KDE.org Website | Proposal: archive and retire the Dot (#25)

[Nate Graham]

On 11/19/23 02:26, Paul Brown wrote:
> On Sunday, 19 November 2023 08:37:02 CET Cornelius Schumacher (@cschumac)
> wrote:
>> Cornelius Schumacher commented:
>> https://invent.kde.org/websites/kde-org/-/issues/25#note_813812
>>
>> I think we do need a single source of curated news from the KDE community.
>> This gives identity to the project and serves as a one-stop shop for all
>> the people who are interested in KDE but don't want to get the firehose of
>> all possible news or search for specific things themselves.
>>
>> The dot served as that for quite some time, it doesn't seem to do it anymore
>> because nobody is curating content anymore there, maybe also because of the
>> maintenance burden. I do think it's essential for KDE as a community to put
>> in the work content-wise to produce a storyline which can easily be
>> consumed by those who are sympathetic and interested into KDE, which also
>> can be used a resource others can be pointed to, and is something like the
>> entry point for the question "What great things is KDE doing?"
>>
>> That the dot is a separate site and not on kde.org itself is probably more a
>> historical thing than a deliberate decision. It would make sense to put it
>> on the main site, because that's our highest-traffic site where we reach
>> most people.
>>
>> The announcements on kde.org always have been more formal, resembling a
>> press release feed of a company, and there are mostly release
>> announcements. I think it's fine to keep it this way, as the official
>> channel of project announcements, but that is not a replacement for a
>> curated view into the community.
>>
>> Planet is nice as an uncurated view into what is happening, but this is more
>> a social feed than something which is pleasant to consume and targeted in
>> terms of communication.
>>
>> With something like the dot we have the chance to shape the view of what KDE
>> is and what it is doing. It would be sad if we give up on this idea, which
>> the dot represents. From my point of view the ideal solution would be to
>> rejuvenate the original idea of the dot at a place which is more visible
>> and in a way which does not require much technical administration overhead.
> 
> There is no point in pouring effort and resources  into  platform intended for
> communication that does not communicate because nobody reads it. Social media
> has made the dot (and similar outlets) obsolete.
> 
> Let's think ahead,not backwards.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Paul

I agree with Paul here. There are technical and social problems with 
dot.kde.org which have gone unresolved and there are no clear plans to 
resolve them nor anyone apparently willing th do the worl. The situation 
reminds me a lot of the old KDE forum: we had a lot of hesitation and 
trepidation about replacing it from those who weren't involved with 
either one, but eventually we did the swith-over, and the response was 
instantly positive.

+1 for chasing the future rather than the past here too.

Nate