I feel like there’s a lot to unpack here.
- The Linux ecosystem as a whole is known as being a hacker OS for a niche group of technology hyper-literates, and the userspace desktop is seen as being held together by strings and requiring constant maintenance. What do you think the Fedora project can do right now, in order to change this image? I’m aware of efforts to reach out on Instagram and emphasize the non-technical aspects of Linux use. Could we elaborate on that?
- As I understand it, one of the big, organization-wide long-term goals right now is to double the number of contributors over the next 5 years. Do you think reaching out into mainstream channels and promoting Fedora to people who have not heard of it before is an important factor in achieving this goal?
I think the biggest problem is that there’s a lot of talented developers, but it’s like herding cats. Trying to get people to agree on something and then contribute to build it is difficult. You can look at Distro Watch and see all the Linux distros out there. So many people look at a distro and say “I really like it but I think I have better ideas” and then start their own. This is obvious when you look at how many Debian derivatives exist. It could be any other dumb reason too, like maybe they don’t like @mattdm because of his beard and so they don’t wanna be a part of Fedora.
Another factor to consider is that IBM bought Redhat and that’s left a bad taste in peoples mouths one way or another.
- And should we specifically try to target young people - the teenage demographic - or would a broader approach be more beneficial to Fedora?
- What do you think is the biggest obstacle for the average person when it comes to trying out Fedora? I’m aware that the Fedora Media Writer project is intended to make the process much more streamlined and accessible. Do you think more can be done on the engineering side, for instance, through virtualization technologies, or is this more of a promotion concern?
When Ubuntu showed up on the scene it was attractive to graphic designers and the anime crowds. I used to spend a lot of time on anime communities and, due to MegaTokyo, Linux was a common topic on anime forums and IRC. Ubuntu came around and was user friendly enough that a lot of people on these communities started giving it a try. I remember going to anime meetups or even conventions and there were free Ubuntu CDs available.
I think to target younger people or average users, Fedora needs to present itself as something more than just technical, or FOSS, or something like that. People don’t understand those things so they don’t care about them. If people shared what they use it for, like “I’m a graphic designer and run a business from Fedora”, or “I use it to make my music”, or “I’m a streamer and run all my games and stream from it”, basically show Fedora doing other things that non-technical people care about it would look more appealing.
Beyond that there have been other things that sparks interest that brings a new wave of people to Linux. Like when Android started reaching the mainstream, or now with the success of the Steam Deck.
- What do you think about the relationship between the Linux community at large and mainstream social media platforms? And how do you think Fedora should best navigate cultural differences within the Linux community itself?
I think we need to attract less technical people and let them promote on social media. The artists, videographers, streamers, photographers, etc. We need more extroverts who embrace social media, instead of the privacy-centric introverts that makes up the majority of the community now.
- How does the Fedora Project gain and allocate funding? Should promoting Fedora and Linux as a whole to the mainstream be a significant priority in terms of resources?
I can’t really speak to this since I don’t work for Redhat or the Fedora Project.
- We are dependent on the community for support - how do you think we can better provide new users with help? It’s great when people already know to reach out on IRC, forum, or Redit/Discord, but I’m not sure if this is a scalable solution. Should we try to scale up existing support channels by, say, encouraging users to register with the Fedora Accounts System on install and setup, or focus on experimenting with other means of providing a better new user and support experience?
For starters, I’d suggest bringing the forums together under one banner, which I know is already planned. It can be confusing for new users to figure out what forum is for what purposes. Another thing I’d suggest, which I think I’d also posted before, would be a some kind of global menu across Fedora sites to help users find other tools besides the socials. Links to things like your Fedora Account management, the Bugzilla for filing bugs, the pastebin, pagure, docs, etc.
Fedora used to have great documentation and I think this would be a great starting point. When I started working as a RedHat Admin I always kept the Fedora docs opened in a tab because they were easier to navigate that the RH Docs. I wasn’t the only one on my team to do this either. After Fedora 29(?) they archived the docs and then started a new doc site and nobody has really filled it in like the old docs were. I know there’s been discussion about the docs and I haven’t read through the discussion yet.
My opinion however would be to replace the docs in their current format with a wiki instead. Most people would agree that the Arch Wiki is the best resource for Linux documentation. I think Fedora should take the same approach because younger people like that style of “Anyone can edit” and they do that to add what they know. I think making the process simpler would encourage people to contribute more to it too. I’d also suggest not keeping it limited to core Operating System docs either, but really anything Fedora related.
For example maybe some kid uses Fedora to play MineCraft. Maybe they feel like they wanna share what they learned to do that. They make a wiki entry saying how to install the Flatpack, where the files get stored in the home directory, how to add mods, etc. Afterwards they feel like they’ve added to the knowledge base are like “I wanna write more of these”. I say this because Arch has the same approach. I’ve used their wiki for all sorts of stuff because sometimes the official site is lacking or out of date.
Another reason I think a wiki would be better is because the Fedora ecosystem has been expanding. There’s all the spins, there’s Fedora CoreOS, Fedora IoT, Server, and it supports more architectures than before. The docs are currently split up like CoreOS and IoT have their own docs site and are out of date. A wiki can bring all that together into a centralized doc site for all things Fedora.
To get new contributors, you have to make people feel like they have something to contribute. Most people look at Fedora and think “I’m not a computer programmer so I have no way to contribute”. A wiki gives users something to contribute to. Creating a bug report is a way to contribute. New art is a way to contribute. The Fedora “Brand” is very bland (sorry, not sorry). The flat blue and white vector art all the time. I know it’s upstream RedHat and wants to be professional, but it needs to appear less “stuffy” and a bit more “fun”