnome3.org 
> immediately, or wait for Linux distributions to carry it over the coming 
> months.  GNOME 3 continues to push new frontiers in user interaction.

Should we call this 'try GNOME 3 from gnome3.org' AIUI the livecd is
focussed on the live experience but we still recommend people wait for
their distros to provide them with upgrades (although this obviously
falls to pieces in the Ubuntu case).

John

> The GNOME Project was started in 1997 by two then-university students, 
> Miguel de Icaza and Federico Mena. Their aim: to produce a free (as in 
> freedom) desktop environment. Since then, GNOME has grown into a hugely 
> successful enterprise. Used by millions of people across the world, it 
> is the most popular desktop environment for GNU/Linux and UNIX-type 
> operating systems. The desktop has been utilised in successful, 
> large-scale enterprise and public deployments, and the project's 
> developer technologies are utilised in a large number of popular mobile 
> devices.  For further comments and information, contact the GNOME press 
> contact team at gnome-press-contact gnome org 
>
> [will add: quotes from: Miguel de Icaza & Stormy Peters (both have 
> agreed to provide quotes)]