----- Original Message ----- > From: "Pete Travis" <me@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > To: "For participants of the Documentation Project" <docs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Cc: "Fedora Marketing team" <marketing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 3:31:56 PM > Subject: Re: F20 Alpha announcement & release notes > > On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 2:08 PM, Robyn Bergeron < rbergero@xxxxxxxxxx > > wrote: > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Joe Brockmeier" < jzb@xxxxxxxxxx > > > To: "For participants of the Documentation Project" < > > docs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > > Cc: "Fedora Marketing team" < marketing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > > Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 12:45:19 PM > > Subject: Re: F20 Alpha announcement & release notes > > > > On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 11:46:33AM -0600, Pete Travis wrote: > > > If we are discussing Changes, we should call them Changes. The word > > > "feature" is natural in this context, but carries with it the connotation > > > of the now-defunct Features process. I have a similar tendency to use the > > > word "runlevel" for example, and make a conscious effort to use "target" > > > as > > > the correct term. > > > > How many of the folks in the audience have any awareness of the > > distinction between "features" and "changes" in this context? I want to > > make sure we're not getting bogged down with inside baseball. > > > > > The Changes process in and of itself is a notable organizational > > > accomplishment. I see no value in obscuring our process for the sake of > > > using the familiar and overloaded "feature." Let the readers find it > > > strange if need be; it is a new thing, and this is the way of all new > > > things. > > > > I think it's better for the minority of Fedorans who are actively > > involved to have to cope with less specific language in general > > communications than to "let the readers find it strange." > > > > Not sure that the difference between changes/features is enough to > > really throw readers, but in general communications I think we should > > always bow to the larger audience. > > I would also argue that if I was to see a list of "changes" - some of which > are perhaps less buzzworthy than others (not for lack of interestingness, > technical awesomeness, etc. but simply because some things catch more eyes > than others) - I would almost expect that a list of changes would be in its > entirety, as you might find it in more detailed release notes or > documentation. Whereas "features" implies .. things that we are featuring. > Highlighting. Not a complete list. > > I also think that it (Features) works in terms of consistency - when we get > to the point that we are doing Feature stories, they're not going to be > "change" stories - it is a story about a specifical technological > advancement in Fedora that we are featuring, showing off in greater depth, > etc. > > Honestly, I think the fine line here is that "changes" may be things that are > system-wide changes, per the change set list; whereas oftentimes > "self-contained changes" are more likely to be features we might highlight > in a more in-depth fashion. There aren't any hard rules about what we pick > and choose, or what buckets they need to fall into, or about what we might > call them; it is our job, in marketing, to produce materials that inform and > attract audience to download and try out an alpha, beta, or final release. I > just happen to think that calling them "Features" or "Highlights" insinuates > more about "the cool things you will find," where "changes" seems to imply a > greater depth than we would be covering in a release announcement. > > > > > > Best, > > > > jzb > > -- > > Joe Brockmeier | Open Source and Standards, Red Hat > > jzb@xxxxxxxxxx | http://community.redhat.com/ > > Twitter: @jzb | http://dissociatedpress.net/ > > -- > > Fair points, all. I rescind my objection to the term, and thank you for the > lesson :) I will say though that I think that it would be okay for docs and marketing to diverge on the terminology depending on what the end written thing is; it might make more sense for something like release notes or other documentation to actually have things spelled out as changes. > > --Pete > > -- > docs mailing list > docs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > To unsubscribe: > https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/docs -- docs mailing list docs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/docs
