On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 8:19 PM, Kay Schenk <kay.sch...@gmail.com> wrote: > We used to have the old Distribution project that for the most part has > been revised to a very minimal presence... > http://www.openoffice.org/distribution/ > > Recently, there seems to be a renewed interest in posting information > about new and former Apache OpenOffice distribution outlets -- notably > CD/DVD sets. And old page containing CD/DVD vendors still exists but is > not linked in any place. Since /distribution/cdrom/sellers.html is > redirected because of changes to this area, you can see and download the > old page from svn: > > http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/openoffice/ooo-site/trunk/content/distribution/cdrom/sellers.html?view=log > > Are we interested in reviving this listing, or something similar to it? > Pros...Cons, etc. >
Looking at queries on the mailing list, forums, etc., we don't get a lot of people asking for CDs. Maybe 15 or 20 in the last year, yes? Compare that to over 50 million downloads. So I don't think this is critical, but no objections to having such a list. On the other hand, unless the page is very prominently linked, like from our home page, I doubt the casual user will find it. And if someone wants to buy a CD it is easy to just type "buy openoffice cd" into a search engine and see places where you can buy a CD, including Amazon, etc. In some sense Google and Bing are better at helping users find information than we are, even when that information is on our own website! > A new listing would not have to be by region as this old one is. Given > update issues in the past, if we provided a new listing page, we would > likely need disclaimers regarding: accuracy, support, relation to Apache > OpenOffice(this project), etc. > > As with all our web pages, we could accept additions though the CMS from > non-commtters. > Levels in which we might do things: Level 1 -- Do nothing but watch for abuses. If someone wants to sell a CD, then they are free to do it, per the license. They can advertise on eBay, their website, etc., but they have no permission to use the trademarks. Nothing special on our website. Level 2 -- We allow a listing on our website (or wiki) of those who offer CDs. But we make no attempt to verify anything. It is all "caveat emptor". We put in disclaimers on the page so users know that we have not vetted anything. Level 3 -- We review requests for listing and approve them only if they meet our qualifications, which might include proper use of trademarks, a link back to our website, etc. This is similar to what we did with consultants. Level 4 -- Like Level 3, but for those distributors who meet our qualifications we offer a special logo they can use, something like a "Community Distributor". Personally, I think Level 1 is fine. But Level 2 doesn't really help our users. We'd be offering placement on our website to vendors without really getting anything in return. So I think we want something like Level 3 or Level 4, where we promote the public good by reviewing and approving the listings that meeting reasonable criteria. Criteria might include (and this has been discussed in some older threads): 1) Proper acknowledgements of trademarks 2) Link back to www.openoffice.org 3) Distributes the most-recent version of AOO (within some time period after a new release) 4) Makes it clear that any charge is for the media and convenience, not for the underlying AOO software Stuff like that. This could be in the form of an agreement that the distributor signs off on. Regards, -Rob > > -- > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > MzK > > "You can't believe one thing and do another. > What you believe and what you do are the same thing." > -- Leonard Peltier --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@openoffice.apache.org
