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A Partial (new) Mission Statement Idea for DonationCoder?

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mouser:
leaving aside the homegrown software we make on this site (that can be subject of another post) -

it seems that a common thread here is trying to discover the best software/services/websites.
those are perform best, are most convenient to use, and also reputable, trustworthy, reliable, and worth supporting.

i notice in myself one of the things that bothers me most about the internet (and the world in general) is how much marketing and advertising seems to be *the* determining factor for success of a product/service.  I'm sure i can't be the only one troubled by such things.

so that the inferior product can get marketed into financial success and market dominance, while some great single-person or small company products can get completely overlooked.

so i was thinking,
maybe we should start thinking about one of the "missions" of this site (and especially this forum), being to cut through all of the marketing hype, and help each other and others find the best programs/webservices for their needs, bypassing the hype and marketing.

of course this is what we are pretty much already doing, and i have always tried to emphasize this idea w.r.t. reviews (i.e. try to help people choose the best programs) but maybe it helps to think about this as a real central mission.  so wherever there is a field or category of software/webservice where we feel marketing hype may be overshadowing a better service/software, we can try to bring some attention and clarity to the issue.

Let's make sure that if there are underdogs which might be better products and are getting lost in a blizzard of marketing for competing inferior produts, that we can help shed some light on stuff.

As always, we aren't zealots for free software or open source.  There are innate values in those kinds of software, but our primary concern should be: what is the best tool for the job.  If we can make a contribution to the internet by being a resource for discovering the best tools without regard to hype and marketing dollars, I think everyone will be the better for it.

Opinions?

Rover:
As always, we aren't zealots for free software or open source.  There are innate values in those kinds of software, but our primary concern should be: what is the best tool for the job.  If we can make a contribution to the internet by being a resource for discovering the best tools without regard to hype and marketing dollars, I think everyone will be the better for it.
-mouser (May 20, 2006, 08:59 AM)
--- End quote ---
I generally agree with the rest of the post, I just wanted to comment about the above quote.

I think a lot of DC folks have shown that we aren't just after freeware and/or open source; we're looking for the best tool to solve a particular problem.  I'm willing to shell out $$ for a really good solution and so are others. 

The only reason I want to emphasize this is so we don't get caught up in a freeware/open source only thought pattern.  Even if I do mention it a lot!   :P

I also think DC is already and should continue to grow as a valuable internet resource. 

Suggestion:  Can we have a mini-reviews page with links to all of the mini-review pages?  From the actual reviews have a link to the discussion for that review.  It'd be nice to have a discussion topic specifically attached to each review.  $0.02

app103:
I think you already know we are going to do that whether it's officially part of this site's mission or not.  :D

That is our nature...we are the helpful bunch that never sends people away with a box full of SOL if we can avoid it.

And we aren't afraid to say what we think about a particular software...good or bad.

I'll even tell you what is bad about my own software when it deserves it.  :-[

And I enjoy sharing my treasures I have found. Why should good software be a guarded secret?

You can count this digital packrat in. 

mouser:
Suggestion:  Can we have a mini-reviews page with links to all of the mini-review pages?  From the actual reviews have a link to the discussion for that review.  It'd be nice to have a discussion topic specifically attached to each review.  $0.02
--- End quote ---

this is being worked on at the moment - in terms of building a mini cms backend for dc which will allow us to have nicely organized sections of the website with minireviews and articles much more accessible and findable - and more clear links between articles/reviews and their discussion threads.

so we are on the same page.

this is also related to app's comment.  in that yes we are already doing this - now can we take it to the next level and make the site organized a little better to help people find the info they need.

Rover:
What can you say.... Great minds  ;D

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