Just to add my 2 cents:
A Contest now would surface many different ideas, designs and
perspectives. This would allow everyone to see whats available, and
for the community to decide on an overall icon design later on --
which could well be a mixture of icon sets which would be presented in
this contest.
I think a discussion is required AFTER the contest. Because, of
course, we all want to see Haiku's icon set achieve it's goals!
On 8/14/06, Joseph Prostko <joe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I agree here, is this an icon contest or an icon discussion? No, I'm
not a
> prominent community member, but this is kind of bugging me. If it is a
> contest, there should be ONE winner, if it's a discussion, there should
be a
> picking and choosing. I'd prefer a pick and choose for each icon type,
but
> the fact that there is a contest suggests ONE and ONLY winner.
>
> I'm with Jorge on this. Decide if it's a contest or a "discussion."
>
> - joe
>
>
>
>
> On 8/13/06, Jorge G. Mare (a.k.a. Koki) < koki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Hi Curtis,
> >
> > It does not matter that this is an open source project; the problem
with
> > being so open is that the line between what is a discussion that leads
> > to a decision and the decision itself becomes blurred. The result is
> > that you have lots of bits and pieces of information about a single
> > topic spread all over the place, some of which may even contradict one
> > another, and making sense of it all can be difficult and open to
> > interpretation. What looked like a simple "we are having a contest;
> > submit your work and everyone will vote to choose the best" message
> > (that's what I thought it was from reading the announcement) seems to
> > have turned into something different that few know what exactly is.
> >
> > Specifically, although I understand everything that has been said, it
is
> > still unclear to me how Haiku plans to come out with a new icon set.
> > Statements such as "we will discuss" and the like are good
generalities,
> > but do not clearly define how you will come up with the icon set that
> > Haiku needs, given that no single icon set is chosen from the contest.
> >
> > So, artists will submit their work, people will vote (or rate) the
icon
> > sets, and then what? Will you mix and match the best rated (don't know
> > if that is viable)? Will someone (from Haiku?) create an icon set
based
> > based on the submissions and the feedback from the community? What am
I
> > missing?
> >
> > Expecting people to follow/read all the posts on mailings lists and
> > forums is not realistic. Which is why, if you think in terms of both
> > building/growing the community as well as that of presenting the
project
> > to the world with a consistent/clear message, it is much more
effective
> > to have a single unified (official) voice to the outside world. If
that
> > requires the decision-making process to be closed, so be it. In the
case
> > of the icon contest, the people will still have a chance to influence
> > the outcome of the contest by voting, so although the decision process
> > may not be open, the contest itself is.
> >
> > Koki
> >
> > Curtis Wanner wrote:
> > > Koki wrote:
> > >
> > >> Different people seem to be making different interpretations of the
> same
> > >>
> > > thing. Haiku announced a contest (headline >quoted from haiku-
> > >
> > >> os.org: "Announcing the Haiku Icon Contest"), so that's what it
should
> be.
> > >>
> > > And contests have clear winners; that is the >nature of any contest.
> > >
> > > It is a contest in that we are trying to choose the best design
ideas.
> You
> > > have to remember this is an open source project and as such input is
> > > expected from the community. This is the main reason for the
contest,
> to
> > > allow the public to provide input on the final design. So
discussion is
> > > going to be a natural part of the process.
> > >
> > >
> > >> This was never stated in the official announcement of the contest,
> which is
> > >>
> > > what people will go by with.
> > >
> > > It is stated :
> > > "To cut a long story short, we want to have shiny new vector icons
and
> since
> > > Haiku is an open project, we're going to vote on the new design."
> > >
> > > It does NOT state "we're going to vote on the new icon
set". Although,
> I do
> > > agree it could have perhaps been worded a bit differently. Some of
the
> > > confusion is the result of the international scope of the project.
> > >
> > >
> > >> If this was not supposed to be a contest, then it would have been
> better
> > >>
> > > articulated by announcing a "Haiku Icon >Debate", "Haiku Icon
Counsel"
> or
> > > the like, clearly stating that submissions would be subject to
> discussion by
> > > the >community, and that the final artwork could be a combination of
> various
> > > submissions.
> > >
> > >
> > >> Leaving things too much open to interpretation is an invitation to
> > >>
> > > confusion, and I think this is what is happening here.
> > >
> > > It's less about leaving it "open" to interpretation as it is to
leave it
> > > "open" to discussion since "Haiku is an open project". It has
become
> > > apparent that the response to this event is much greater than we
> > > anticipated. So as a result we have to finalize the details to
avoid
> > > further confusion. This is why we greatly appreciate your comments
and
> work
> > > on the wiki page. I have done updates on the English version. I
still
> need
> > > to add information on the rating process.
> > >
> > >
> > >> (internal) communication leading to the decision-making would be
best
> done
> > >>
> > > off the list before anything is >announced to the outside world. I
think
> > > this would best serve the goal of Haiku, as it would present a
unified
> > > message >that is easier to follow. Perhaps the
> > >
> > > Being an open source project, many of the decisions are subject to
> > > discussion with the community. While there has been some discussion
off
> the
> > > list, we felt it best that the decisions made be transparent and
subject
> to
> > > comment on the list.
> > > Instead of waiting a month until we finalized all the details, it
was
> felt
> > > best that we move forward with the submissions in the mean time.
> Perhaps
> > > that was the mistake on our part.
> > >
> > > As for declaring a winner, a "Best Design Idea" award might be
> appropriate.
> > > However, I believe all those who contribute their own original
design
> ideas
> > > deserve recognition. This is all subject to discussion as well. I
> didn't
> > > wish to shoot down your idea about the certificate. I just wanted
to
> state
> > > the reasons why it could be problematic. We could have people
> submitting
> > > all sorts of readily available icon sets just to get an award. This
> would
> > > not contribute to the project.
> > >
> > > Curtis
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
--
Thank You
Mathew Schofield
mr.skoe@xxxxxxxxx
