Hi, Nigel, Ben, Eyal, all! Let me add some comments. :)
For sure, the current approach is a requirement for our internal development organization, as Ben noted. Also, it was really important in the first years of LibreOffice/TDF, when we used it to demonstrate we were ahead of Apache OpenOffice for the users and the strong project/community we were building. On the other hand, for the current moment of LibreOffice as a project and product, I think we can do more or different things. Nigel wrote exactly what I mean about 'boring' from the user perspective: most of the users don't care about minor changes. So, I think, now, we should decide about releases with a Marketing perspective and the number 8 could be a first step to do it, even without big changes. Could it mean we will do a marketing trick? I think no, because we will be transparent with our users as we always have been. If the release won't have big improvements, we won't talk about big improvements. Why release a version without big improvements? That is the other point: I don't think we should focus only on big code improvements to use major version numbers (or even version names). We aren't only a product. We are a project and community. Indeed, the released product is our final work but a major version can also be used to spread (or celebrate) the maturity of the product/project/community. This is a different approach than paid software/non FLOSS. This is what I mean with consolidation. On Thu, Apr 6, 2023 at 8:22 AM Nigel Verity <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Gustavo > > This is a very good point. > > If I see that some software I use regularly has gone from 7.5 to 7.6, say, > I wouldn't rush to upgrade unless I knew it fixed a problem that affected > me. I'm pretty sure that I would upgrade from 7.5 to to 8.0 far more > quickly, if for no other reason that the psychological one of wanting to be > using what my head tells me must be an improvement over my current version. > > Of course release notes are available to determine what really has changed > but I rather suspect that most users never read them. > > The discussion of the different motivators for development and marketing > people is very interesting. When I was a developer neither I nor anybody in > my teams was ever let anywhere near sales activities - and I think for very > good reasons. > > Cheers > > Nige > > > * LibreOffice - Free and open source office suite: LibreOffice Website > <https://www.libreoffice.org/> * > * Respects your privacy, and gives you back control over your data* > ------------------------------ > *From:* Gustavo Buzzatti Pacheco <[email protected]> > *Sent:* 05 April 2023 22:05 > *To:* TDF Devs <[email protected]>; TDF Marketing < > [email protected]>; TDF Design < > [email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [libreoffice-marketing] Re: [libreoffice-design] Moving to > LibreOffice 8? > > Hi Eyal, all! > > I also respectfully disagree with you on some points. ;D > > I like the idea to move to 8, even with no big technical innovation (if we > have, for sure it will be better). > > IMHO, long sequences of minor releases (7.6, in the current case) are > getting boring and not important for the users (for both enterprise and > individual profiles). > > I'm not saying that we should embrace the Firefox approach, but thinking > about Italo's idea (8 <-> infinite), I guess the message of this version > could be consolidation, not exactly innovation. > > Best > Gustavo > > > On Tue, Mar 28, 2023 at 4:23 AM Eyal Rozenberg <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I respectfully disagree with Italo. > > > > First, about the "frame of reference". In my opinion, decisions such as > > major version number bumping are not, first and foremost, marketing > > decisions. That is a _consideration_, since the version number is > > declarative than technical. But - such an action should be "truthful" > > before being "marketable". > > > > It is more important, in my opinion, that users and potential users > > receive trustworthy signaling from the project - not just w.r.t. version > > numbers, but generally - than for the media to get a gimmick for > coverage. > > > > A second point is that bumping a version number without a major > > innovation moves you a few more steps into the category of, say, Firefox > > and such, where versions just increase automatically with no meaning > > whatsoever. Italo, you said we are perceived as a "real innovator"; > > well, when a real innovator starts having hollow version number bumping, > > that perception fades. > > > > Finally, everyone who likes the marketing potential of version 8 - > > great, but - keep that benefit for when we have a significant step > > forward to celebrate. Don't squander it. > > > > > > Eyal > > > > PS: availability on a new platform is not a reason to bump a version > > number. It's the "same" software, but built for another target, so same > > version as before. IMHO anyway. > > > > > > > > On 27/03/2023 20:11, Italo Vignoli wrote: > > > Moving to LibreOffice 8 (instead of 7.6) makes sense for marketing > > > purposes, as media is looking at LibreOffice as the real innovator in > > > the open source office suite market, and the feeling of journalists is > > > that we are forever stuck at 7.x. > > > > > > We all know that the next version will not include any significant > > > innovation which can justify the change of version, apart from the new > > > build system for Windows and the availability of LibreOffice for Arm > > > processors on Windows (which has not been announced). > > > > > > Playing with the number 8, which can be rotated 90° to become the > > > "infinite" symbol, we can frame the next version as LibreOffice for an > > > infinite number of users, as we cover all hardware platforms and all > > > operating systems for personal productivity. > > > > > > This is my opinion. If the community wants to stick with 7.6, I won't > > > insist. I have received enough insults both public and private for the > > > marketing plan, and I am still receiving them from a few people, that I > > > am not willing to enter into that process again (even if the decision > on > > > the "community" tag has not been mine, but it looks like people have a > > > very short memory). > > > > > > Looking forward to your thoughts. > > > > -- > > To unsubscribe e-mail to: [email protected] > > Problems? > -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: [email protected] Problems? https://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: https://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/marketing/ Privacy Policy: https://www.documentfoundation.org/privacy
