New Post: Getting Purism News

General Announcements
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We have a lot of irons in the fire at Purism whether it’s hardware development like the Librem 5, Librem 5 USA, or Librem 14, new products like the Librem Mini v2, or the wide range of software projects we maintain at https://source.puri.sm. As a result, each week there is news on at least one of these fronts.

We often get questions about the status of various projects, in particular from customers who are part of a crowdfunding campaign who want to know the answer to the all-important question: when will I get my device? In this post we will cover all the different ways you can stay up to date on Purism news.

Read the rest of the article here:

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Sorry to be picky but when confirming to subscribing to the email feed, the web browser (FF) complains about POST over insecure connection. Very quick investigation suggests that the web browser is correct.

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That’s alright @Kyle_Rankin.
Now put on your analytic hat for a minute.

Imagine a new customer wants to buy a Librem.
The likelihood they’ll read this post? Let’s say 50%.
In two weeks it’s 10%, in four weeks it’s 1%. Burried.
That’s one of the reasons I made the chronology. (That still doesn’t help new customers, but it helps the initiated who know about it, to browse all posts in a non-annoying manner)

So, a summary like this (your blog post) should also go out to new customers, e.g. in a “first steps” email.
But it still misses some valuable information.
Point them to

  • the official FAQ
  • the forum
  • matrix channels
  • maybe the community wiki (how are people supposed to figure out something like this exists?)

We know it’s overwhelming to keep the documentation up to date. The community can help to fill the gaps, but making it easy to find is on your part.

Speaking of which:
To my knowledge, the following resources are not linked or well hidden.

  • wiki.puri.sm (yes, go forward merging it with docs, you have my blessing :stuck_out_tongue:)
  • developer.puri.sm (only via docs it seems. Plus, no links to (easy) development blog posts)
  • software.pureos.net (nice, but we’ll hidden)
  • list of optimized apps
  • list of features still in progress (camera, GPS navigation, suspend)
  • fund your app

Sidenote on pureos.net: while it’s unexpected to find the repository hiding behind a link named “source”, I admit that it’s logical (and probably fsf demanded) to put the bug tracker and the pureos-wiki here (yet another wiki)
However. Your ordinary customer is unlikely to find it there. Probably add a a PureOS section to docs.puri.sm, and a Troubleshooting page to the Support menu that contains all troubleshooting resources (docs, wikis, bug tracker, support mail)

But back to the prospective customer. It’s good that you updated the L14 shipping info. This was also often outdated for the L5 in the past.
It could be a bit more pronounced though.
All good shops I use show a colored warning if an item is not in stock, plus an expected delay.
NOTE: this needs to be especially in the cart where you check your order before submitting. It’s nothing fancy, but a rather common and helpful practice.

Finally, as the Librem 5 is such a complex thing, I wish there was kind of a landing page for owners or wannabe owners, that gives an overview about a topic and points to all relevant resources of that topic.
For example, it has sections like

Getting started
Link to tested providers, AweSIM, …
Howto import contacts
Howto install messengers (Matrix, Signal, …)
Howto setup email
Howto backup
Howto use librem.one on L5
(Point out that AweSIM and Librem.one will always be optional. People don’t get that)

Status
Latest development reports
Roadmap / list of features still in progress (camera, GPS navigation, suspend)

Apps
Points to list of optimized apps
But also to software.pureos.net, pointing out that all should work, at least in convergence mode
Point to a howto video on installing Web apps.
What apps are currently in focus. Fund your app.
Community apps.
Goodies package.

Convergence
What is it (embed video)
What do I need to try it.
Which improvements can I expect. Goal for 2021.

PureOS
How to update
Philosophy, expected update lifetime
Docs
How to try OS image without flashing
Bug tracker
Improve / add layout to squeekboard

Development
developer.puri.sm
Easy App Development blog series
Librem 5 App Design Tutorial blog series

Point every new or prospective owner to that landing page. Seriously!
Reviewers also. Especially reviewers.
Three of four video reviews I’m aware of could have been so much better with some of the info that is definitely there somewhere, but not exactly easy to dig up for newcomers.

Bonus points: The L5 has a prominent link to that landing page, as a pre-installed web app.

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This is why you’re my favorite.

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Hey Kyle, i realy dont like beeing the guy that always points out whats bad :frowning: i m realy not. I guess i am one of the new Customers you you are talking about?
Before and after i preordered the Librem 14 (this is not a crowdfunding, right?) i visited your website, the news page, you Twitter account etc. I found some news, yes.

And after i pre ordered, i regulary checked your News page, your Twitter Account, your Mastodon Account… and i must say, i dont feel informed whats happenig around the librem 14. The last post i read, and liked was in december. After that the only “news” we got, was about the Librem 5 and App Spotlights.
Since Pre order i did not get any e-mails regarding the Librem 14, and the only information i got after wards, was the News post about the Delay… that is dissapointing. And that is actualy my biggest issue i have with Purism. You probably make cool stuff, and have great ideas. But you should communicate much better.

Take your support for example. After some e-mails i was asked if i wanted my case forwarded to your finance department. I answered that i would like that. I would expect to get the email that was forwarded to your finance deparment. But this did not happen. So i had to write again, and ask if my case was forwarded. Of course that is not the end of the world, but it adds up. It paints a bad picture of your business.

And please have a look at @Caliga post! and use his Feedback!

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The last news is from January 15: https://puri.sm/posts/tag/laptops/

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I just wanted to pull out this particular point, because we do provide each reviewer with a reviewer’s guide that talks about the current state of the phone along with a lot of other information including advising them to update the phone first thing because changes are so rapid right now that between the time we ship a review unit, and when they get to doing the review, so much has changed.

Sadly in at least some cases, the guide wasn’t read or even skimmed. For instance the “Iceweasel bug” where it shows up instead of Firefox, was fixed weeks ago. Like with documentation in general, you can write it, you can point people to it, but you can’t make someone read it.

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Ok, interview over, you’re hired!!! I’ll need a timetable for completion on my desk Monday. Thank you and welcome to the team! :rofl:

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Maybe not a too bad idea to get @Caliga his Evergreen shipped so that we get his review soon :wink:

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I would like to see an amosbatto-Purism-Post in Purism News as @amosbatto showed to have the Power to write a distinguished post that will help to Purism positively overall. :wink:

@francois-techene any chance for?

Working together for Purism…

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@carlosgonz, thanks for the kind words, but I am probably too partisan and too willing to criticize for Purism’s marketing, and I prefer to be an independent voice, so I have the freedom to give my honest assessment.

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I would rather get @Kyle_Rankin back: there is no one else who write blog articles just as good as them.

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