Le 2010-11-26 15:16, Robert Derman a écrit :
Marc Paré wrote:Le 2010-11-25 14:44, Robert Derman a écrit :With all the discussion of the size of the download package and the difficulty of including things like manuals I suddenly realized that perhaps we are going about this thing entirely wrong! Perhaps what we should do is offer a CHOICE of several download packages, not just one take it or leave it package. A basic download package with just the core LO Office Suite, like what we have had up to now, and as an alternative, a Complete package including users manual(s), templates, extensions, clip art, fonts, anything else that should be in a complete package. Perhaps we could even offer a Writer Only package without Calc, Draw, Impress, Base, or Math, and with just a BRIEF users manual for Writer. I suspect that there may be many home users that just want a word processor and aren't at all interested in the rest of the suite. Different users have very different internet connections, some are still dial up. Some are DSL, and some are Cable and have huge bandwidth. Offering only a One-Size-Fits-All package may no longer be the best idea.Hi Robert: Yes this would be ideal. However, this would also impact our developers and add to their work. I, myself, would favour Barbara's suggestion of having a link offering the user the to download extra packages such as manuals. BTW ... I don't believe, at this point, that the downloading the LibreOffice into different modules (Writer, Impress, Calc etc) is possible. There has been talk of it but I believe this would require a rewrite of the code.Actually this would have NO significant impact on developers workload. It is a simple matter of creating a set of folders to download rather than a single one. I haven't used Linux for a while, (it was Lindows, or perhaps Freespire) anyway even with that, like with Windows, it is a simple matter of drag and drop. Each downloadable package should be very plainly labeled as to how many megabytes it contains. (also a listing of its contents) As far as a Writer only package, that naturally would have to wait until after a major rewrite of the code, which I understand from what I have read here on Discuss, is coming. Whether such an option is ever offered would probably depend on the results of a survey. Now I know that this would require more space on the download server, but in this day of 1 terabyte hard drives selling on the internet for $60.00 US dollars, that is probably not a big deal. Actually if I had to guess, it would be that 40% to 50% of users only ever use the Writer module and never use any of the rest of the suite. I myself am in that group. I am thinking that even for Writer only users there might be some that want a very minimal package, Just the core program and perhaps a very short manual, while others might want an extensive manual and lots of templates, extensions and clip art.
I would have not problem with this. Sounds reasonable. How about if we had an installation where it offered the users these choices upfront and the same "page of offerings" would be offered in the "Help" menu. This would make it a familiar page both at the install stage and once the user familiarized herself/himself with the programme. We would have to find a way to advertise extensions and plugins so that users would be aware of their availability.
Maybe at each install we could offer the user a "subscription" to a monthly "LibreOffice Magazine" that would highlight extensions and "What's New!" in the LibreOffice world.
There could be a downloading on-site menu PRIOR to downloading the suite offering extra downloadable options or a menu in the installation routine (AFTER downloading the suite) that would offer you a choice of downloading extra items such as the manual. Of these two options, I would prefer being offered the menu AFTER having downloaded the LO suite. The reason for this: some users may find that downloading the suite took a longer than the anticipated time and they would not have enough time/patience to download the additional items.On the other hand, if the LO suite had taken less anticipated time to download, the user may feel it right to download the extra items. MarcHere I really must disagree, I think pretty much everyone knows what sort of internet connection they have, and therefore if the downloadable packages are plainly labeled as to size in megabytes, (which they certainly should be) then they would know what sort of download time is involved. The only real variable here being if the download server is overloaded, and if you watch your download speeds you will know if that is the case. There should probably be a couple of download packages offered for those that downloaded a basic package and later wished that they had downloaded more.
Yes, this is easily said when we are on a high speed connection. We need to remember, that we should always take into consideration our members who have dial-up or cellphone connection only. Our downloads should be as sleek and quick as possible to enable these groups. Making a larger download will only turn some away from using the suite or participating in our membership if all is constructed from a high speed perspective. We will have more mass user penetration if our downloads are available to all users, regardless of internet connection.
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