Hi there, I’m jt15s, a new Haiku community member! I’ve been following the project for a few years now since I stumbled upon an article about Haiku.
Here’s a simple way to help promote Haiku-
Change the Deskbar logo from the blue leaf to the actual haiku logo. This way anytime someone posts a screenshot, the name of the OS is right there. Thats the way BeOS had it as well.
P.S. I’m willing to join the promo team if interested.
-Shaka
Agreed. One more reason we should change it - I think the ArsTechnica reviewer had a hard time figuring out how to open the Deskbar since he didn’t recognise the blue leaf. Most OSes have their logo as the button to open their launcher/start menu etc. since it’s the most recognisable symbol, and thus it would be good for Haiku to adopt this change to be more in line with other operating systems and to help new users.
Personally I disagree; I think the leaf is pretty classy as it is. We may, however, want to actually launch the Quick Tour pages on the first start, so that people read them and discover the Deskbar that way.
Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing after reading several posts speaking about discoverability of menu, repositories, usage, etc. Remember the way Be would present you with the welcome page in Netpositive upon first boot? Something like that would introduce Webpositive along with showing the QuickTour.
Artistically, I like the leaf too. But we lose an opportunity to promote the Haiku brand everytime someone posts a screenshot. (unless they use the default wallpaper and have no windows obstucting it in the screenshot…)
Jimmy
The Haiku logo in the deskbar just looks bad. The leaf is fine, and is also quiteeasily recognizable even if it doesn’t spell out the name.
And the OS has sufficient visual identity without having to put the logo there, really. People will notice that this is not Windows or MacOS and will ask about it if they are interested.
If anything I’d consider adding a text label that says “Menu” or something like that, because some people managed to not notice that this is a menu and commented to me that “it is very strange and unpractical that the only way to access applications is to right click on the desktop and find them somewhere in the disk hierarchy from there” (similar comments from at least 2 or 3 persons). I think using the full Haiku logo would only make things worse in that aspect.
Prolly not, as most people are used to clicking on OS logos to bring up system menus such as the Start Menu’s Windows logo and the Apple logo on macOS. The leaf is only part of the full Haiku logo, and a rather small component too. The full logo meanwhile is more immediately recognizable by comparison.
The icon is easy to change, so why not try out some variants and look for reactions
What about changeing the icon every week before beta3 and then decide again and open new discussion again?
Nice video and 31k views. This is the kind of thing we need to promote Haiku.
@jt15s, did you still continue to ask some youtubers if they can try Haiku ?
Yes, I have gathered a database of YouTube channels who have covered Haiku or who might be interested in doing a video on Haiku. However, I thought it was a bit pointless sending emails to channels a couple of months before Beta 3 is expected to release, so the plan is to wait until Beta 3 is released and then contact the YouTube channels.
Hi. I read the blog post: Hello from the Haiku Promotion ‘Team’!
I am quite interested in Haiku OS and I’ve been used Haiku R1/Beta 1 a couple of times.
I wonder I am able to contribute to promoting Haiku by editing videos.(I like editing videos and actually I made commercials of some companies. )
If you like, I am happy to join your Haiku Promotion Team.
Not sure if you have him down, but might I suggest you add the YouTuber “DJ Ware” to that list?
His following is pretty small, but he’s super knowledgeable and Haiku would be right up his alley. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is already very familiar with BeOS. I’m certain he would make an excellent video.
Hey there, thanks for the suggestion! I’ll have a look at his channel and I’ll add him to the database.