[ubuntu-in] Redesign the Ubuntu India website

[Kingsly John]

+++ Ravi Kumar [2010-09-05 01:33:32]:

> Ubuntu-In should not be just a wiki. It should be a Custom site, a forum, a
> wiki, a CMS and more.
> 
> What I think about Ubuntu-India, not a site about Ubuntu, but a site more
> geared towards the Ubuntu and its usage/development/helps/articles/
> presentations/news around users in India. You can also put it in some
> professional attire, so that people/businesses in India can take Ubuntu
> seriously.
> 
> Why we should go for professional look and content:
> Lets realise it. Everyone moved from simple to little more professional, and
> usable, more informative and content rich. Like Fedora, SuSE, Ubuntu official
> etc.

Everyone should also have ponies and world peace :-) Unfortunately that's not
how the real world works.

End of the day content is what matters and there's hardly anyone contributing
content. Even though wiki has the lowest entry barrier towards contributing
content.

> So, I will suggest a base framework, with some initial features/apps developed
> on it. Then, gradually we can add more  and more apps to it. Later, it will
> grow with apps, contents and media. We can all put our effort, don't we?

Writing something new from scratch will also bring with it new
problems/bugs/exploits and more work for the system admins. And considering
everyone is doing it in their spare time. It is more efficient to re-use
something that's already proven and maintained.

> Everyone can contribute, no matter how and what they contribute. We can have
> multi languages for tutorials and articles.

They can do all that on the wiki right now, but various sections are still
un-updated and out of date.

Simple things like a list of laptops which run Ubuntu without any problem
haven't been updated in over 2 years. Anyone that has bought a laptop in the
past 2 years could have taken a minute to edit to edit the wiki and add
his/her laptop model to the list.

What makes you believe that people will *learn* how to contribute using a
totally new framework that'll be designed from scratch solely for use by
ubuntu-in ? 

> Look at Ubuntu France, its totally in french. Why not our loco site in indian
> language other than official english.French site has their own Planet,
> Documentation and forum.
> Again, look at Ubuntu Spain. They too got documentation, forum, blogs etc.

Those countries have had computing in their own language for decades. To the
point they don't need to know/use english at all. For better or worse as far as
computing goes India is an English speaking country. Have you seen any laptop
manufacturer offering a laptop with a Hindi/Tamil/Telugu/Bengali keyboard as
an option? Whereas every single laptop sold in those countries you mention
come with keyboards an Operating Systems in their own language.

That said there is absolutely nothing stopping anyone from starting a Section
on the wiki in their own language and contributing content or translating
existing content. And yet there is a dearth of content.

> There are so many people in India involved-or-using Ubuntu than most other
> countries. Many of them will volunteer forward to create some difference. Am I
> wrong? Where else can we get such large community and team.

Yeah there are thousands of people using Ubuntu. But for most of them it's
just a tool to get their work done. So many people ask for help here and get
their problems resolved. But after that they just go away. 

If they could take a few minuutes and summarise their problem/solution on the
wiki and post a link back to the list. It'll give new/non-members easy access
to a solution and allow list members to point to the wiki when the same
question is asked again.

How many times have you seen that happening?

> How many people here thinks the same? Please reply, support my view.

Of course, everyone here wants an elegant website full of quality content in
multiple languages. But that won't come because of a new software framework
or CMS. People need to move up from being mere consumers. And that is not
something you can solve using technology.

Kingsly

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