FreeBSD Revamped Look 'n' feel: Feedback appreciated!

[Roger 'Rocky' Vetterberg]

Michael W. Oliver wrote:
> +--- On Sunday, September 14, 2003 21:15 ---
> | Nigel Weeks proclaimed:

*snipping some text*

> | If only a site existed that (I hate to say it, it seems so shallow),
> | looked more like redhat.com, and less like a quick hack-together.
> |
> | I know the FreeBSD site is great! It's quick, it's links are set out
> | nicely, but it isn't attractive to the big-end of town.
> | This is a very big failing. It needs to be addressed.
> 
> I think that the maintainers of the freebsd.org site would be making a 
> mistake in changing the layout of their site.  It is highly functional and 
> organized, which may not mean much to management droids, but means a great 
> deal to those of us who actually use the OS on a daily basis.

Being highly functional and organized does not mean it cant look 
good. I agree that the freebsd.org website is a great resource for 
those that are already using BSD, but unfortunally I dont think it 
helps attracting new users. Its probably the other way around, the 
site may very well scare some potential BSD users away to more 
proffesional looking sites, ie Red Hat's.

> Perhaps your site can fill the void for those who aren't attracted to the 
> stock FreeBSD site.
> 
> | I'm just trying to help by coming up with ideas, instead of shooting down
> | others,and complaining all the time.
> |
> | The sooner FreeBSD takes on a professional image, the sooner it'll get
> | accepted and treated as a professional solution.
> |
> | Yes, it's wrong, but it's how life is.
> 
> What is truly wrong are people who redefine their own world to match what 
> they think others want to see, rather than doing what they themselves 
> believe to be right.

What I believe is right, is giving people what they want. If people 
want something else then what I want, then who is right?

Why not a compromise? Make the first page and a few of the pages 
directly below it more "commercial" looking. A nice layout with just 
the basics, explaining what FreeBSD is and where to get it. The 
rest, ie the handbook, release information etc etc, can look exactly 
like it does now. If you are looking in those sections, you are 
probably a BSD user already anyway.

> Like it or not, the world is what we (you, me, everyone) make it, not what 
> others tell us it is.

The world is not what you and me make it, its what everyone makes 
it. Unfortunally, you and me are a very small part of everyone, so 
we can only change that much.

If someone wants to polish the BSD commercial image a bit, Im all 
for it. We all know it needs it.

--
R