[Koha] Koha demo links on koha.org

[Thomas Dukleth]

Reply inline:


1.  CLARIFICATION OF A GRADUATED REMEDY.

On Fri, October 9, 2009 02:13, Chris Cormack wrote:

[...]

> I agree with Nicole, (and Owen and Chris N)
> It is inappropriate to link to a version of Koha that has not been
> released and isn't representative of what people can download and
> install.

I think that my subsequent posts clarified the fact that I agree that
linking to non-free software based on Koha from the community website is
wrong and confusing as Nicole Engard had explained.  We should be
especially concerned about the confusion from prospective users of free
software who may not recognise that LEK is non-free despite being promoted
as open source.  People may presume that the source code to LEK is
available and blame Koha when they later discover that it is not.  I had
offered an alternative view from others about how to correct the problem.

I preferred that we proceed a little more patiently by asking LibLime to
make the source code for LEK available first.  I had suggested that we
should not first ask LibLime to remove their demonstration link from the
main Koha website to a LibLime page which links to LEK demonstrations from
the top of the page.  I had suggested asking that the link be relabelled
for the moment, until the Koha community can offer a real alternative of
something such as what Kyle Hall had suggested in other website
possibilities.  I had made an even stronger suggestion than Kyle's much
more subtly.  The prospect of a real alternative would give LibLime an
additional reason to reconsider their position.

I chose to be extremely subtle because acting confrontational even with
extraordinary justification has certainly not produced helpful responses
from LibLime.  I still hope that LibLime will find a way back to the
participating in the Koha community on terms which work for them as I have
hoped they would consider in extensive private suggestions to them.


1.1.  MY REQUEST OF LIBLIME.

I certainly ask LibLime to either provide the source code to LibLime
Enterprise Koha; redirect LibLime demonstration links on koha.org only
directly to Koha demonstrations for which the source code is available and
not to LibLime pages linking on to demonstrations which are not free
software; or at the very least, while considering their position at the
moment, label the LibLime demonstration links from koha.org to the LibLime
demonstrations page with LibLime Enterprise Koha demonstrations in some
appropriate manner which distinguishes the link as leading to the
currently non-free LibLime software based on Koha.

In all cases, LibLime should provide the opportunity for others to add
more prominent links to advertising free demonstrations of Koha in some
suitable subdomains of koha.org; links to demonstrations on other
non-profit Koha community websites such as http://demo.koha-fr.org/ and
http://opacdemo.koha-fr.org/ ; and should prepare to have any Koha
demonstrations of their own which they would want linked from koha.org
available in a similar advertising free manner from some koha.org
subdomains or other non-profit Koha community website.

Ignoring a request to at least meet some intersection of those options
should be understood as breach of faith with current and prospective Koha
users.


1.2.  PROCEEDING OTHERWISE.

Apparently, others have less patience for a graduated path to resolution. 
Everyone is free to make the request of LibLime.

I changed the subject from graduated problem solving where I found little
agreement to being prepared with strength to act as a unified community
via the one or the other of the immediate foundation forming choices which
are only HLT and SPI for an intermediate period as I see it.  I gave my
reasons including why I favour the flexibility of HLT and several people
have offered similar reasons.


2.  COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING VIA KOHA.ORG GENERALLY IS WRONG.

>
> I don't

[understand how]

> the advertising part of it is an issue at all, apart from the
> fact that it is advertisting something that isn't Koha.

I think that we started on the path which would eventually lead to LibLime
linking from the community website to a LibLime page with a non-free
demonstrations by not earlier complaining that subtle advertising in the
demonstrations linked from the main website is not appropriate for a
community demonstration.  The demonstrations should have always been
completely neutral and linked within the koha.org domain as they are at
the French Koha website's demonstrations, http://demo.koha-fr.org/ and
http://opacdemo.koha-fr.org/ .

I find myself complicit in the history of this problem because apparently
subtle advertising in the demonstrations has bothered me more than some
other English language people involved in the Koha community.  I justified
to myself not raising any objection because initially the subtle
advertising seemed to me to be the least reward when LibLime had been
first having a difficult time obtaining enough customers for a sustainable
business in the US.  I was not paying much attention to the Koha community
at the time when LibLime was having a much easier time obtaining
customers.

There are obviously many other and some more important factors in the
history.  However, I think that a community demonstration of the software
should be just that, a community demonstration of the software, and we
should not make the same mistake again of allowing subtle advertising
irrespective of who actually maintains a community demonstration.  There
should be an appropriate central place where everyone can given
appropriate credit for their contributions in a manner which does not
constitute advertising.

A fairly reconstituted pay for support page is an appropriate place for a
little reasonable commercial advertising in addition to some informative
news announcements which are in part advertising but come and go.  Outside
of such circumscribed areas, commercial advertising is misplaced on
koha.org and I contend has been a significant element of our current
trouble.  Non-commercial community advertising should not pose the same
problem.

As Nicole identified in a recent post, the main Koha website should be
understood as a website for all languages.  That should not stop other
people from having their own community websites in any language.  The main
community website has not linked properly to the French community website
since the switch to the Kea content management system in 2005.  There are
some details about a mistake with the link to http://www.koha-fr.org which
I shall overlook.  However, in addition to having content in various
languages, and linking to other community websites, the main Koha website
should be linking to community demonstrations of the software in various
languages just as Nicole said.

[...]

Thomas Dukleth
Agogme
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