Re: [libreoffice-marketing] I think this article helps describe some marketing concerns that we "avoid" with Two Lines.

Hi :)
But the "stable branch" is more certain of being more stable than any
releases in the "Fresh" branch.

The "Fresh" branch releases have undergone a lot of testing using various
tools.  Also because they have been built on various real-world machines
around the world.  It's then undergone alpha and beta testing.  In that
last part of the process it gets tested on a far greater range of
real-world machines.  So for most people it is fully stable once it gets
officially released.  I think that is the difference between what the
article suggests other companies are doing and what TDF does.

However i am sure that we do still see more bug-reports appear about
releases in the "fresh" branch than we get after a branch has become
stable.  It's only to be expected really.  "You can't make an omelette
without breaking eggs".  People are generally happy with the idea of using
the "fresh" branch in order to get new functionality and better
compatibility with MS formats.  So those are the USPs worth using to
promote the "fresh" branch.

That does still leave a lot of room for the more rock-solid "stable"
branch.  Many users are happy to sacrifice a bit of functionality and
better compatibility if it gains them an much greater certainty of
stability.


Lets not forget that when OpenSource projects talk about security,
stability and robustness we are generally including factors that no (or
extremely few) proprietary projects would even consider.  In the
proprietary world if a user experiences problems of any kind they tend to
face a barrage of blame.  It's only once hundreds of thousands of users are
affected that proprietary companies admit an issue might be their fault.

In OpenSource that gets completely turned on it's head.  If a user hasn't
read documentation and doesn't know how to do a certain thing then that
thing is often likely to end up as a bug-report or reported through
social-media as a reason for not using the software.

So, often "the public" perception is that OpenSource is less stable than
proprietary precisely because it is more serious about it and does a better
job of smoothing out problems.  It's one of the many reasons i prefer
OpenSource and keep pushing people into using it.

Regards from
Tom :)








On 15 May 2014 08:43, Charles-H. Schulz <
charles.schulz@documentfoundation.org> wrote:

> Hello Tim,
>
>
> Le 14.05.2014 22:22, Kracked_P_P---webmaster a écrit :
>
> > I read this article this morning.
> >
> > Interesting article.
> > Since it comes from CNN Money, it might help with some marketing
> > issues that could creep up from time to time.
> >
> > It tells about the trend of major software companies "selling"
> > software to their users that are really only Beta versions.
> >
> > LO does do offer "true Beta" version to the users, but we do have the
> > two lines so our "Fresh" version, even though not a beta version, will
> > hopefully tell our users that it is not "completely free of bugs".
> >
> > Other companies seem to be actually selling beta software as is they
> > were not betas at all.
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------
> >
> > http://money.cnn.com/2014/05/13/technology/innovation/beta-
> > testing/index.html
> >
> >  Innovation Nation
> >
> > The end of polished and perfect software
> >
> > By Adrian Covert  @CNNTech May 13, 2014: 8:21 AM ET
>
>
> This trend is not new at all and that's pretty much what a lot of
> companies and even FOSS projects do these days. I would not say it is the
> best way to grow our user base but it certainly can help. However let me
> stress again that our Fresh branch is not beta quality. We do have betas
> and Release Candidates that we'd like to talk about more, as it helps
> attracting more testers, thus creating more feedback. It also help
> organizations interested in migrating test the software in advance.  Note
> that betas exist in our two branches, but we should communicate more on
> betas as well.
>
> Best,
>
> Charles.
>
>
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