From: Curt Hibbs <curt@...>
Date: 2005-01-21T08:26:49+09:00
Subject: Re: Best ways to accelerate Ruby's popularity

James Britt wrote:
>
>
> I understand the value of branding, and how a common "look" can (often)
> reduce confusion.  But any look can be outright copied, so simply having
> a logo or banner means little.
>
> Trust tends to come from a network effect.  If I determine one site to
> be trustworthy (say, ruby-lang.org), and it links to another site
> (rubyforge.org), I can infer that that other site is probably worthwhile.
>
> That says far more to me than any logo or banner.
>
> I don't see any shortcuts for people to figure out what sites are
> reliable sources and which aren't. A stamp of approval won't do it.

I can't quite figure out where you stand from these comments.

I think that despite the fact that a common "look" would not solve the
problem determining a site's reliability, it *will* (as you said) reduce
confusion. For me, this is a big issue and should be done.

Improving the reliability, content, and organization of various sites is
also important and should be done.

I see these are mutually beneficial, parallel efforts.

Curt