Re: [boost] [home page] Marketing?

From: Martin Wille (mw8329_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-07-01 10:01:34

Beman Dawes wrote:
> While the redesigned Boost home page is informative and visually 
> attractive, it doesn't seem to me to have much marketing punch because it 
> doesn't give a viewer any idea of how useful and successful Boost has 
> become.
> 
> Thanks to stylesheet help from Rene Rivera, I've drafted a new section 
> (currently entitled "Mini-FAQ") that is supposed to convey the marketing 
> message that Boost is a success and useful to a lot of people.
> 
> See draft version at http://www.esva.net/~beman/boost-home/index.htm
> 
> Comments? Do others think this is worth adding?
> 
> If we go forward with this, I'll try to get quotes from one or two other 
> C++ luminaries to go in the "What do others say about Boost" sub-section.

Sorry disappoint you, but, frankly, "So download" <insert product here>
"and start enjoying it" is exactly the kind of text I _never_ want to
read in anything supposed to provide information.

In fact, way more often than not, that kind of phrase, in my experience,
indicates an inferior product and make me not want to buy or even try
some product (be it software or a vacuum cleaner).

Bragging about the number of happy customers has a similar effect.

Having to scroll down to get some real information ("Latest News") is
annoying, at best, for the regular visitor.

I'm not against making Boost more popular. However, that should not
happen at the cost of our primary goal: to provide high-quality useful
libraries. If we start hiding the useful information under a heap of
banal advertising then we fail to accomplish our mission.

Perhaps, we could put this stuff on some "Boost for Managers" page
instead of the start page. On that BoM page, we could also put
information about the Boost Software License and other legal issues, the
benefits users get from our review process, the link to the "who uses
Boost" page(s) etc.

Regards,
m
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