[FM Discuss] flyer text advice

[adam hyde]

hi,

I'm just putting together a flyer to explain FLOSS Manuals. It is
intended for general use - at conferences, in media spaces, for
workshops etc. The target audience is - people that do not know there is
such a thing as free software. 

First on the topic of 'free' and target audience - I tend to think the
emphasis should be on the _free_ as in gratis. Licensing is not
necessary something that people understand the importance of straight
away and it is complex to explain. 

Its a different rationale than the traditional free vs open source
argument. For business 'free' was something they wanted to get rid of as
(the argument goes) business people don't want 'free' as they believe
you get what you pay for - if you pay nothing you get nothing (esp.
relevant with questions regarding warranty etc). However for the desktop
home user I think free is a very important word. Free, as in $, is more
important (on a first glance) to these users than free as in libre.

So, thats the rationale I have for a 'target' demographic - people that
do not know about free software and can benefit from :
* not feeling like a pirate or 
* saving money

Just to be clear - I'm not arguing that free, as in $, is more important
for the rationale of free software itself, but that the $ angle is a
stronger marketing position when speaking to people that know nothing
(or little) about free software.

On the other side of this is the point that 'free software' in these
terms can sound like a tacky sales pitch for bad 'special bin'
merchandise. So...I am struggling with this line and would appreciate
any suggestions on how to walk it.

As for the design (Lotte will create a design) - I am imagining
something with 4 panels. A front page and 3 fold out panels for
read/write/remix. The design will use icons if we can develop some nice
explanatory icons for the concepts.

So, the first thing to get right is the text. I have made one stab at it
(below). 

I would appreciate any advice on the direction, rationale, and tone of
this. 


===================
* front panel*
Did you know there are hundreds of softwares for Mac, Windows and Linux
that are made by communities of programmers for you to use – for free.

FLOSS Manuals provides free manuals where to get and how to use free
software. 
http://www.flossmanuals.net



* proceeding panels*
READ 
http://www.flossmanuals.net/read
Learn to use free software for word processing, browsing, audio and
video production, image manipulation, file sharing, creating vector
graphics, desktop publishing, 3d graphics, creating webpages and more!
Read manuals online or download each as a PDF. All manuals are free to
use and distribute.


WRITE
http://www.flossmanuals.net/write
If you know something about free software you can contribute to and
improve the manuals! You don't need to learn complex wiki syntax –
instead you can make changes online as if you were using a word
processor. If you have ever wanted to contribute to the world of free
software but are not a programmer then contribute to FLOSS Manuals! 


REMIX
http://www.flossmanuals.net/remix
Make your own manual for inhouse training, teaching, workshops or self
learning. Drag and drop chapters from the manuals using REMIX to create
and download a PDF, HTML (in a zip or tar file), or embed the manual in
your website with our 'Live Manual' API.






-- 
Adam Hyde
FLOSS Manuals

http://www.flossmanuals.net
+ 31 6 2808 7108