[FM Discuss] How will FLOSS Manuals expand? WAS: Are we ready to expand?

[David Farning]

On Sun, May 3, 2009 at 10:45 PM, Anne Gentle
<annegentle at justwriteclick.com> wrote:
> Great discussion, all. Sorry that I'm a little late in responding. I'm
> sitting here in a hotel room in Atlanta with Janet Swisher - we're ready for
> our presentation about wikis, blogs, and online communities for
> documentation -  featuring FLOSS Manuals, naturally)  - tomorrow at the
> Society for Tech Comm annual conference. I even got an orange blouse for the
> occasion. :)
>
> In Amsterdam I had a great many discussions about how well our community
> caters to the writers, but that we haven't done much work in growing
> readership and serving readers. That distinction might be a common thread
> for some of this discussion. I think there are lots of small steps we can
> take towards this goal. Zita and I want to keep working on an Outreach book
> to help coach others through the processes but we haven't gotten much
> traction yet. This email thread is great though - feel free to add to the
> Outreach book ideas. http://en.flossmanuals.net/bin/view/Outreach/WebHome
>
> Also, I've got a couple of comments about items I've been working on and
> wanted to give updates on progress:
> - One is, we've discussed having FM join the PR News Wire as a non-profit. I
> got a little stuck here and could use some help. What paperwork do I need to
> prove that FM the stichting is a non-profit according to PR NewsWire's
> standards so that I can fax in the application? Does anyone want to follow
> up on that specific item?
>
> Also, we need to seriously think about the money FM would need to continue
> doing this type of outreach activity after the first year. With PR News
> Wire, the first year is free - after that the membership is about $200 a
> year. I did email with Sean Daly at SugarLabs a bit about his strategy for
> press releases, and he is using eReleases which uses PR News Wire's network
> apparently. With eReleases, even their starter pack is about $100 a month to
> send a press release every calendar quarter. These kind of costs make me
> press pause a bit even without figuring out the whole non-profit status
> part. :) Do those prices sound right? Is there another approach?

You will have to think about what your goals are for FM.  For Sugar
Labs, we are now doing monthly press releases in multiple languages.
At this stage in the game our marketing is about primary building the
brand.  For Sugar to be successful, we need buy in from hardware
manufactures, to teachers, to content developers and everything in
between.

Our monthly releases are basically a public representation of our pulse.

I don't know if that is the route FM wants to go.

FWIW, proving that you are a non-profit is very easy.  Usually, just an ein#

david

> - I asked for a FM Banner and got a nice one from Lotte (thanks Lotte) that
> anyone can use on their blog or website - see
> http://annegentle.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/floss_badge_transp.gif.
>
> - And the embeddable bookstore has been put on several websites.
>
> - We've also seen that SugarLabs having direct links to FLOSS Manuals has
> definitely helped with promotion of FM. We should keep encouraging projects
> to do just that - link right to FM.
>
> - We've given away many round stickers (Janet and I are giving out a bunch
> at our talk tomorrow in fact!) :) I mailed out FM stickers to Firefox
> participants who sent their mailing addresses in - I had stickers in the
> first place because I hand-carried them from Amsterdam.
>
> So I guess I'm saying that we do have some of the things Austin mentioned in
> place already, it's just that they're not necessarily easily distributed,
> especially the physical items like stickers.
>
> I'd love for the book-buying process to be so automatic that it's just "set
> it and forget it," which we had hoped Lulu would give to us. I really don't
> mind spending money one time only so that a book's distribution and sales
> channel is just set and left alone. But. I am having so much difficulty
> getting the OLPC book re-sized to crown quattro that I'm about ready to give
> up on Lulu and keep researching other alternatives. Chris, thanks for that
> feedback about Lulu. I may be at the tipping point now. :) But I just don't
> know of the best alternative that lets FM do things other than store books,
> mail books, and collect payment for books. Totally agree with Adam that most
> of us are on FM to write, not to figure out publishing channels. Then again,
> if someone wants to take that on as their goal, I don't think we'd complain.
> :)
>
> Anyway, I had been sitting on some thoughts and wanted to send them out. I'm
> talking with Richard Hamilton of XML Press this week and will pick his brain
> for publishing/distribution flows that makes sense for FM. I do like the
> model of the organization itself selling the physical books. And Chris
> thanks so much for your insights on purchases that contribute to a social
> good. That description is the right spot for FM, I think.
>
> Thanks,
> Anne
>
> P.S. Andy, I love that we can both have totally different ideas from
> car-building to home-based business for growing FM's content and that's just
> fine. :)
>
> On Fri, May 1, 2009 at 9:00 PM, Austin Martin <ajmartin47 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> In my opinion the only thing we can for sure do, is promote our brand,
>> promote FLOSS, and promote learning FLOSS with our manuals. Everything else
>> from money to users to growth, comes from that. (Example: Wikipedia..)
>>
>> Suggestions:
>> On the FLOSS Manuals Manual, start up a section about how to help us
>> promote.
>> Provide some art (or let the team help create art to promote the brand)
>> Provide promotional materials. Banners, flyers, etc.
>> Get the FLOSS we write of, to speak of us. (This is very important,
>> because this is how and why I joined.) Even a small web banner on their site
>> is important, (this goes back to art).
>>
>> Austin Martin
>>
>> On Fri, May 1, 2009 at 8:08 PM, chris hofmann <chofmann at meer.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> adam hyde wrote:
>>>>
>>>> if FM is to consider making money to cover costs and grow, the thing I
>>>> ponder about this is - which part of the organisation would make it?
>>>> This isnt a question about WHO would make the money, but where in our
>>>> current activities would it be best to make $
>>>>
>>>> In my mind, selling books is something we would 'tack on the end' of
>>>> what we do as its not really what we do now. What we do now is develop
>>>> content, and so it would make the best sense to me that if we can
>>>> generate income to make content we are actually fueling current
>>>> processes rather than adopting new ones
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> I agree.  Keeping the "content generation engine" moving forward is
>>> primary.  But to
>>> expand the project needs aditional contributors and energy around getting
>>> that content
>>> in front of more eyes.   If the project does hit on the book that has
>>> wide spread appeal
>>> it needs systems to capitalize on it help with long term sustainability.
>>>>
>>>> for example, if we can get someone to pay us to write manuals then thats
>>>> cool, cause we do it already, and we like doing it, and it means someone
>>>> gets paid and more content goes into FM. great, exactly inline with our
>>>> 'mission'
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> My fear is that the number of FLOSS projects that have both the interest
>>> and money to do
>>> this might be limited.  Is that fear shared by others?
>>>>
>>>> if we start thinking about the need to sell books then i dont see this
>>>> as being inline with what we really want to do or what we are actually
>>>> doing now. it is an additional activity. unless someone comes along to
>>>> do it that is not interested in writing manuals this activity actually
>>>> draws energy and resources away from what we are doing and want to do -
>>>> writing manuals
>>>>
>>>
>>> That might be the key.   If there is someone in the community that wanted
>>> to take on the task
>>> of really working out a streamlined, efficient, and productive way of
>>> turning book sales into
>>> revenue that could be reinvested into what most of the people want to do
>>> on the project, then
>>> that should be encourage and maybe even promoted as a challenge.  This is
>>> also a way to
>>> expand the community beyond just the core of involvement in the book
>>> sprint process.
>>>
>>> The power of buying something knowing that it has social impact and
>>> public benifit  is pretty
>>> strong.   The "Toms Shoes" model is sell a pair, give a pair away
>>>
>>> http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-greentoms19-2009apr19,0,1059085.story
>>> is an example.   I could choose any shoe to buy, or any book to buy, but
>>> if I buy this shoe
>>> or book it also has social value I'm a lot more opt to do that.
>>>
>>> If you know that you can download the book for free, but if you buy one
>>> that it contributes
>>> to a social good that is is a pretty strong motivator;  and it has
>>> benefits for all that are involved.
>>>>
>>>> so i think the best way to think about making money to help FM grow is
>>>> to think about where to make it within the activities we already are
>>>> doing and doing well
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> absolutely!   knowing what you want to do is key.   knowing how to
>>> generate revenues
>>> to sustain the organization for the long term is secondary.  But, it also
>>> critical if you want
>>> to be around for the next 3, 5, 10, or 40 years.   You have to grapple
>>> with the idea
>>> of sustainability at some point if you think the cause is important
>>> enough to be a long
>>> term effort.
>>>>
>>>> book sprints, writing chapters for hire, documentation consultancy,
>>>> finding orgs to fund new language sites etc...are all inline with this.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> but how long can that last if the number of projects and potential
>>> audience for the books
>>> is small?
>>>>
>>>> also, i would like to point out that at some point selling books might
>>>> come into conflict with what we are trying to do - we are trying to get
>>>> as much quality info out there as possible about how to use free
>>>> software. that is not always going to be consistent with a goal to sell
>>>> books - if we became reliant on book revenue we would soon come up
>>>> against questions like "if we only held back the free version a few
>>>> months we could sell more books" etc....I really feel uncomfortable with
>>>> even getting near the space where a conversation like this might start
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> DON'T HOLD BACK!  People should buy the FLOSS manual books only on the
>>> premise
>>> that they get some value over printing their own copy or or viewing the
>>> content online.
>>>
>>> The option to view the content online or print their own book should
>>> always be available
>>> and promient!  Its the extra value to them and to the cause that FLOSS
>>> manuals represents
>>> that is most important.
>>>
>>> I think all might be susprised at the number of people that would
>>> "voluntarily" buy good
>>> books knowing that they get some value, but more importantly their
>>> payment contributes
>>> to a greater good.  We were definitely suprised by this at mozilla.   The
>>> software was free
>>> for download but a large number of people prefered to buy the CD or the
>>> CD and book
>>> combo because they knew it had value for them (might have been on a slow
>>> connection)
>>> *and* it had value for the mozilla project and its long term
>>> sustainability.
>>>>
>>>> having said that, i think there is an interesting low resource way to
>>>> make a bit of money selling books. since we make books anyways, if we
>>>> can partner with organsations whose membership would constitute a
>>>> 'target market' for a book, then we should work with them to push the
>>>> book out to its members. the first case scenario of this is where we are
>>>> working with the Free Software Foundation. They will print books, host a
>>>> 'buy now' widget on their site and tell their membership to support FM
>>>> by buying books. i am very interested in seeing how this works. if it
>>>> works i would like to move forward with organisations like Mozilla to
>>>> discuss this possibility also. Orgs like Mozilla and the FSF have a much
>>>> bigger reach than we do, and if we can piggy back on their outreach we
>>>> might be able to generate not just a profile amongst their membership,
>>>> but also some revenue streams that might help.
>>>
>>> yes. lots of work to do here but I agree.  I bought the SVG book off lulu
>>> and found it to be
>>> a hard, slow, expensive and unrewarding process given the criteria and
>>> goals for the
>>> process that I've listed above.
>>>>
>>>> however I think this
>>>> should always done with the 'you can get this material for free, but if
>>>> you buy this book you help FLOSS Manuals make more good stuff" byline
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> absolutely.
>>>
>>> -chofmann
>>>>
>>>> adam
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, 2009-04-29 at 08:05 -0700, chris hofmann wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> David has some good ideas here.   From my expericence at Mozilla its
>>>>> important to broadly communicate the fact that you want or need more money
>>>>> and to experiment with a variety of ways fo find some good ones that match
>>>>> with the core values of the project.
>>>>>
>>>>> At Mozilla we tried a number of community organized campaigns that
>>>>> helped with fund raising, and actively sought to organize part of our
>>>>> community to focus just on these fund raising activities.
>>>>>
>>>>> We set up our own store ( http://store.mozilla.org/  ) to sell Mozilla
>>>>> gear that help to raise money and promote the brand.  When the US store
>>>>> proved too expensive for shipping and import fees to Europe we set up a
>>>>> european affliate ( http://intlstore.mozilla.org/ ).
>>>>>
>>>>> The selling promotional goods though the store actually exceeded our
>>>>> expectaions for how much money it might generate, but we also had about 6
>>>>> years of building out the Mozilla community to hundreds of thousands of
>>>>> participants and followers before we set up the store in 2004.
>>>>>
>>>>> Making the bookstore more prominent on  http://en.flossmanuals.net/ or
>>>>> setting up and entirely new store site designed to feature, promote, and
>>>>> streamline book sales, then trying affliate programs on the web sites of all
>>>>> the open source projects now being supported to try and drive traffic book
>>>>> sales seems like a natural step to explore.   Working hard on the right
>>>>> economic terms to turn book sales into a better revenue generator and
>>>>> revenue share between the project, the book producer, and the shipping
>>>>> company might be tricky by it seems like it deserves some work.  I recently
>>>>> bought the Inkscape manual from here in the US and I could have very easily
>>>>> had most of my payment go to the shipping company.  If people know that most
>>>>> of the money they are spending is going for the good cause of producing the
>>>>> open source manuals they will be much more likely to click on that [buy]
>>>>> button.
>>>>>
>>>>> Really working on trying to produce one high quality major hit or best
>>>>> seller with one of the books manuals might also raise the general visibility
>>>>> of project and all the things that its doing, and sales of all the rest of
>>>>> the books being produced.  I don't know what that might look like but it
>>>>> seems like something to explore.   There are some compelling and increasing
>>>>> relevant stories about how open organizations work and that might be the hot
>>>>> topic that generates wide spread interest in a book produced by the project.
>>>>>  Jeff Javis  [1, 2] is writing a lot about how google is the new model for
>>>>> how companies need to work in an "open world"  but I'd say free and open
>>>>> source projects go way beyond googles level of openness.   All of the
>>>>> "product planning", "ownership and decision making"  used in the way the
>>>>> Internet runs and is a critical part of free and open source projects is
>>>>> idea that seems timely and compelling.
>>>>>  http://people.mozilla.com/~chofmann/books/open-organizations/chofmann-curve2.png
>>>>>
>>>>> Exploring "beyond what google would do"  in a book seems like it might
>>>>> compelling to a lot of people.
>>>>> Firefox is now getting close to reaching 250-275 million users.
>>>>>  Figuring out the right right book to reach big parts of that audience seems
>>>>> like a possible way to a big hit as well.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm sure there might be other great ideas about what topic might
>>>>> produce the great block buster.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thousands of press or news articles about the blockbuster book produced
>>>>> by a community of open source writers seems like it could really kick things
>>>>> into high gear.  I think this best fits in with David's key suggestion of
>>>>>
>>>>>    The simple answer is to make your project compelling enough that
>>>>>    people want to help you succeed.
>>>>>
>>>>> The NY Times ad campaign was another great community organized project
>>>>> for Mozilla.  http://www.mozilla.org/press/mozilla-2004-12-15.html
>>>>>
>>>>> We hoped for 2,500 donations within 10 days, but ended up with 8000
>>>>> donations in less than a week.
>>>>>
>>>>> In that campaign we simply asked the community to brainstorm about the
>>>>> best ways to promote the release of Firefox 1.0.  They came up with the idea
>>>>> for the ad, then with the idea for a donation campaign to fund the idea.  We
>>>>> got the effect of having the ad appear in the Times for one day, but way
>>>>> beyond that hundereds of news articles wrote about the amazing story of how
>>>>> it was all accomplished.
>>>>>
>>>>> But that is just one of many promotional and fund raising ideas that
>>>>> have been community orgainized.
>>>>> http://www.askstudent.com/videos/top-5-mozilla-firefox-ad-campaigns/
>>>>>
>>>>> I guess my short suggestion starts to look like:
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. Figure out a way to create a block buster book
>>>>> 2. Find ways to promote the hell out of the book, and how it was
>>>>> produced.
>>>>> 3. Have things in place so you can monitize and raise money out of the
>>>>> products that people love and the ideas that you want to promote when your
>>>>> visibility to the general public starts to increase.
>>>>>
>>>>> -chofmann
>>>>>
>>>>> 1 http://www.amazon.com/What-Would-Google-Jeff-Jarvis/dp/0061709719
>>>>> 2
>>>>> http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/qt/podcasts/cover_stories/covercast_01_29_09.mp3
>>>>>
>>>>> David Farning wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you are Mozilla Corp... you can raise $45 million by making
>>>>>> google.com the default home page for your browser.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you are Wikipedia... you can raise $6 million with a 'please donate
>>>>>> button.'
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you are Ubuntu... you can you can find a rich guy to fund you.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The simple answer is to make your project compelling enough that
>>>>>> people want to help you succeed.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you take away the cost of book sprints the expenses of FM are
>>>>>> pretty low.   When FM gets to the point where book sprints are self
>>>>>> sustaining, the fixed costs of keeping FM running will not be a large
>>>>>> concern.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Some viable fund raising options for FLOSS Manuals would be:
>>>>>> 1. Continue doing what you are doing.
>>>>>> 2.  Add a please donate button on the web site.  A yearly capital
>>>>>> campaign can be surprising successful.
>>>>>> 3.  Partner programs.  Many projects create value in their brand name
>>>>>> and then sell the 'rights to use that brand' to partners.  For example
>>>>>> official 'Moodle Partners' pay a fee to use the term moodle partner.
>>>>>> 4.  Advisory Board.  Many projects have 'Advisory Boards' on which
>>>>>> organizations with an interest in the direction of the project sit.
>>>>>> Depending on the project seats can cost between $1,000s and
>>>>>> $1,000,000s of US dollars.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I think that you will be fine just continuing to do what you are
>>>>>> doing.  When and if you need more money you can start looking at other
>>>>>> options.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> david
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 9:33 PM, Janet Swisher <jmswisher at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I generally agree with David. My only question in all this is how to
>>>>>>> generate revenue not only for individuals, but also for FLOSS Manuals
>>>>>>> Stichting. There is money in the bank, but it will only last so long.
>>>>>>> Grants tend to dry up once you get past the start-up phase, and
>>>>>>> prizes
>>>>>>> are hit-or-miss. Where do other foundations for open-source projects
>>>>>>> get funding?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --Janet
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 8:03 PM, David Farning
>>>>>>> <dfarning at sugarlabs.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> FLOSS Manuals is already expanding rather nicely.  That being said,
>>>>>>>> the questions Andy raises will need answers eventually.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The challenge is that FM is neither quite a community lead project
>>>>>>>> nor
>>>>>>>> is it a business.  It operates as a benevolent dictatorship under
>>>>>>>> Adam's leadership.  That is fine.  Many very successful projects
>>>>>>>> operate as benevolent dictatorships.  It _really_ cuts down on the
>>>>>>>> overhead.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Now, Andy steps up and wonders how a particular business model will
>>>>>>>> fit into FM.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> My gut feeling is to tell Andy to go for it.  Start selling your
>>>>>>>> services as a book sprint leader and editor.  FM will grow and
>>>>>>>> evolve
>>>>>>>> to keep up.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The good thing about the book sprint process is that they are very
>>>>>>>> short and involve little upfront investment.  Your ability to refine
>>>>>>>> and improve your process is pretty limitless.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> As far as putting pressure on the infrastructure, don't worry about
>>>>>>>> it.  Infrastructure can scale.  Any load your projects might put on
>>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>>> will be compensated by the increased visibility for FLOSS Manuals.
>>>>>>>> Weak points in the process can be fixed.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The fundamental business model for open source products is to give
>>>>>>>> away the base and sell value add goods and service on top of that
>>>>>>>> base
>>>>>>>> for a premium.  The open source base is the FM collaborative
>>>>>>>> authoring
>>>>>>>> tools.  The premium service is you leading the book sprint and
>>>>>>>> editing
>>>>>>>> the finished product.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Asking for FM to build new tools is a slightly different.  You will
>>>>>>>> either have to convince a community member to add the feature or
>>>>>>>> hire
>>>>>>>> someone to add the feature for you.  Those are both very effective
>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>> well understood ideas in the open source community.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Nothing at FM will collapse if you start selling your services.  If
>>>>>>>> you think of yourself as AndyOEnterprises doing business ontop of
>>>>>>>> the
>>>>>>>> FM stack, see no reason why the existing infrastructure and
>>>>>>>> organization will not be able to evolve to keep up with you:)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> david
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 8:32 AM, Andy Oram <andyo at oreilly.com>
>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Aw, Anne, I'm hoping to build the Renault of technical
>>>>>>>>> documentation, and you talk of a "cottage industry..."
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I don't have a comprehensive reply (and that's why I opened up
>>>>>>>>> discussion on this group) but I'll add a few points.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> 1. Adam, thanks for showing confidence that FM can handle projects
>>>>>>>>> like the ones I mentioned. I noticed that a lot of the site setup for
>>>>>>>>> CiviCRM had to be done by you, and I know that you're teaching other people
>>>>>>>>> to do some of it, but I get the impression that we're not ready to have 5 or
>>>>>>>>> 10 people setting up new pages on a whim each time we contact an interested
>>>>>>>>> project. But I'll just keep you in the loop.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> 2. David Farning was making some detailed notes at Wintercamp, I
>>>>>>>>> remember, about what FM needs to scale and be sure of its future. David,
>>>>>>>>> that's relevant to this discussion if my memory is right.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> 3. A company like Cloudera probably has their own facilities that
>>>>>>>>> they'd like to use for documentation, but some documentation efforts will
>>>>>>>>> probably strain those facilities. That's why I wrote articles about the need
>>>>>>>>> for new tools, and FM provides some that make writing easy. But FM is
>>>>>>>>> oriented book-length projects and to making it easy to combine chapters into
>>>>>>>>> new books. Some of the projects I might recommend to Cloudera or OpenSIMS
>>>>>>>>> might be more blog-like.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> 4. Anne: I think any project to which we invite volunteers has to
>>>>>>>>> put the documentation under an open license. Nobody would have an incentive
>>>>>>>>> to volunteer her time otherwise. I think Cloudera understands that and would
>>>>>>>>> go along. Companies are recognizing the real value of open source, which I
>>>>>>>>> think I've caught in the last section of my article
>>>>>>>>> http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2009/01/free-software-meets-corporate.html
>>>>>>>>> (scroll down to "The most important benefit of free software: developing new
>>>>>>>>> programmers")
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> 5. I'm going to work on CiviCRM and a couple more projects
>>>>>>>>> (OpenSIMS and Cloudera, if they sign up) and figure out how much time I'll
>>>>>>>>> take and how much I need to charge to make it more than a sideline. But I
>>>>>>>>> don't know how much strain I'm putting on the FM infrastructure or on Adam,
>>>>>>>>> and how much FM should ask in addition to what I want to charge.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Andy
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>>>>>> From: Anne Gentle <annegentle at justwriteclick.com>
>>>>>>>>> To: discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
>>>>>>>>> Sent: Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:42:21 -0400 (EDT)
>>>>>>>>> Subject: Re: [FM Discuss] Are we ready to expand?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Andy -
>>>>>>>>> I think these are great questions and you are fielding questions
>>>>>>>>> for the
>>>>>>>>> types of recruit projects we'd want FM to be part of. I agree
>>>>>>>>> though that
>>>>>>>>> scalability is the main issue - I have many more writing projects
>>>>>>>>> I'd like
>>>>>>>>> to be part of. So it's scalability of muliple types of people that
>>>>>>>>> we'd need
>>>>>>>>> to address. :)
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> One observation I've had is that people are interested in FM and
>>>>>>>>> Book
>>>>>>>>> Sprints especially, but unless their project brings an enthusiastic
>>>>>>>>> maintainer along with them, the content might not be maintained as
>>>>>>>>> well as
>>>>>>>>> it would be if they kept even one or two writers as maintainers
>>>>>>>>> after the
>>>>>>>>> excitement of the sprint dies down a little.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> Discuss mailing list
>>>>>>> Discuss at lists.flossmanuals.net
>>>>>>> http://lists.flossmanuals.net/listinfo.cgi/discuss-flossmanuals.net
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
>>>>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Anne Gentle
> email: annegentle at justwriteclick.com
> blog: www.justwriteclick.com
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