Hi David, all,
David Nelson schrieb:
Hi Italo, *,
In my opinion, documentation screenshots can be entirely Linux (unless there
is a specific feature on a different OS).
This is what the Documentation team (project) has done over the last years, IIRC.
My feeling about this (and I *believe* that Jean Weber agrees) is that
documentation contributors should have the option of contributing
screenshots indifferently from Mac, Linux or Windows - although it
would probably be preferable to maintain consistency within a given
guide.
I would really like to read Jean's opinion on this point.
She has been leading the Documentation Project at OOo, she proposed the present compromise discussed and voted on at the Design list. All of her comments I remember are based on a Linux theme.
In none of her postings I read I saw any mentioning of Windows screenshots.
Now - exactly at her holidays - you're pushing this topic up to the SC, while the discussion and the voting at the Design list doesn't follow the direction you want it to go.
My impression of the people involved in this topic (including Sigrid and Jean) felt very well about the Linux theme Clearlooks, that resembles quite strongly to newer Windows versions. The previous theme agreed upon by the documentation team was a silver theme resembling Windows XP - probably not the best reference for 2011 and beyond...
I might be wrong, but is there really a discussion in the Documentation Team where others than yourself want to use different themes - and especially Windows themes - for LibreOffice documentation?
What I read was that they want to have a consistent theme for the documentation, so it is possible to re-use some of the screenshots in other documents.
Mixture of screenshots with different themes in one document has never been a goal of the documentation team. Consistency is much more important for professional documentation than trying to inform the reader about the different platforms by using different themes.
We already discussed your points on the design list, and you got valid replies by several different people. Now you want this discussion to be overruled by the SC members - if you insist on it, we can repeat our points here too...
Firstly, this makes it clear that LibreOffice is mult-platform and
consistent across platforms.
Consistency is the key: A good documentation is based on consistent content, visual design, and overall look-and-feel.
Except of platform specific topics a consistent theme is one stone in the wall of professional documentation.
Secondly, we want to keep the barrier for new contributors as low as
possible, and not *oblige* them to install new software in order to
work in documentation. This way, hopefully, we can get a lot more
people involved.
We all know that new contributors need guidance much more than the easiest way to do any work. Especially if we want them to continue their contribution it is crucial to not let them alone - not even with screenshots. They don't know about the area to copy, scaling factors, additional arrows and rings. And helping them by providing easy understandable guidelines can include a preferred theme and even a slight modification to this standard theme.
You might be right that there are people on Windows interested in contributing to LibreOffice documentation - they would be the one to install a new theme for screenshots, but they can contribute without screenshots (or take screenshots with a Linux live CD) too.
On Linux there is no need to install new software, as the Clearlooks theme is standard in GNOME and available in KDE too.
These are the key reasons why I'm asking for the SC to take a
position, because we've been meeting quite a bit of opposition from a
relatively small number of people for quite some time now (who want
screenshots taken under Linux only), and it would be nice to get the
issue cleared up one way or another.
While this relatively small number of people consist of Sigrid and Jean as well as several people on the Design list and Alex Thurgood, I can't measure your "we" in active contributors. My impression is exactly the other way round: While the vast majority of active people showed their interest in a consistent documentation with a standardized theme for screenshots and other elements, you repeated your arguments against such a consistent theme several times being nearly alone with your opinion.
I could point out that I'm a daily Linux user myself, but I don't
think we should be dogmatic about it.
Right - this has absolutely nothing to do with the present topic.
Best regards
Bernhard
PS: I didn't mention consistency as basic rule for branding, brand recognition and a positive feeling about a product in this mail.
I didn't comment on the legal aspects on Windows and Mac, as Alex pointed possible problems out.
(And even if the SC would recommend Windows screenshots, each contributor would have to decide for him/herself if s/he would like to take the legal responsibility on his/her own).