Hi all, It seems that new users are having trouble with the NDH, so I'm proposing we make some fairly drastic changes to it.
I must point out that once everyone is happy with the wording of the wiki changes below, I'll make these changes. 1. Have a stock email template to send new users when they inevitably post device specific questions before going through the NDH. I'm talking something alone the lines of: = = = = = = = = = = = = Hi, <name> Thanks for participating in the Linux sunXi community. We're a volunteer based group of people dedicated to providing a stock, upstream Linux experience for Allwinner's sunXi devices. Please note that we only provide basic assistance for building the kernel and u-boot components of Allwinner's SDKs. We cannot provide any other support. Please contact Allwinner if you're having problems. Because of the huge and diverse number of devices which use these chipsets, we need some information from you before we assist you with your device: - Memory details - The stock FEX file - And some basic information, including photos, about your device. We'd like you to put that information in our support repositories and wiki so other people can find it in the future. If you complete the New Device Howto ( http://linux-sunxi.org/New_Device_howto ) we'll be able to give you much better and more specific advice and assistance with your device. If you have any questions or queries about this process, please email us here and prefix your emails with "NDH: ". Thanks, The Linux-sunxi community. = = = = = = = = = = = = This should also be at the top of the NDH page on the wiki. 2. Make it much more prominent on the main page I'm talking a prominent box at the top of the main page which reads something along the lines of: "Got a new device? Please complete the New Device Howto so we have the information we need to assist you with your device." 3. Point out other places where they can get support for their development boards Cubieboard, Olimex and others have their own development forums, we should point people who don't want stock Linux on their device there. 4. Add an overview section at the top of the NDH Something like: We need the following information from you: Fex file | This will go into the sunxi-boards repository Mem info | This will be used to produce an entry for your device in the sunxi-uboot repository Device info | This will go into the wiki page for your device Photos | These will go into the wiki page for your device I think this would be useful as a "map" to guide users in following the NDH process. All I'm proposing is that we list all the info they need to get and where it'll end up. Nothing more than that. 5. Move all the FAQ entries to the bottom Nobody wants to be grumped at before they've even started looking at the process. Long-form explanations should go at the bottom. We want to entice users in with the simplicity of what we're asking, not grump at them about them potentially complaining about it being tedious before they've even started. 6. Simplify all the steps 7. Move the "build a kernel" to a "next steps" section. This is what they've come here to do. We don't want to potentially give them the impression that we're not going to assist them in doing this until after they've done it. 8. Update the NDH / wiki with answers to their questions If they can't understand how to do something, then that's a problem with the instructions, not them. So therefore the answer should end up somewhere in the wiki. I also think we need to make some changes to how we treat new users on the mailing list / IRC (I'm not on IRC so I'm speculating here.) 1. Only doorslam them once I.e. send them the template I mentioned above once and once only. No other email we send them should be nothing more than "DO THE NDH". 2. Answer general questions without NDHing them So if they ask stuff like: "So how can I identify my chipset" "Can I do $TASK on allwinner chipsets?" "Does an allwinner chipset have $FEATURE?" "But the NDH is difficult?" etc. we help them. If they ask "I'm trying to get i2s working on my $BOARD?" then we NDH them, or give them very general information and ask them to NDH so we can give them more specific information. 3. Be nice to them Some people have gotten somewhat aggressive about this whole process. Please don't. It's making us look bad. If someone has a problem, we need to give them constructive feedback, not slam the door in their face. If they're having trouble figuring out the NDH, it's not because they're stupid, it's because we haven't explained it clearly enough. I'm not proposing that we hold every user's hand while they do this, just be prepared and happy to answer their questions when they inevitably ask them. 4. Take responsibility for this process We really need to adopt the attitude that our users aren't stupid, we're not explaining stuff clearly enough for them. Ok, some are truly stupid or at least don't "get" what we're saying, but they're fairly rare. 4. Help them get it right, not throw their work away If someone makes a mistake, give them the information they need to correct it themselves, don't just revert / delete it. Yes, mem info and fexs don't belong on the wiki, but if someone puts them up there, explain to them what they did wrong instead of immediately reverting the changes. They'll learn more if they do it themselves. 5. Assist them where they need it If they can't do git properly, and send us crap, we should explain to them how to fix it, or in the worst case scenario, let them just send us the files. This is all going to require some more up front effort from all of us, but as we streamline the process and put more answers to common questions into the wiki, that amount of effort should taper off. I'm more than happy to assist where I can - I haven't in the past as I don't feel I have enough "authority" to do this, but given the state of our handling of new users and devices, I can't see that my efforts would hurt. Thanks, -- Julian Calaby Email: [email protected] Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/julian.calaby/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "linux-sunxi" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
