[haiku-development] Re: Haiku R1/alpha decisions

Zenja Solaja <solaja@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Morning.
> 
> Even though the Alpha is primarily intended for developers (and should 
> probably be called Developer Alpha to avoid confusion), there will be a 
> lot of hobbyists who will like to try Haiku after hearing about it in the 
> press.
>  Even if they're fortunate enough to have 100% supported hardware, they 
>  will
> stare at an empty desktop and say "OK, now what?"
> 
> BeInc (may they rest in peace) used to provide 2 interesting links on the 
> default desktop.  One was a link to the user guide (even yellowTab did 
> that).  The other was an introduction page, which also contained links to 
> where users can grab more software (BeBits, BeWare, and other at the time 
> popular sites).
> 
> The user guide is actually an opportunity for non-developers.  People 
> will like to know how to mount their windows/linux partitions, how to 
> kill a rogue application, how to change wallpaper, how to cut-copy-paste. 
>  This is different in Haiku compared to other OS's.
> 
> Considering that this is primarily a developer release, the pdf version 
> of Programming the Be Operating System from Dan Sydow might be good.  
> Some sample code can also make new developers welcome.
> 
> Essentially, when a user installs Haiku, you know that they're interested 
> and willing to try new things.  How do we get the audience past the "OK, 
> now what" stage can be even more important than trying to get users to 
> try Haiku in the first place.

You make some good points! Maybe a "Welcome" optional package is in order, 
with said links on the desktop for a start. :-)

Best regards,
-Stephan

Other related posts: