• Someone to go over the text and critique/edit it. It feels a bit fluffy to me (and it probably is; this is just something I tossed together); we need to make ure the two-pager represents the whole project. If you see something that doesn't make sense, holler. On this page, hopefully!
• Someone with a bit more than my scribus-fu.
• I'd like to know what PDF readers the document looks bad in. I have attached pngs of the two pages for reference.
• You'll notice I have contact points through Skype, jabber, e-mail (does the info@ addy make sense?), and POTS. Does the skype and POTS make sense? If so, how? Any chance Greg can get Novell to allocate an extension to the project? IMO, having IM contact points is A Good Idea(tm); IM is non-committal and simple; might bring a few wavering souls over to the light side of the force.
• Free beer?

Key slogan

Please add below in bullets suggestions for the slogan at the top of the two-pager. Don't fret about getting it right; if you post a half-baked idea, it might inspire someone else to write a good one.

• Got hardware? Want Linux sales? Missing drivers? Budget matter? Out of excuses. We do it for you. FREE.
• Got hardware? Want Linux sales? Missing drivers? Budget matter? No matter. We do it for you. FREE.
• An offer you can't refuse.
• Open, Dependable, Free

BeDo suggests a much shorter one, assuming that it is targetting people selling hardware, and that budget is always a concern :

• Want Linux sales ? Missing Linux drivers ? We do it for you. FREE.

Text of two pager

Linux already has a commanding lead in enterprise systems, embedded systems, and has a growing share of user systems. Linux already supports more different devices than any other operating system ever has, and is well positioned to be an operating system that will last for a very long time.

The Linux Driver Development Project is an initiative to include support for the few devices not yet supported in Linux. It consists of a community of kernel developers that want to develop a driver for your device on Linux. This service is provided at no cost by the Linux kernel development community.

The Linux Driver Development Project was initiated by Greg Kroah-Hartman. Greg co-authored some of the canonical Linux kernel development references and is the current Linux kernel maintainer of the Linux USB, PCI, driver core, and sysfs subsystems. Greg stands at the head of a robust team of project managers, hundreds of directly involved developers, and thousands of kernel developers providing technical support.

Today, bringing transparent and optimal Linux support to your products is as easy as could be. Established to provide a transparent and no-overhead entry path into the Linux kernel, the Linux Driver Development Project can help you from the initial decision to seek device support to the finalized inclusion of complete and high-quality device drivers in the main Linux kernel distribution.

From kick-off to development

From the perspective of the hardware vendor, deciding that you want Linux support for your products is 90% of the work you need to do; the Linux driver development community does all of the heavy lifting.

The teams working on driver development literally have centuries of accumulated aggregate experience writing high quality and extensively peer reviewed Linux device drivers. By commissioning the Linux Driver Development Project to build drivers for your hardware, you are getting direct access to the people who made Linux and who made it the resounding success it is today.

Having signaled your requirement for Linux drivers, the Project will assign you developers and project management as needed. On the hardware vendor's side, your designated contact person provides what background information you have available such as device specifications and documentation for the internal workings - information sufficient for the development of fully functional device drivers. Team members working on your drivers can sign reasonable NDAs where this is necessary and compatible with the open nature of the drivers.

Test devices are often requested and are returned upon successful completion of testing. If you supply test devices, the Linux Driver Development Project obviates your need for an elaborate and expensive testing team. Armed with the device specifications and a person on the hardware vendor's side to address the occasional question about functionality, the Linux Driver Development Project takes charge of driver development, testing, and timely inclusion of your driver in the mainline Linux kernel.

The long-term commitment

After the driver is merged to the mainline kernel, the global kernel development community continues the support for your device. If your specs change, or if future hardware is developed in the same family of devices, you can make these available through the Linux Driver Development Project and let us manage the development and driver maintenance.

Maintaining a driver outside the Linux mainline kernel tree can be a significant expense. It also impedes the smooth deployment of your hardware in a Linux environment, and it makes it very difficult for users to properly access your hardware. Depending on the number and nature of the devices, the cost savings in driver development and maintenance alone can range from four to seven digits. The technical criteria for driver inclusion in the mainline kernel tree are significant; Linux's high and reliable performance has to be maintained. Therefore the Linux Driver Development Project team consists of core Linux kernel developers with high expertise.

It is no longer economically viable to omit Linux device driver support. The market today increasingly expects fluid device support on the open platform which is running a dominant portion of the world's most critical information infrastructure. As a value proposition, having such drivers developed free of charge is unbeatable and requires little or no deliberation.

Making it happen

Interested companies can contact the Linux Driver Development Project at the addresses provided below.

Once your company signals interest, the Linux Driver Development Project will assign resources who will pick up with the contact person on the company's side. While the Project employs a public website and mailing lists for overall communication, per-project work is done in a private manner until the Project team members commit their driver to the larger kernel community.

It bears saying again: there are no charges for this service. We won't even send you a bill for zero dollars. The Linux Driver Development Project occupies the fortunate position of serving you by correspondingly serving the open source community. Not all exchanges of value are measured in currency.

Two-pager design

Attached to this page is

• a pdf representing the latest (hopefully!) version of the two-pager
• A tarball containing the scribus source and employed images

Comments/flames/critique/ad hominem attacks/fawning adoration below here please

-- JosefAssad - 24 Oct 2007

PDF Reader Results:

• Evince:
  • 2.20.0 does not handle the alpha channel in the background image. The result is that Tux's black skin makes the text unreadable in certain parts.
• lddp-20071026-00.pdf: Two-pager pdf

• lddp-20071026-00-0.jpg:
  

• lddp-20071026-00-1.jpg: