Freshmeat II 147
linuxlover wrote in to note that Scoop has redesigned Freshmeat, so called Freshmeat II features a ridiculous number of new features, and a super clean design. Congrats scoop, and ignore the flamerz this time around. Those who can, create. Those who can't, bitch.
Don't follow that link (Score:2)
Lucky I could kill off all those sorry little pop up windows before it takes down the machine.
That'll learn me.
Nice job (Score:1)
Re:Clean Design - Like Kuro5hin's? (Score:1)
Anyone remember the first episode of "Sliders"? That was exactly the "alternate world" change they showed (well, that and Elvis still alive - oh, wait, somebody just told me he is
I believe the saying is... (Score:1)
Of course, there are plenty of those that bitch as well.
Re:anyone have a gif of the old fm look? (Score:1)
Anyways it would be great to see a reproduction of the just passed fm look if you can get to it, or to hear from you if you find a site that has a similiar look and feel.
This is really a pita as I just recently started imaging sites I had marked as having excellent or interesting designs; I discovered that at least half of them were already altered enough that I didn't care anymore. I had no idea fm was going to poof on me too.
I agree! (Score:1)
Suggstion: keep the old design/formatting an option for those who prefer it.
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Re:some (hopefully) constructive criticism (Score:1)
Anyway, since Freshmeat's 'new' commenting system totally screwed up my response and crashed netscape to this very same post, I repost the gist of it here:
On #2, I can't but agree enough -- I run a basic 1024 display (laptop), and the browser takes up 2/3 of the screen. That blue bar down the side kills my available realestate and should be removed to at least make the site usable again.
-te
Re:New FM look (Score:1)
How 'bout creating AND bitching? (Score:2)
And hey, that grey OSDN bar always makes me feel like some silly viewer plugin has been loaded...
And now Freshmeat. For years a very clean portal, a website where you would go if you wanted to sort out a few programs WITHOUT having to load all the accompanying trash as you would with e.g. linuxberg. Well, I can only say that I am glad they left the biggest part of that spirit intact (you really thought I was gonna brag about this, weren't ya?
So I guess this bitching makes me impotent at creating. But I don't feel that is really correct. OK, so I didn't do FM's new design, nor am I doing such stuff for daily work, granted, but being creative is a big part of my life.
(OTOH I perfectly understand the motivation for CmdrTaco to say what he said, and I also understand that it's almost impossible to say something in a Slashdot headline without getting critisized about it, but hey, he did almost take away my possibility to long back to the times before OSDN borgified every cool website around
It's... It's...
Source code (Score:1)
I get upset when all of these pro-open source sites don't release there own sites source code.
until (succeed) try { again(); }
Re:Yay, even more pre-pre-pre-alpha software! (Score:1)
If you're going to indicate that Linux software is crash-prone it sorts of doesn't look good to write crappy code that anyone can find flaws in...
Kind of puts you in a bad light...
Freshmeat announcements == downloads (Score:1)
I've had my LOMAC project on Freshmeat since June of 1999. I keep close track of LOMAC's FTP download logs, and they've shown me that nothing brings in the downloads like a release announcement on Freshmeat! Mailing list discussions, newsgroup posts, papers at conferences - none of these things seem to make a bump in the download rate. But every release announcements I've made on Freshmeat has immediately brought a nice sharp spike.
Thanks Freshmeat! You rule!
Re:Oh for the love of.... (Score:1)
I rarely read them myself, but it doesn't bother me to see them linked. In fact I'd like to see more articles specifically about software and software development linked from Freshmeat. Perhaps add a new category for them.
And IIRC, one of the new things with the new Freshmeat design is that if you register you're able to filter what's shown on the front page in much the same way as with Slashdot, so it shouldn't hinder those who aren't interested.
Ask Mr Horse! (Score:1)
Mr Horse: Hmmmm... Hmmmmm... No sir, I don't like it.
Another password... (Score:1)
I really despise this. I like personalization, but isn't there a better way?
Every now and then, my cookies get screwed up and then I have to consult a register of usernames and passwords to figure out how to log back in. This is insecure which ever way you look at it.
Why can't these cutting edge websites use something better. Couldn't you experiment with using digital certificates of some kind. Yes, at first it would be more work for you and for me, but in the long-term wouldn't that make more sense?
(PS - I am not trying to invite a discussion on the merits of PKI or X.509 certificates or the politics of encryption, I'm suggesting an alternative to me putting separate passwords into 100 different websites.)
Why couldn't Freshmeat and Slashdot share user information?
Does anyone else have some ideas to stop this insanity?
ok... no (Score:2)
you're obviously not much of a freshmeat reader because if you were, you wouldn't be against any of the constructive criticism (flame, huh?!) freshmeat's readers are providing.
you obviously just looked at the front page, said it was pretty, and went ahead and told the world that since they have a problem with it, it obviously means they're not an OSDN employee and therefore too dumb or something..
personally, i don't care what scoop did to freshmeat visually.. hell ive gotton used to navigating all kinds of websites in lynx over the years so that's not a problem. scoop also added many features, and asside from that and the fact that he's trying to turn freshmeat into a community portal, i really couldn't care less.
however, he did remove useful features, such as the lounge, which was really the only reason i chose freshmeat over any of the others all these years.. i was able to neglect checking up on updates for any amount of time i desired and come back to see everything i missed, and i never missed a software update. i might as well not have a registered account anymore since i am forced to browse updates as i always would have had to on the main page.
please scoop, add the lounge back, and taco, please dont assume everyone is a troll. even though you may be able to hate your users, scoop can't afford it
Re:Too much design, too feature laden. (Score:1)
you are obviously very ignorant of web design if that webpage, which is mostly text, is too "fancy" for you. chill out.
oh, your webpage is a wonderful model of accessibility and usability, by the way. blue links on black = reaaaaaaal readable. everyone should make crappy webpages with bad use of color (and HTML) like yours!
why the hell did this message get moderated up?
also, what if the purpose can change to become a better one?
finally, lynx sucks.
I'm not to keen of it yet (Score:1)
I think the search box was perfect where it was. It is a bit harder to read although it loads much faster than the previous version. Anouncements kind of run together with a single thin line parting them. You never realize how much the shading help till you scroll through the listings. Also the drop downs are kind of "lame". It is also a bit harder to read the search listings as well as program descriptions. I also think the sidebar should be an exact width rather than a percentage it kinda crowds the screen at larger resolutions with very little to offer.
K enough of what I don't like, what I do like.
I like the minimalistic aproach to bringing me the content I want. The page load a whole lot faster now. I like the color scheme the new buttons and the side bar login.
I think it is a great site and the redesign I think was needed it helps "keep it fresh" but I also think it needs a bit o tweeking cause it has some anoying areas introduced because of the change.
Anyway just my two cents.
Re:Font Size (Score:1)
Re:..and themes.org? (Score:1)
fm making money on ads? (Score:1)
i don't believe for a second that fm makes much money off those silly open source banner ads.
the real money comes from the t-shirts, speaking engagements, and happy meal tie-ins.
kellan
/. has a good design - "Light" mode (Score:2)
Not a table in sight, just the text, the whole text, and nothing but the text.
-Isaac
The backend (Score:1)
Most of the comments are about what's instantly visible, the layout so I won't comment on that anymore.
The new database backend is very interesting, IMHO. Applications are more clearly devided into categories and content can be custom-filtered.
The filter is very interesting: personally I'm not that interested in minor bugfixes, for example. There are just plain to many announcements on FM to glance over in a short time. On the old FM, I got bored after reading the 6th uninteresting announcement...
Now lets hope the project index will be updated by the maintainers soon, so it'll get filled with usefull information.
Re:OT - Your Sig (Score:2)
I think everybody agrees with that. Now, yes, we all know she's insane and hungry for power, but if you read the rest of the quote in that interview, she almost sounds reasonable, and she makes a few interesting points.
C'mon, people, if we want to argue about something, let's not resort to posting vaguely inflammatory out-of-context quotes.
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Re:Fix a site... (Score:1)
Better patent that business model before someone else does.
FM vs. SF (Score:2)
The problem with capped Karma is it only goes down...
i liked the original better (Score:1)
Re:some (hopefully) constructive criticism (Score:1)
Sweeeeeet! (Score:1)
Sweeeeeeet!
Duuuuuuuuude!
}
Re:Public busines. Public website. No difference. (Score:1)
That's crap. Even if we assume that it is right to require a private business to install ramps, a private business is not the same as a web page. I have a web page, I don't make any money off it, and I don't give a flying fart if someone blinder than me can't read it. I also don't have a ramp into my apartment; when my wheelchair-bound relative visits, he'll have to get hauled up the stairs. Life's tough, get over it.
-bluebomber
Clean Design - Like Kuro5hin's? (Score:3)
Great Stuff (Score:3)
Verdi - Verizon
Baby Blue - Big Blue
Freshmeat is going corporate! Watchout!
Porn Flick (Score:1)
I may have seen FreshMeat I, III, and IV but I seem to have missed II
Re:So when is /. going to get a decent design? (Score:1)
No kidding - if you make /. look like any of those sites, I'll have to hurl (once I'm done waiting for Netscape to load them, that is). One of those sites seemed to require Flash for every external link - talk about useless.
Oh wait, you weren't holding those up as cautionary examples? :)
Re:Too much design, too feature laden. (Score:1)
Yey Ebay
Irritated... (Score:1)
First of all, the wide white area at the top. Hum. What four?
The real big font's (using browser's default typo) waste a lot of space.
I'm missing the Old Appindex (i know it's still there). Why something completly new (Browse). It's not really useful yet and now i've walk through two different path's... gna.
Nope, i liked the old design more. Not much, just more.
But it's great to see that the basics of the CI are kept...
Re:Too much design, too feature laden. (Score:1)
When I go looking for software for my red hat install, I dont wanna just be opening a page and getting the results of an ls. Could just use sunsite or a public ftp server for that.
No, instead I want a yahoo like thing. So I type in "ICQ" in the search box, and up comes a list of instant messaging programs. I can click on each one, have a decent read about what it does, features, bugs, latest release, how it compates, and chose the relevant package for myself. Dagnabbit, I can even click a link to go to a homepage and see some screen shots if I want.
And then when I'm bored and feel like using up some of my precious
If I want software for my windows machine I know the first place I always go is Tucows, and thats because of the reviews and editorials they have on almost every product. I dont wanna spend an hour and a half on my dial-up to install something that is a lemon and will be blown away quicker than it installed.
--
Glenn
HEALTH WARNING:
Oh for the love of.... (Score:2)
The links surround a common theme, software. Some of it is free, some Free, some both, some neither. A discussion area is provided to discuss the software at the end of the link.
If you want an FTP site, use sunsite. For those of us who like some info before we spend the dload time, freashmeat is wonderful.
(BTW, great new look!)
Create? (Score:2)
Why dont you redisign slashdot! I wanna see you follow your words
No borders? (Score:1)
That would be "clean" like everyone likes it.
Who cares about readability. Lets make it clean.
Re:Yay, even more pre-pre-pre-alpha software! (Score:1)
#include
//I wonder if they'll include this one, which is just like all Linux programs known to man:
main()
{
printf("Segmentation Fault; Core Dumped.\n")
}
There, now are you happy? Thanks for helping me debug it!
Re:So when is /. going to get a decent design? (Score:2)
check the lo-fi version. (Score:1)
If you ask me, all of the green and black business is a bit much, and the BSD section looks crappy as all hell.
willis.
Re:Still buggy. (Score:1)
main() { int *a = 0; *a = 1; }
Re:fm making money on ads? (Score:1)
You really think their income comes from nick-nacks and going on tour?
Haha (Score:2)
That explains so much. Is that why you're constantly ragging on stupid issues, CmdrTaco? :)
That was supposed to be "Critic not = Flamer" (Score:1)
Time to fire up the CVS! (Score:2)
pfft.
he's onto it (Score:1)
http://dev.topmedia.de/ [topmedia.de]
Let's hope he gets the lounge restored in some form too!
Re:OT - Your Sig (Score:1)
Now I have to go find a new sig.
Re:Oh for the love of.... (Score:1)
Yes, original black Freshmeat theme was best. (Score:1)
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Very nice... (Score:4)
But the site is much improved, regardless. I could wish Slashcode would do the same with its standards support (a run through Tidy corrected some 450 errors, generated CSS that even Netscape interpreted beautifully, and the only change made in the layout was the indentation on the lists in Slashboxes, again easily changed in the CSS).
However, all the same, keep up the good work! The sites are looking better all the time, and the functionality is improving too. And for the record, I was one of the (apparently few) people who liked the old layout and wrote in a letter of support. But I like this layout too.
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Re:some (hopefully) constructive criticism (Score:1)
My biggest peeve is the left hand blue bar... its a bit much, especially at anything above 1024 pixels wide, since its a 20% width scaling cell. Maybe if the width of that column were fixed, or the login box was just a small floating blue box it would help out.
Maybe some very light horizontal rules between news items would help too, such as
<hr size=1 color="#C0C0C0">
Again, just some constructive criticism. Great job overall.
The customer is always right! (Score:2)
Companies (monopolies are the exception here) have always kissed the customer's ass and held high the mantra, "The customer is always right". This is the way it should be, because they exist to serve us.
Yet from Cmdrtaco's, Scoop's, and thousands of other "non-profit" websites, non-profit (non-advertisement, such as #efnet radio) internet radio streams and non-profit free software projects' perspectives, the customer is an annoyance that can just go away. They shout, "Go jump in a lake, we don't need you anyways", and these sites really don't. Gone is the respect for customers and their opinions.
And yes we are customers. The day you placed that advertisement banner on your site you became a business, with customers paying with their time and attention.
Well I'm sick of the attitude and disrespect I am given. This is one reader who won't load up freshmeat.net nor slashdot.org on a daily basis any longer. Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."
bitching wont stop... I hope scoop doesnt either (Score:3)
Just like Someone yesterday asked "Can linus kill linux"? The answer is Yes... but do you anyone would kill his own baby/creation ? NO
If someone does something to his own creation/baby, its because it means a great deal to him/her.
So comming back to this issue of Freshmeat, I think people should appretiate what scoop is doing rather than bitch about the changes. He is here to make your life easy not to give you reasons to bitch. If you can't handle it, just get the hell out of here. This is the Internet. Changes are supposed to happen. You would be in a stone age if it was not for some freeks who designed the first stone Tool
So grab a mug of coffee (or milk if u want) and enjoy the new look... and if you don't like it, dont even bother to logon the net. You are ancient.
Re:Clean Design - Like Kuro5hin's? (Score:1)
the submissions run together and font size is hard coded at too big of a font
what's with the ][ next to each submission? why not a topic oriented icon like
the blue column on the left autoadjusts to 5x the needed width when you try to make the browser wide enough to accommodate the too-large text.
the col on the right is crunched and has way too large text.
Even if this could all be changed with options, it's a poor choice for initial settings. All in all it seems rushed by a couple weeks. Of course who's to say that's not the reason it's being publicly updated now ( to iron out the bugs ), but it will definitely affect the user base.
Re:Too much design, too feature laden. (Score:1)
Complaining about a free service. sheesh!
Ironically... (Score:2)
I'll have to play with the site a bit and see if I like the new layout or not.
Re:Too much design, too feature laden. (Score:1)
I think that they provide a fantastic service, at no cost to me. If they can do that, and make a buck or two in the bargain, more power to them. If you don't like it, build your own. They give you the bloody source code...
Freshmeat vs. Sourceforge, boxes on FMII (Score:2)
If you're as annoyed as I am about those little drop-boxes for links, don't worry. They're going to remove them soon.
Considering that, my only caveat is the removal of the urgency info - it's been replaced by a "Focus of Release" thing. It's a nice addition, but I still would like the urgency tag - makes sifting through the stuff easier...
The problem with capped Karma is it only goes down...
Not to be one of the bitchers but... (Score:1)
--
I don't like it. (Score:1)
Re:No, really, it sucks (Score:1)
/me goes back to nntp
Re:Yep, if it doesn't work under lynx, it's broken (Score:1)
A couple of companies I am familiar have been faced with ADA lawsuits.
One was sued back in 93-94 because their product, a hypertext based work-flow system for Sun, wasn't able to be operated via a screen reader or using a voice teletype. Some of the dynamic data was expressed only as an image, and no 'convert to text' option existed in the official 'release' version. What happened? Judge tossed it out on the grounds that other third party helper applications were available that did do the job. Subsequently they released a version that was managable through pure text, although for the purpose it could be wrapped or scripted.
The other ran a pre-buzzword b2b out of Chicago, finally went out of biz back in early 98. Traded grey-market components for Big Iron. Anyway, they used to publish a fancy-schmancy delay inventory to the web manually. Readers barfed. Someone bitched to the DOJ, DOJ shared the complaint, they told the DOJ to get stuffed, the information is available over the phone too. DOJ filed, counsel called the DOJ and one again told them to get stuffed, the information was available over the phone too. It finally sunk in, and the DOJ dropped it without further request.
[soapbox]
So fscking what, you can't browse the Sony website? You can't browse the Sony brochures either. Wanna learn about the new Sony recievers? Do what you did before the internet, get your ass out to the news stand and spend four bucks on a Braille copy of Consumer Reports. Or pick up the damn phone, call Sony and ask to speak with a product drone. Shockwave.com impossible with your reader? WTF are you doing at shockwave.com anyway? They call it GRAPHICS for a reason. Oh no, Big Bad AOL doesn't work with your reader? Sign up with fucking Compuserve. AOL owns them, they use all the same dialups, and they do work. Boo hoo, the world makes it tough for you, not all of the software products or web pages work on my reader. Well, fucknut, they don't all run on my SGI workstation either, nor render well in my three year old copy of Lynx, and I don't expect them to either. Being blind is no worse than being ugly and trust me, I'm familiar with ugly. I'm not screaming at the mother every time some small child points at me in Kmart and says 'Look at the ugly man in the '1337 h4x0r'' shirt, or running tio the DOJ every time some bitch ass personnel director refuses me a job because I look like I just got hit with a running lawnmower.
Life sucks, get a helmet.
[/soapbox]
3v1l_b0r1s at d4rkr0ck d0t c0 d0t uk
Re:Very nice... (Score:1)
--
Peace,
Lord Omlette
ICQ# 77863057
Re:bitching wont stop... I hope scoop doesnt eithe (Score:1)
I'm guessing you meant to say 'do you know anyone' and yes, I do. Me! I've aborted tons of projects just short of completion because I couldn't handle how crappily it had turned out compared to my vision of it. It's always painful. I'm always upset with the way it just didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. And then there are people who both criticize me and encourage me. The critics can go fuck themselves, if they want it, they can build it them-fucking-selves. The supporters suck, they want it, but they don't understand why I can't let them have it!
What's more painful than a child that doesn't live up to expectations because the parent was incompetent? I can see Linus going through extreme pains to kill his baby if he felt hurt enough to do it...
If scoop can't handle the criticism, he should go ahead and put it out of his misery. Why get hurt by people who can't appreciate your efforts?
--
Peace,
Lord Omlette
ICQ# 77863057
Re:My Opinion (Score:1)
Why the wasted space on the left?? (I know that I often start off with a "3 paned design" and spend a good deal of time deciding what to do with the 2 "slim" panes...)
Say hello to CSS and goodbye to cross platform consistency. Give this man a cigar. I guess I will have to throw in a few more sticks of RAM and that extra PIII 900 I have over in the corner and give Mozilla another go....(After all it is the most standards complient (C) browser around is it not?)
Re:Sorry, troll post (Score:2)
If you just use freshmeat/sourceforge as sites to leech software, sure you'll probably like freshmeat more than sourceforge.
But if you develop software then there is no comparison. Sourceforge has bug tracking, patch managers, technical support, CVS archives, maillist admins, maillist archives, etc, etc.
I like Freshmeat too. I use it for finding the odd piece of software when it is not in Debian. But there's no comparison to Sourceforge for code development in an online working group.
Sourceforge is easily the best online project managing software I've ever used. It balances neatly between open-source requirements (public mailing lists, constant availability of source) and private requirements for developers (private areas, admin areas, shell accounts, etc).
PS: I use sourceforge every day.
Re:Too much design, too feature laden. (Score:1)
Re:Too much design, too feature laden. (Score:1)
And what the hell does
"also, what if the purpose can change to become a better one?" mean?
Re:Font Size (Score:1)
Netscape's default fonts for Linux are about 1/2 the size of those in any other browser, so that probably explains why they look fine to you.
New design = DEATH for me (Score:1)
You've just made my character get slaughtered [home.net] on Unweb [gamebasement.com]
And I used to beat up on Freshmeat all of the time. sigh.
Re:Oh for the love of.... (Score:2)
Re:So when is /. going to get a decent design? (Score:1)
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Re:Font Size (Score:1)
___
Nostalgic for the freshmeat of the mid nineties (Score:2)
Ah, for the good old days.
Kudos to Scoop! (Score:1)
Re:Clean Design - Like Kuro5hin's? (Score:5)
I don't like the new design. And it's not just the selection boxes.
The first time freshmeat was redesigned, there was a long "WTF?!" moment caused both by the unfamiliarity and by the way some things were in places that just didn't make sense.
But over all, it was clear that a lot of time and effort went into the visual design, and it worked out quite well once the functional problems were fixed. Even if it did take forever to render all those boxes.
This time, I can understand why he got rid of the boxes, but he seems to have forgotten what they were for. The last time it was re-worked, it was easier to browse than the original layout. This time, it's harder to browse than the original layout.
And for some very specific reasons.
The boxes were good because they visually grouped everything belonging to a particular item. There is no longer a visual grouping.
Try this - grab the scroll bar with your mouse, close your eyes, scroll up and down a few times until you're sure you're not where you used to be in the page, then glance at the page for a fraction of a second and close your eyes again - Can you remember how many items there were on the screen? Probably not. With the old design, you could have, because the boxes made it very clear, without having to pay attention to detail and repetition of a pattern, what belonged to what.
The black text in the titles right above the light blue text in the by-line is a big mistake. The blue text is more eye-catching, and takes your attention away from the important information: the project you were looking for.
The blue bar on the side is superfluous, but that's just a matter of personal preference.
The selection boxes are inexcusable, even if he's already apologized and promised to take them away. If you add more clicks to a process than there were before, you will invariably annoy your users. This should have been totally obvious, but clearly it wasn't.
The grey bar on the right isn't differentiated enough from the center, which makes the page harder to read. The text is far too close together, it's distracting.
It can be fixed. I understand that the big deal was the back-end. But I *really hope the front end does get fixed.
I wanted to like the design but... (Score:2)
But you know what? I'm not that bent over it. I'm not going to flame anyone over it. I'll probably still occasionally search FM when I need some software info and that'll be that.
I do wish scoop didn't make the pages fixed width though... that's such a PITA
Re:Too much design, too feature laden. (Score:2)
Real men use telnet: It comes with everything, it's super lightweight, and I don't get all those stupid graphics and ads.. Sure, it takes some getting used to with having to parse HTML in your head, in real time, but it really does make browsing much better.
I like my /.! (Score:2)
The problem with capped Karma is it only goes down...
..and themes.org? (Score:2)
It's an extreme case of featuritis run amok. I used to check the WindowMaker page almost daily and I contributed a bunch of themes. I've basically given up on the site because I find it impossible to browse comfortably.
some (hopefully) constructive criticism (Score:5)
1. the whole page is a table (minus the ad of course) this is very very noticeable slow, and unpleasant.
2. the blue bar on the left runs down the entire page, significantly impacting the amount of space to display content. and yet it adds VERY little to the page, just a few links, and a search box near the very top of the page. this is very poor use of space.
3. the gray bar on the right is hard to read, not hard to read if i sit there and look at it, but hard to read if i'm trying to skim a list of 100 newly added applications in 30 seconds, which is, in truth, what people do.
4. information is not clearly divided. its hard to visually breakup the new entries in the center column the yellow circle is supposed to help i assume (as it doesn't add any other functionality and is repeated over and over and over) and yet it also fails to convey any info. (its a meaningless icon)
5. similar problems in the right hand bar, no clear separation of days, if i'm scrolling down the page, Monday blurs into Sunday blurs into Saturday.
6. Some people have pointed out the similarity with k5. K5's interface is overwhelming, but I was willing to deal w/ that, adjust, spend the time learning it, because there is an amazing amount of interaction going on at k5. this is not the case w/ freshmeat. I know its fun to work on community features, but I really don't see how they improve freshmeat all that much. (Especially if they come at the expense of the old feature set was immensely popular)
7. doing another quick once other or the site, i can't emphasize enough how hard that center column is to use. what was wrong w/ the old boxes? they were cool and usable! ditto in the actual project detail, all the information because a jumbled mess. (and that damn meaningless icon shows up again)
8. don't do it. do we need another community site? if you want to work on a community site, work on the bender code, or scoop, or squishdot. instant messaging in scoop would be an awesome addition, especially if it could optionally get logged somewhere like your diary. that way we could take a lot of the more vitriol debates "offline".
9. i'm going to take a leap of faith and assume that when i click on the totally uninformative "Step 2" button, I'll be brought to a page where I can preview this comment?
thanks, kellan
Efficient, clean, easy on the eyes (Score:2)
Sorry, troll post (Score:2)
Freshmeat > Sourceforge.
Sorry Andover / VA Linux, Sourceforge is too slow. I like Freshmeat
Re:Sorry, troll post (Score:2)
No, really, it sucks (Score:2)
Flamerz? Why? (Score:2)
I'll never forget the first time I used freshmeat, it took me a good month to work out how to simply just browse for something without doing a search first, because off the way "appindex" was written without any spacing I was reading it as part of the human anatomy and not an "Application Index".
My only criticism would be to switch the login and menu/news things to the opposite side of the screen. Having been a web developer for over 6 years now and having to put up with corporates doing usuability testing which often kills a damn sexy looking site (heheh, nobody wants to use it! They just want it to look cool!!), navigation and the like should be left based as it is where the human eye is naturally used to moving for index/content topics. And all those usuability testers would love those "hot links" that you permanently have across the top of the site for easy jumping to sections.
Good work
--
Glenn
HEALTH WARNING:
If it ain't broke..... (Score:2)
Why did they change it?
It'd be pointless just posting and saying 'hey, the design sucks', but it does....kinda.
Design is a very subjective thing, and I'm sure Scoop is happy with the new Freshmeat, but I think (and judging by the number of comments just here, I think I'm right) there'll be another change again soon.
Constructive Criticism:
Fonts are too big.
New logo - uugh...what was wrong with the old one?
Blue bar down left side - uses a _lot_ of space for very little gain.
Search facility seems to be b0rken at the moment - I'll put that down to
Underline mouseover on links - nice touch, but poor choice of colours - you can't tell what is and is not a link, until you hover over - this is especially evident on the grey bar on the right hand side.
IMHO, bring back the old page.
--
jambo
system.admin.without.a.clue
Re:Yep, if it doesn't work under lynx, it's broken (Score:2)
So far as telecom in general goes, the ADA only applies to common carriers, such as your ISP and telco. (This was the basis for the suit against AOL).
Perhaps you are confusing it with Section 508 of the Workforce Investment Act, which does mandate that all web pages have to be accessable to the blind, but which only applies to the Federal government.
Too much design, too feature laden. (Score:2)
Freshmeat are becoming another yahoo, and losing site of their central purpose. The problem is, that the linux community revolves around a few sites such as freshmeat and /., and these sites appear to be losing thier identity. Identity is important - it defines who we are as a community. But I fear that the Linux cummunity will lose out and the whims of the marketing department at Andover.net will win again. Its a damn shame.
You know exactly what to do-
Your kiss, your fingers on my thigh-
So when is /. going to get a decent design? (Score:4)
Nothing personal, but as much as I'm sure that /. looked revolutionary back when it was first designed, it now manages to look clunky and outdated compared to modern sites like kuro5hin. There's just too much in the way of solid blocks of particularly tasteless colours, and the HTML needs to lose the way that everything sits within a single table, making the page so slow to load...
Come on Taco, when you change /. over to Bender are we going to see a site redesign to make it cleaner and more modern looking? It's a real change to give /. a much needed overhaul...
They're shutting down! (Score:2)
Mmm (Score:3)
Great journalistic stance. We all know that Freshmeat ][ have no relation with slashdot. And sure, the announcment is not to be discussed. So what ? Is this only an ad for another Valinux site ? And you tell your readership to shut up ?
Second, freshmeat.net produced a FUD/flamebait article on mozilla a couple of days ago. 100 post discussed it to various length. In freshmeat ][, the article is still there, but the comments have disapeared. Great respect of readership there too.
Cheers,
--fred
Re:So when is /. going to get a decent design? (Score:2)
Not to say the current design looks bad....they never do while they're in place. But its definitely true that the design could use a nice (if subtle) overhaul.
It's really interesting when you look at older designs/designed pages from 96-97 and compare them to now....very noticable. Even nostalgic. But I would hate to feel that way about
Oh well...whatever happens, I'll probably still read the site.
-Julius X
Newsserver gone? (Score:2)
Ugh (Score:2)
Re:Clean Design - Like Kuro5hin's? (Score:2)
FreshMeat II : Electric Boogaloo (Score:2)
Remember the last time changes were made to FM? You'd have thought that Scoop had blasphemed Allah while in Iran, the way that people reacted so harshly. Well, to those of you that don't appreciate the hard work, and spiffy new features, get bent!
Well done, nice job, pip pip cheerio.