Simplifying the Downloads page

[Martin Pool]

2009/9/25 Ian Clatworthy <ian.clatworthy at canonical.com>:
> I'd like to simplify http://bazaar-vcs.org/Download so that it basically
> only has:
>
> * the current release # and date
> * a link to the release notes
> * half a dozen icons linking to more detailed pages.
>

That sounds good but I do have some feedback.

Are you planning to do this in the wiki, or the new site, or both?
Either is ok with me, but it should get into the new site eventually.

It would be great to eventually get this more automated, pulling
download data from Launchpad or wherever.  It's quite a sink of labor
and source of errors to update it manually as at present.  But again,
one step at a time is good.

I'd look at including the short summary paragraph from the notes on
the page itself so that you can see there is some actual content
there.

I share John's concern about pushing the actual download links onto
sub pages, if that's what you have in mind: it would then be two
clicks away from the home page, when we'd in fact like it to be
directly there eventually.  I think we probably can eventually get
there, and should aim to, but there may be things blocking it.  We
_should_ be able to give people a link to a deb or an apt url that
will work on Ubuntu, but if that depends on knowing what distroseries
they're on, or getting the PPA set up, it depends on more than just
having that link.  If the following pages are pretty simple and have
obvious big links at the top it could be a clear advance on what we
have now.

> The more detailed pages will cover download/installation on:
>
> * Windows
> * GNU/Linux
> * OS X
> * UNIX
> * Mobile
> * Source.

It looks a bit ... ungracious to stick Ubuntu under GNU/Linux, and
anyhow the install instructions are going to be quite different
between different distributions.  I don't want the GNU/LInux page to
be "OK, now what distro are you using?" with five subheadings.

The main ones we need to tackle there seem to be
- Ubuntu (from the main archive or from the PPA)
- Debian (very similar, but unfortunately can't use the PPA at the moment.)
- Fedora/Red Hat (one setup, I think)
- Gentoo
- other? Bazaar is packaged for other systems, but they don't seem
very actively represented on the list or in user feedback.

I think "mobile" is a bit theoretical at the moment - you probably can
run Bazaar on handhelds but I doubt it's commonly done.  I think any
of the linux-based systems mentioned above get a larger slice.

So I'd probably change UNIX and Mobile to "More".

The other thing we need is a way to present our multiple series and
the possibility of release candidates.  Maybe a tab-like element or
simply a link at the top pointing to a separate page with similar
layout looking at them.

-- 
Martin <http://launchpad.net/~mbp/>