Documentation/Publicity help needed.

If we talk publicity, we should ask why Trisquel Planet is still in spanish?
It should be in english i think.

Maybe I wasn't clear. I didn't say don't do it. I said it may not be the
right time to do it. There is a difference. For current GNU/Linux users there
is probably no downside. I wouldn't encourage anybody to push it on less
technical users though.

Don't forget to say that Trisquel can't play video from most streaming
website because it doesn't run Adobe Flash Player. People have to know this
before because they're going to cry a lot if they know this after install.

PS: I am a member too!

I think when recommending Trisquel it is also important to transparently
outline its limits given by certain decissions made by the Trisquel staff.

This includes no support for loading firmware which translates to:
- No 3D support with AMD / ATI cards
- Probably non-working NICs, USB devices and so on.

It is important to show "Joe Average" why you reject the usage of firmware
and what this means for him. Otherwise he will try out Trisquel (if at all)
and possibly give Trisquel a bad reputation (e.g. my WLAN stick works in
Ubuntu but didn't under Trisquel).

Possibly recommended hardware specs would be nice for buying a new machine ?

Such as prefering Intel GPUs over NVidia because of better open-source
drivers and stuff like that ?

Also, if those people try Trisquel, love it and decide to be a membre
associate, i think Trisquel should be more grateful with this people. I mean
when someone decide to give monthly payment, Trisquel should (at least) send
an thankful email. At least! I am a member since a month and it's like...
It's like nothing! No thanks, no grateful, nothing! I think Trisquel should
make a tiny effort on this point.

PS: I am a member too

When recommending Trisquel, I suggest noting the technical aspects more than
the ethical aspects. Since most people never thought about software from the
point of view of ethics, they will have difficulties to understand the
arguments and more likely not try the distro.

From this point of view advantages of Trisquel might be:

- More compatible Gnome desktop (easier for Windows-folk to understand, works
better if no 3D-acceleration support is present (which might be a problem
with any distribution, even though on Trisquel it's more likely).
- Higher stability due to modified kernel.
- Support can be given by ANY kind of problem, because of the modified kernel
there isn't a component, that the free software community as a whole can't
give support for.
- Based on Ubuntu, which means most software that is compiled for GNU/Linux
will run. The amount of software compiled as a .deb for Ubuntu is higher,
than for any other distro.

While I think it isn't a bad idea there should be some caution in
recommending a distribution or free operating system which isn't going to
satisfy the majority of potential users. While it is certainly something to
get people to check out your less technical counterpart is going to try it,
fail, and refuse to touch it ever again. Which sort of goes back to why
Richard Stallman doesn't like non-free distributions. It results in more
non-free software being developed.

A good example: Synaptic is now releasing non-free code for critical hardware
going into newer laptops. You may have issues using your Touchpad to its full
potential. If the GNU/Linux community was smaller rather than saying yes to
non-free software there wouldn't be an incentive to release non-free code.
Manufacturers would be forced to release free code, release partial code, or
simply not release code at all.

So do you have a recommendation? I would still say go forward with it for these reasons:

* You recommend the distro to 10 or 100 people. If only one person actually sticks with it that is better then zero.
* Without advertising distros don't gain users. Without users they die. Again even if the the majority of users wouldn't be satisfied we should then go after the minority who would.
* IMO our main source of (external) publicity currently the GNU list of free distros. I think we need to expand that and start recommending people use Trisquel in other forums.

So do you have a recommendation? I would still say go forward with it for
these reasons:

* You recommend the distro to 10 or 100 people. If only one person actually
sticks with it that is better then zero.
* Without advertising distros don't gain users. Without users they die.
Again even if the the majority of users wouldn't be satisfied we should then
go after the minority who would.
* IMO our main source of (external) publicity currently the GNU list of free
distros. I think we need to expand that and start recommending people use
Trisquel in other forums.

Sorry on the internet I don't know if this is sarcasm or not.

IMO I would focus on what Trisquel can do rather then what it can't. Now this is just plain marketing but I would say if asked that we can watch videos like on youtube using webM without flash. Then if users come to the message board/IRC asking about it we can explain why flash is bad (plenty of reasons). But when advertising I don't think it is good to advertise what you can't do but focus on what you can.

Sorry on the internet I don't know if this is sarcasm or not.

IMO I would focus on what Trisquel can do rather then what it can't. Now
this is just plain marketing but I would say if asked that we can watch
videos like on [https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/play-videos-without-using-flash
youtube using webM without flash]. Then if users come to the message
board/IRC asking about it we can explain why flash is bad (plenty of
reasons). But when advertising I don't think it is good to advertise what
you can't do but focus on what you can.

I would have to disagree. I think we should be advocating for free software at all times. I think saying "now isn't just the right time" is analogous to saying "yes, we should end something like slavery or segregation but now just isn't the right time".

The free software movement has been going on for over 25 years. When is the right time?

I would have to disagree. I think we should be advocating for free software
at all times. I think saying "now isn't just the right time" is analogous to
saying "yes, we should end something like slavery or segregation but now just
isn't the right time".

I disagree: we do not only promote Trisquel, we promote freedom. This is the greater goal. A user committed to freedom will not switch back to proprietary software for technical convenience.

That said, your third point is more about ethics (i.e., about "controlling your computing") than it is technical. However, I am not sure it deserves to be part of a small argumentation in favor of Trisquel.

Although the last point is technical, it could be simplified into "a huge amount of free software readily available from Trisquel's repository (including all applications in Ubuntu's repositories but the non-free ones)" and be included in the text.

I think we should advocate the freedom part at minimum equally. Otherwise Trisquel just looks like the distro where my wireless card probably doesn't work.

On a purely technical level Ubuntu would win. We remove a bunch of software that they offer. We are based on them which always means we are behind them. But yes as magic bannana mentions the key is freedom. Why do I choose Trisquel over Ubuntu. It is because of the freedom it comes with. That is what keeps me here and prevents me from going anywhere else.

I disagree: we do not only promote Trisquel, we promote freedom. This is the
greater goal. A user committed to freedom will not switch back to proprietary
software for technical convenience.

That said, your third point is more about ethics (i.e., about "controlling
your computing") than it is technical. However, I am not sure it deserves to
be part of a small argumentation in favor of Trisquel.

Although the last point is technical, it could be simplified into "a huge
amount of free software readily available from Trisquel's repository
(including all applications in Ubuntu's repositories but the non-free ones)"
and be included in the text.

I think we should advocate the freedom part at minimum equally. Otherwise
Trisquel just looks like the distro where my wireless card probably doesn't
work.

On a purely technical level Ubuntu would win. We remove a bunch of software
that they offer. We are based on them which always means we are behind them.
But yes as magic bannana mentions the key is freedom. Why do I choose
Trisquel over Ubuntu. It is because of the freedom it comes with. That is
what keeps me here and prevents me from going anywhere else.

And what about the Trisquel themed USB-stick with a live image? I thought all members get these.

I agree with marioger. A thank you note would cost nothing and would be nice. I became a member beginning of 2012 and as of today I haven't received anything, save for a subscription to the trisquel-members mailing list. Maybe the Trisquel USB key is in the mail - I have no way of knowing. I think a little bit of transparency wouldn't hurt, especially since it seems to be hard to find members.

For your information, here's the thank you note that you receive when you make a donation to Linux Mint:

"Dear Donor,

Thank you for helping our project. On behalf of the team and as the founder
of Linux Mint, I would like to express my gratitude for your generous
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Although the total income generated through donations and ads doesn't allow
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to test our distribution in a better and more efficient way. Most of all,
this money allowed the developers to work more hours on the project,
although not full-time, and to put them in a more comfortable situation. The
money gathered also allows us to financially support sub-projects and to
invest in activities which will in turn allow the distribution to grow.

Our project continues to grow thanks to people like you and it's an honour
for us to acknowledge your contribution at
http://www.linuxmint.com/donors.php and as part of our monthly stats, at the
end of month on http://www.linuxmint.com/blog

We listed your donation as "2011-07-24 Canada Benjamin R. $20".

If you wish to add more information to it (your website address or your
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