RE: [cross-project-issues-dev] EclipseCon USB memory stick and the EPP p

["Mik Kersten" <beatmik@xxxxxxx>]

Title: New Page 1

I really like the idea of user focused memory keys because I believe that some of the best value that we get from the bundling is to get the latest Eclipse distro into the hands of new conference attendees.   Adopters/integrators and the users familiar with Eclipse already know or need to know how to get the bits from the web and the mirroring works well enough. 

 

That said, the p2 idea sounds like a great thing to explore.  If the whole update site can’t be made to fit, perhaps interested projects could promote themselves by providing a blurb, screenshot and download/update links that can be included in a prominent readme file on the stick?  In my opinion that would work better for promotion than pointing an unfamiliar user at a huge update site.  Or maybe something like a static capture of the following could work for making users aware of projects that they might be interested in installing: http://www.eclipse.org/projects/listofprojects.php   

 

In terms of supporting adopters/integrators, if this is a priority it could also make sense to consider having a single “Get Started Contributing to Eclipse” or “Get Started Building on Eclipse” which would summarize the key pointers (e.g. projects’ contributor references, links projects .psf files).   I don’t think that we should be replicating too much online content, but strategically placing three readme files with links targeted at different kinds of attendees (e.g. new users, existing users, and adopters/integrators) could be more effective at encouraging adoption than having users get their bits from a stick instead of a mirror.

 

Mik

 

From: cross-project-issues-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:cross-project-issues-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bjorn Freeman-Benson
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 8:37 AM
To: eclipse.org-planning-council; Cross project issues
Subject: [cross-project-issues-dev] EclipseCon USB memory stick and the EPP packages

 

When I opened this thread, I meant to ask whether the Ganymede projects would be willing to compress the schedule slightly to include the EPP packages derived from M5 on the EclipseCon USB memory stick. Instead I created a firestorm because I just said "the bits" instead of "the EPP bits". However, I meant "the EPP bits" in the same way that we promote the EPP bits on the main download page.

Ever since the rejection of cross-project testing by the Planning Council, the EMO has been focusing on the packages as the way to provide what the user community expects: "it is a single release and they expect things to work together". Thus, we're going to put the user focused bits on the USB memory key and the packages are the user focused bits: they are the place were the package owners have stepped up and said "yes, we will do the necessary integration testing".

The EMO balances the needs and interests of a wide variety of community members. The projects are one side, the member adopters are another, the user community a third, the commercial eco-system a fourth, and so on. EclipseCon is an interesting and exciting mix of all of these communities hence the reason we have a Business track and an Industry Vertical track as well as a Committer and Contributor track to complement the usual Java and C/C++ tracks [1]. This year we are having a Hackathon for the projects, a Members Only reception for Eclipse members, a bookstore to promote Eclipse authors, and we are using the USB memory stick to promote the usage data collector and the user focused packages.

If Pascal's p2 scheme works, we might be able to have both the packages and the full M5 update site, but if not, we've chosen to put the user focused EPP packages on the USB memory key. Given the revised later date for the bits to be ready, we don't even really need to compress the M5 schedule, so this effort really becomes a task for the EPP team (and potentially the p2 team).

Sorry to have created this firestorm by asking if you all were willing to compress the schedule. Now that no schedule compression is required, we'll go back to our regularly scheduled tasks.

- Bjorn

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