Davyd ([info]davyd) wrote,
@ 2005-04-01 12:30:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
G12 Status Report
Today the GNOME Foundation officially decided to drop the 2. from all future releases of the 2.x branch of the popular GNOME Desktop. GNOME 2.12 will now be known by the more friendly name of G12. This change has been made in order to increase brand recognition and aid in market awareness of the Desktop as a product suitable for the home and enterprise.
"This is an important move forward. Market research has shown that customers respond better to short, punchy names than long release versions. It also gives us an extra coolness factor so we can start announcing releases with smoke and laser lighting effects, instead of shoddy geeky mailing lists like we do at the moment." says Andrew Sobala, GNOME Bugmaster.

G12
The new G12 Logo - a high resolution version is also available

The G branding will continue for all releases of what is now the 2.x GNOME tree, up until the release of high-tech super-desktop, GNOME Topaz (previously known as 3.0.

To complement the rebranding of the GNOME Desktop; we are also giving users a sneak-peak into one of the more exciting features of the G12 release, due in just under six months time. The GNOME Foundation has needed users' support for some time now, due to the high costs involved in running such an organisation. G12 will make the process of donating to GNOME much easier, through its revolutionary compulsory subscriptions system. Based off the same business model seen in Laundromats, users will now pay for the time they use their desktop. For enterprise users of the GNOME Desktop, the Foundation will be able to negotiate bulk rates.
c-s-s 1
Figure 1 — a counter in the notification area will inform you of your remaining credit
c-s-s 2
Figure 2 — when your credit runs out, you will be required to donate more money before you can continue using your desktop
c-s-s 3
Figure 3 — our secure credit card processing facility will allow you to donate quickly and safely
c-s-s 4
Figure 4 — another successful transaction
c-s-s 5
Figure 5 — you can now go back to what you were doing

We hope this will be one of the more popular features in the G12 release.

To find out more about both of these exciting announcements, check out our press release.

(Post a new comment)


[info]davyd
2005-03-31 07:04 pm UTC (link)
April Fools!

(Reply to this) (Thread)
You nearly got me!
(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 12:40 pm UTC (link)
I liked the donation scenario best! Good joke!

(Reply to this) (Parent)
why does it have to be a joke?
[info]deekayen
2005-04-02 04:42 am UTC (link)
You could still add it and just not make it compulsory... just put a menu item in the default install or something.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 04:57 am UTC (link)
3.0 is going to be quite a long ways off, dropping the 2. really isn't that awful of an idea. It would make more sence to the less linux version friendly folks who think that 2.10 and 2.1 are the same.

(Reply to this)


(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 04:59 am UTC (link)
Lol, not bad, fooled me for a while til i remembered the date :P

-Byron

(Reply to this)


(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 05:00 am UTC (link)
Oh, come on. No-one (with the possible exception of those nice people at Sun) is going to fall for this.

(Actually, it might be a good idea.)

CH-CHING!

- D'Z'A

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]davyd
2005-04-01 06:22 pm UTC (link)
The commentry does not agree with you, biznatch!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]benfrantzdale
2005-04-01 05:06 am UTC (link)
Nice.

You had me 'till the payment part. The G12 branding scheme actually doesn't sound like a bad idea.

(Reply to this)

Heh
(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 05:24 am UTC (link)
Great Aprils Fools joke. Those mockups are awesome, though.

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: Heh
[info]davyd
2005-04-01 05:33 am UTC (link)
Mockups! That's almost working code! Seriously, clean it up a bit, remove some of the hacks I used to get it done on time, add an actual credit card transaction system, and it could actually be used! Imagine having it in net cafés... "Insert more quarters, this session will expire in 5 minutes"

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: Heh
(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 08:58 am UTC (link)
To be honest for a second i thought it was a system for internet cafe's, untill i read the text, and i think it can be great use for them.
I guess a slotmachine next to the pc is more logical then VISA though.

Nice april joke!

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Re: Heh
(Anonymous)
2005-04-12 01:58 am UTC (link)
i know a lots of cyber cafe on my town that dont use linux because dont have a system like this!

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Damn You
(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 07:06 am UTC (link)
I'm not expecting these until the morning

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: Damn You
[info]davyd
2005-04-01 07:25 am UTC (link)
April Fools is almost over in some parts of the world. It's hard to release a bombshell across a 24 hour span. It only we used Internet Time.

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Too muc htime
(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 08:15 am UTC (link)
haha, you have WAY too muc time on your hands dude :) nice one tho... did you actually write these up or was it a gimp job?

Adam
adam at slackguy dot net

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: Too muc htime
[info]davyd
2005-04-01 08:18 am UTC (link)
I don't really have enough time, but this was just too good to not implement. I actually wrote code to do these, because it was easier then compositing them in Gimp.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: Too muc htime
(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 08:48 am UTC (link)
Please stick the code in CVS - I'd love to run this applet!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: Too much time, not enough money!!!
(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 04:38 pm UTC (link)
> Please stick the code in CVS - I'd love to run this applet!

At the very least it is an interesting varation on programs like Workrave adn Xwrists which force you to take a break occasionally. certainly makes for a more interesting interupption message.

- Alan H.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]jetblackvalias
2005-04-01 10:27 am UTC (link)
this made me lol

implement on any computer mat cole logs into please

(Reply to this)

problems
(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 11:04 am UTC (link)
hi just some problems:
* on fig 3, there is "the the gnome"
* on fig 5 we can see that one minute passed away and costed 2 cents.

Actually if 2 dollars gives 2 hours, wich means 120 minutes, 1 minute costs 2 dollars / 120 = 0.0166666667. So shouldn't the counter show "$1.99" ?

In the end, it would be good idea to develop this special applet (for example by allowing time to be allocated by a server) cybers may enjoy that.

[Ok that was my april joke. I'm not such a dumb ass.]

(Reply to this)

bestest april fools I had today
(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 12:36 pm UTC (link)
just rofl, rofl and rofl
it really is a good one ;)

(Reply to this)

Subtle
(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 03:58 pm UTC (link)
I like the more subtle joke you put into your screenshots. Wonder how many people will notice it.

(Reply to this)

Close Enough to real Marketing Nonsense to be Plausible
(Anonymous)
2005-04-01 04:33 pm UTC (link)
Nice one. That was just close enough to real Marketing Nonsesne to be Plausible and like most good satire kept me guessing.

I'm sure there are better ways to market Gnome than this. Paris Hilton maybe (http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/01/141218)?
:)

Later

Alan Horkan
http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: Close Enough to real Marketing Nonsense to be Plausible
[info]davyd
2005-04-01 06:20 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, I didn't make it to /.; I just wasn't cool enough this time.

(Reply to this) (Parent)
wtf
(Anonymous)
2006-02-08 05:33 am UTC (link)
that's the most ridiculous load of shit I've ever heard, comparing a gnu desktop to a laundry mat. wtf man. I really hope gnome does not tarnish themselves like that. that just takes away from gnome's reputation. Stop for just 1 min. and think about the first time you used Linux. what would you think if all of a sudden something popped up and said "your out of time, please pay us now for more" what are you going to think? secondly what if they knew KDE didn't play that shit. look I realize that gnome is a company and has expenses, but I think forcing people into paying to continue using their computer is just ridiculous. And I realize that you may have the "if they don't like it, use something else" attitude, but that mentality will ruin what gnome is and was. I am not against groups asking for money but this really seems like demanding for it. I honestly think that if a product (please remember that I'm talking about gnu politics) is good enough, and useful enough, people will donate and be more inclined to participate in fundraising events. Look at gentoo-wiki.com , I'm not sure if its still up but they recently held an extremely hands off ( sure it was small scale ) fundraiser and they reached their goal in less then a week. Even though I'm sure they were asking for a much smaller amount of money then gnome would need, I think it still proves the point that if something is useful enough people will be generous in helping support it. Gnome also needs to realize they are losing user to KDE ( FACT, PERIOD, DONE ) and this is only going to help repel those sticking around. I think this laundry mat style payment requirement will ultimately decrease gnomes income because you will be losing the generous attitudes of people and they will look at it as another money oriented burden to the community. I really hope that I am horribly mistaken, and if I am please correct me. Someone just needed to say that's really fucked up.

mattfraunfelter(-at-)gmail.com

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: wtf
(Anonymous)
2006-02-08 05:34 am UTC (link)
matt, im so god damn gullable.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…