Future of the compiz community?

[Guest]

Currently there are three different compiz sites: compiz.biz; David R's go-compiz.org; and ixce's compiz.net; I want to ask everyone's opinion on what I should do with compiz.biz.

Should it be left as is (i.e. seperate forum linked to by go-compiz.org)? should it it be moved to go-compiz.org? Or should we wait until the compiz.net and .org issues are sorted out and then setup a new forum there?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[RYX]

I had that questions in my mind, too. I'd say the go-compiz.org page should be further extended to become the official compiz-project website. That would be the most logical way. I think we should wait with another domain-discussion for a while. If the emotions are calmed down a bit, maybe Guillaume is willing to link the compiz.net to this forum and compiz.org to the project-page - I strongly believe that he is a real friend of the community and (hopefully) changes his mind. Of course this is only my point of view ... and I don't really know if he is planning on reviving the community-pages himself (it looks like that) - so maybe someone can get in contact with him and ask him what's his plan.

btw: thanks zootreeves for making me a moderator - I'll do my best ...

[cyberorg]

Didnt see this post.

I've already put up the link to this forum here: http://www.go-compiz.org/index.php?title=Discuss

Please remove it if another arrangement is reached.

-J

[mikedee]

I agree with RYX but I think that eventually everything should be moved to the official site. I think what we need is stability and we need everything to be in the hands of the lead developer. I do not think we can risk this sort of thing happening again.

Hopefully some agreement can be reached with David over the logo as I prefer this one much more than the others.

compiz.biz is good for the meantine though until everything becomes clear about what is happening with the compiz.net/org domains, in the long run though I would prefer everything to be under one domain with the others forwarding to it.

[iznogood]

First of all, good job everyone.

Also i agree with mikedee, having one community site will make it easier for people to join the project and will discourage forking/fragmentation in the future

[FunkyM]

Agree as to move everything towards the official site as entry.

I was about to propose a mediawiki-site, but this already happened and I think it is the best for people to easily contribute with content (howto's, manuals, guides, tutorials, descriptions, plugin templates...).

People should not use the forums to write down content, the wiki should clearly be used for that. The forum should be mainly be for discussion and issue solving.

Aside of that I would like to see this forum layout unify with the official layout, thus a "Discuss it" could bring you to the "familiar face" forums and maybe even merged on the same servers one day.

[Guest]

FunkyM, I agree there should be a familiar layout between the sites. Personally what I would like is a situation like ubuntu and ubuntuforums i.e. very closely linked sites with very similiar design. But one is "official" and one is run by the community. But saying that if David R wants to manage the forum on go-compiz.org I will happily redirect there. Maybe someone can get him to come on the forum and pitch his ideas in...

[mikedee]

I think if you speak to David, he will probably let you maintain the forum on the go-compiz site. That way it can still be maintained by the community. I suspect David is very weary of anything unofficial at the moment so I think we should bite the bullet for the meantime.

I think it would be nice to get some ground rules laid out so that everyone is clear where David stands. If he doesnt want to come to the forums, then we could discuss things here and when we have a consensus we can post the final idea on the mailing list for David and anyone else who doesnt view the forum to see.

Having said that, I think we all really need David to be here on a slightly more informal basis. In the early days we will need him a lot for guidance, but as people get more and more experienced they can help each other.

[RYX]

I think what really is needed is some good documentation on how to compile, setup and use compiz for any X/driver/GC-combination. Maybe together with a list of available gconf-options/-keys. That is something compiz badly misses compared to beryl. It should be put into the official wiki, but also become a sticky-post here. If we offer one universal HOWTO, it is much easier to help others (because some people don't remember what they did and which howto they followed). I would create one, but I am having trouble with compiz myself - I don't know how to configure certain things because I got too used to beryl (yes, its a shame - I know) ...
:)

[chris]

I suggest compizcommunity.org or compiz-community.org? I believe it is good to differentiate the community from the project site. compiz.biz is not the best.

[imnotpc]

I've just posted some info and questions to the compiz mailing list. I'm re-posting it here for those of you who aren't on that list:

Hello All,

A quick update regarding the domain name issue. Ben and I have been in contact with Guillaume and things are moving forward. Guillaume has installed a re-direct page on compiz.com that provides links to both compiz.biz and beryl-project.org. He has also agreed to give David the compiz.org domain name.

David, could you contact either Guillaume or myself with your registry information so you and Guillaume can complete the transfer and wrap this up.

Also, if you could share your plans/opinions regarding hosting/sites/forums. A few things that should be decided:

1. Which domain will have the official compiz site: compiz.org, go-compiz.org, or some other site? Re-direct the other sites to the main site or use them to host other stuff?

2. Do you wish to continue to host and manage the official site yourself?

3. Would you prefer the forums on your official site (potentially more work for you) or have Ben maintain the forums on his site?

There's been some discussion on these topics here:
http://www.compiz.biz/viewtopic.php?t=8&sid=9b268ef0de9a8e4d34490ffffb994a0f

I apologize if I appear pushy. I'm just trying to give the compiz community a boost and I'm a "cut to the chase" kinda guy.

Jeff

[Guest]

I've spoken to david and we are going to move the forum over to go-compiz.org (which I think will eventually become compiz.org when he gets the domain). This seems like a good solution to me, hopefully I should be able to move it without losing the existing posts etc.

[imnotpc]

I agree. Time to move on.

[RYX]

Yes, that should be a good solution. Though I don't really know if its better to create one site or two ... but maybe it's better to have things in one place.

[Guest]

I've been thinking about this a bit more, and I'd actually quite like to go with the ubuntu and ubuntuforums approach (I've grown quite attached to compiz.biz :)). I might suggest it to david and see what he thinks

[mikedee]

I personally think that the one site is best in the long run. This project is a but different to ubuntu and I think at least for the moment we need to maintain a united front. At the moment there are 5 different sites that compiz users are likely to go to.

Maybe in the future if there is a need but I think for now we should try to cooperate with David as much as possible.

I do hope that he will accept the new logo. You can explain that it is no longer a cube but it is a box. It reminds me of the suitcase in Pulp Fiction.

[Guest]

Yeah your probably right (I'm just really indecisive). I kinda had pandoras box in mind, but the mysterious pulp fiction suitcase works as well :)

[RYX]

I think its just a matter of taste - blender for example has also a separate community (ok, its not a good comparison). If the project-page links to the community-forums it should be no problem even for total newcomers. One domain would also do the job - the forums could still be hosted here and share the design with the project-page and be linked within the project-page's menu-structure. (btw: I can create a new design for the two pages, if nobody else wants to ...)

:)

[imnotpc]

I like both the images you use but I prefer the "pandora's box" that you use in the site header only because the other one appears to be exploding and that makes me a little uneasy.

Regarding the sites, I agree with mikedee that unity is important and I personally prefer a single site for everything, however... in a short time you've put a lot into this and I don't want you to do something your not comfortable with either. "chris" suggested compiz-community.org and as of this posting that domain name was open. If you decide to keep the forum independent I think that domain name is more appropriate to a non-commercial community site than compiz.biz.

Jeff