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On 28/11/13 05:48, Ben Bucksch wrote:<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:5296225D.1040007@beonex.com" type="cite">Dave
Koelmeyer wrote, On 27.11.2013 15:30:
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">[there's no] way to deliver a pop-up
notification to solicit donations in any way that is tasteful
and non-intrusive. ... If you want to lose enterprise users,
then putting a pop-up in their face is one sure-fire way to do
it.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Agreed. The proposal wasn't a popup, but a button on the home
screen, or an additional tab. It's not something you have to click
away, just something that sits there and occupies screen real
estate and eyeballs. For some, even that might be too much. How
would you feel about that, in an enterprise context?
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
No differently really. I would still hope that other methods of
soliciting donations outside of the app would be explored first. I
am not doing any of the heavy lifting in terms of coding, so this is
purely my opinion mixed with experience of having to deploy and
support software in a very large enterprise environment.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:5296225D.1040007@beonex.com" type="cite">
<blockquote type="cite">On that note it's clear that the social
media channels for Thunderbird continue to be massively
underexploited in this regard. I can appreciate the reasons for
these languishing, but followers for example on TB's Facebook
page continue to climb (not fall) even in the absence of any
real activity. Putting out the occasional call for donations
here (amongst fresh news articles and tips etc.) is just a
no-brainer. It's now been a month since any new activity was
posted to FB (and close to a full year before that) - so I'd
like to see what can be done here before introducing donation
links into the app.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
That's a great idea!
<br>
<br>
And, post some news there, showing activity.
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Great - I'm glad to hear your support here. I have contacted Mark
Banner to see if I can be granted permission to help manage the
Thunderbird social networks channels, initially just posting fresh
news, clearing up spam and directing folks to the support forums. <br>
<br>
Really flattering articles such as
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/79344.html">http://www.macnewsworld.com/story/79344.html</a> continue to be missed
on the social networks which is just a huge shame. For example,
Apple stuffing up Gmail support in Mavericks Mail.app was a
marketing angle straight from heaven to be exploited by Mozilla, but
there was no offical mention of this on Facebook <i>et al</i>. <br>
<br>
Quite frankly, I'm champing at the bit to help kickstart things
here.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:5296225D.1040007@beonex.com" type="cite">
<blockquote type="cite">I see rather a few recent articles of
large migrations to open source productivity suites specifically
mention Thunderbird (e.g.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/osor/news/french-interior-ministry-open-source-5-10-times-cheaper">https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/osor/news/french-interior-ministry-open-source-5-10-times-cheaper</a>).
Given that these organisations have spent so much effort
switching, and claim to have saved thousands in the process,
then surely it would be worth reaching out to them to see what
financial or other contributions they can make back to
Thunderbird to keep the project alive and open - and therefore
continue to future proof their investment in moving off
proprietary systems.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
That's a tough sell. Esp. given that they move away to save money,
they're not happy to spend it. Once it works and is accepted in
the enterprise, the willingness to spend money goes to near zero.
The only moment to pitch them is *before* they roll out, when they
make their financial planning and schedule for the entire
migration.</blockquote>
<br>
Tough perhaps, but I don't see this as insurmountable and it's
surely worth an enquiry. <br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:5296225D.1040007@beonex.com" type="cite">
<blockquote type="cite">Also, (and this is total pie in the sky),
would it not be worth considering a potential arrangement with
The Document Foundation? ... LibreOffice
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Yes. In fact, if (!) we were to separate from Mozilla, this would
be the best way to go: Either use the "The Document Foundation"
legal entity, or make a new one copying their structure. The
latter is easily done, and I could assist with it and make the
contacts. In fact, I know the very lawyer who set "The Document
Foundation" up. I'm sure he'd help us, too.
<br>
<br>
I'm not saying we should do that. I'm just saying it's one option.</blockquote>
<br>
Yes, ditto :)<br>
<br>
Cheers, <br>
Dave<br>
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