Re: website: say what Guix is at the very top

[Pjotr Prins]

On Mon, Jan 29, 2018 at 11:20:17PM +0100, Ricardo Wurmus wrote:
> However, I think that this is tangential to the question of whether to
> move the GuixSD description and intro to a separate page.  If we added
> those sections they’d be only about Guix, not about GuixSD, no?

I am convinced that Guix packages are way more important than GuixSD
when it comes to numbers and pleasure. At least in the medium term.

Take a cue from Nix and NixOS.

Guix users can be millions in the coming 5-10 years. GuixSD users will
be in the tens of thousands.

I am not saying GuixSD is not important. For one, GuixSD feeds into
Guix. More importantly it is the libre Linux OS of choice and soon
Hurd. So it deserves its place and is massively important.

But when it comes to the *message* and target audience and numbers, I
think we should target millions on the main GNU Guix website and have
a separate place for GuixSD. The latter truely has to grow by merit
and will be picked up by people looking for libre. No one is going to
install GuixSD by 'chance' even though it is the coolest thing!

We should make Guix the experience with the lowest threshold, the
lowest barrier to entry and the website should take the audiences by
the hand. That is, if we want to get as many people on board as we
can. The fewer steps, the fewer complications, the more likely it is
going to be a true hit. At this point, I consider it our main
challenge. Guix should be easier than Debian packages, Conda and
Easybuild. GNU Guix is very close to becomig a winner for libre
software. We all need it. But people need to understand what they are
missing out on.

Pj.