Should Linux.org be expanded?

Should Linux.org include all Unix systems?

  • Yes

    Votes: 1 33.3%
  • No

    Votes: 2 66.7%

  • Total voters
    3
D

DevynCJohnson

Guest
Should Linux.org be expanded to include Unix systems like *BSD, Solaris, Haiku, BeOS, etc.?

Benefits:
  1. More visitors
  2. More information exchange
  3. More pages leads to more ads which make more money for the site
  4. Increase priority on Google searches
  5. Increase the site's usefullness and informational value
  6. Stands out from other Linux sites

Feel free to post more benefits and reasons for why Linux.org should include other Unix systems.
 


Perhaps a section on other "free open source alternatives to Windows and OS"?

But remember what the name of the site is, linux.org. Not Unix.org or opensource.org...

I like the idea of having a section about other free alternatives though.
 
Why not ? May be a good idea to add a section like "Other friends OS..." or something like that. What do You think about it ?
 
Oh sure, it wouldn't hurt to have a section for other. But even Solaris (which I understand can legally claim to be UNIX) is different enough from Linux that people looking for Solaris answers are likely to want to go to a forum site specifically for Solaris.

But Haiku? I remain interested in it and wish it well, but however fascinating the world of BeOs, I don't get the impression many people are using it.

This site has the advantage of having the name. All the other Linux forums I visit are Linux-<something-else>. I think this site should leverage it's name by trying to be the number one site for answers to questions about and problems with Linux.

It could be improved by actively recruiting knowledgeable people to give gentle, helpful answers. Maybe they could be rewarded with cool T-shirts and coffee mugs.
 
I like the thought of expanding the site to have threads that include other FOSS (distros). One of the most asked question by friends of mine is, How does the ports system work in *BSD? Also, what is the best distro for a software router.

The question I have, has there been enough questions or threads started in this forum pertaining to other distros.
 
Why not ? May be a good idea to add a section like "Other friends OS..." or something like that. What do You think about it ?

That is a brilliant idea. I really like that suggestion.
 
I think that the "philosophy" and the "mood" of the Linux-user is different from the other-OS users. Rob explained well that , in Linux, "everything is a file". Similarly, in Linux, "everyone is a friend". We are family, guys ! So, there is really no money able to overcome the pleasure of helping someone or being helped for free.
That's why we are something different.
 
I personally think that the site should stay Linux focused. By this I mean that if someone stumbles in here and asks a Unix question then by all means we should do what we can to help, but the site should not actively try and cover Unix or other systems.

The reason behind this is that Linux is already a large topic. If you add Unix and other systems then you quickly find yourself with too much area to cover.

The better way to keep the page going and continue to grow is to stay focused. Quality over quantity. A small page with high quality info is thousand times more useful than a massive page with poor quality.

So, I guess my point is Yes, Linux.org should try to grow and expand, but it should do so by adding more and more high quality information about Linux. That is what will make this site stronger.
 
I personally think that the site should stay Linux focused. By this I mean that if someone stumbles in here and asks a Unix question then by all means we should do what we can to help, but the site should not actively try and cover Unix or other systems.

The reason behind this is that Linux is already a large topic. If you add Unix and other systems then you quickly find yourself with too much area to cover.

The better way to keep the page going and continue to grow is to stay focused. Quality over quantity. A small page with high quality info is thousand times more useful than a massive page with poor quality.

So, I guess my point is Yes, Linux.org should try to grow and expand, but it should do so by adding more and more high quality information about Linux. That is what will make this site stronger.

True. However, the problem I see in not expanding to include other operating systems is the fact that the number of users and visitors for this site is low. By expanding, more people would come here.
 
Should Linux.org include all Unix systems?

If that means including Apple's OS X and iOS, then no.

Otherwise, sure.
 
@Rob , have you seen this thread yet? This is a good discussion. Since you are the owner of this site, your thoughts on this matter are the most important.
 
I understand where your coming from Devyn, and I can see the temptation in how adding other things would draw more people. I still think though that by doing that you going after the wrong kind of traffic.

You will have a hard time covering all the topics very well if you spread things out too much. This will make you get more hits to the site. More search terms will lead to the site so more people will click through. That is just simple math and statistics.

The thing to ask yourself though is this. Are you after more "traffic" or are you after more active members of the community? You can do some SEO and such to get lots of hits, but what good are lots of hits if they hit the site and then quickly move on never to look back?

I would rather have fewer people hit the site, but have those people stay on the site, create accounts and help build the site. That is what I mean with quality over quantity. It is better to be a good narrowly focused resource than a site that covers everything poorly.
 
I understand where your coming from Devyn, and I can see the temptation in how adding other things would draw more people. I still think though that by doing that you going after the wrong kind of traffic.

You will have a hard time covering all the topics very well if you spread things out too much. This will make you get more hits to the site. More search terms will lead to the site so more people will click through. That is just simple math and statistics.

The thing to ask yourself though is this. Are you after more "traffic" or are you after more active members of the community? You can do some SEO and such to get lots of hits, but what good are lots of hits if they hit the site and then quickly move on never to look back?

I would rather have fewer people hit the site, but have those people stay on the site, create accounts and help build the site. That is what I mean with quality over quantity. It is better to be a good narrowly focused resource than a site that covers everything poorly.

I would like to see this site get more users, more "regulars", and more information. True, more topics would require more time covering more topics, but more traffic would bring this site more money via advertisements which would allow the site to hire more writers. I feel that more users and topics would almost evenly scale the size of the site and retain or improve quality.
 
I guess it very well could be possible to grow the site in that way, I would just be very careful trying it. Maybe just adding one thing at a time and "testing the waters".

What I kind of think could be a fun way to try and expand the site would be to come up with some projects to do as a community. Could be something simple like selecting a topic you are lacking info on and starting a project to research it, or something complex like creating a program. I'm kind of still fussy on how it all would work, but could be fun to have topics where your kind of following and making a tutorial at the same time.
 
I guess it very well could be possible to grow the site in that way, I would just be very careful trying it. Maybe just adding one thing at a time and "testing the waters".

What I kind of think could be a fun way to try and expand the site would be to come up with some projects to do as a community. Could be something simple like selecting a topic you are lacking info on and starting a project to research it, or something complex like creating a program. I'm kind of still fussy on how it all would work, but could be fun to have topics where your kind of following and making a tutorial at the same time.

I really like that idea. Actually, I have tried something kind of like that concept. I made a thread where Linux users could post a wallpaper they made with Linux and offer their wallpaper for people to freely download under some free license (like Creative Commons or Public Domain). http://www.linux.org/threads/awesome-wallpapers-made-with-gimp.4846/ The problem I find is in the low number of people coming to Linux.org. I think we should still try your idea with tutorials/info. I will start - (http://www.linux.org/threads/cool-desktop-tools.4888/)(http://www.linux.org/threads/suggestions-for-awesome-linux-oss-video-games.4889/).

I think we should work together to try to bring in more users/traffic. I share a lot of articles/tutorials from here on Google Plus using the share buttons near the bottom of the screen.
 
Last edited:


Top