# A brand new discourse.org

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878>\
**Category:** Blog\
**Created:** [2017年四月12日 23:58 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878 "2017-04-12T23:58:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![tophee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/tophee/32/73406_2.png) [@tophee](https://meta.discourse.org/u/tophee)\
**Post date:** [2017年四月15日 22:25 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878/25 "2017-04-15T22:25:09Z")

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> [@jomaxro](#):
>
> we don’t want people forking Discourse!

I read “Fork us” as saying: you too can contribute, i.e. fork us and submit a PR. Plus, to say Fork us on Github also underlines the “we are 100% open source” point.

But, nevertheless, “Install Discourse yourself” makes more sense.

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**Author:** ![nicatronTg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/nicatrontg/32/103643_2.png) [@nicatronTg](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nicatronTg)\
**Post date:** [2017年四月18日 00:14 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878/26 "2017-04-18T00:14:32Z")

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> [@tophee](#):
>
> But, nevertheless, “Install Discourse yourself” makes more sense.

“Fork or install Discourse yourself” is an easy way to say that it’s possible both to contribute and to do a DIY install. It requires little to no effort to change that line on the homepage but does convey that it permits both collaboration or self installation.

As for forking, @jomaxro : That’s the primary way that open source projects get developed on GitHub, and even if forking isn’t desired, it’s the primary way that Things Happen™ in open source too. As an OSS maintainer, I’m very happy to have forks because it doesn’t let the main project grow stale or die off. It means that there’s always a desire to improve and match the codebase overtime. “Fork” implies that you “have the power” to start the project anew if you decide the leadership has gone against what you believe is the best direction.

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [2017年四月18日 00:28 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878/27 "2017-04-18T00:28:03Z")

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The home page had a slightly different layout originally, it said “Are you a developer?” as the heading there. I removed it to simplify the layout. So the idea wasn’t that you’d be an average user installing Discourse, you would be highly technical, a developer.

I’m not a huge fan of the “fork us” GitHub joke thing, so it could be changed:

> Discourse is 100% free, open source software. Forever.
> 
> Fork us on github

to

> Discourse is 100% free, open source software. Forever.
> 
> Install from GitHub

Audience is a bit different though, developers, it could cover both. The fork thing is a bit too clever-clever anyways.

Also note the buy page has the **what if none of these plans fit my budget** info right under it… plus info on the **educational** and **non-profit** discounts.

 ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/2/3/23024f2e84b31e6503621dfb77fbec3b35de74e4.png)

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**Author:** ![jomaxro](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jomaxro/32/126216_2.png) [@jomaxro](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jomaxro)\
**Post date:** [2017年四月18日 00:33 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878/28 "2017-04-18T00:33:14Z")

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So I’m all for supporting Jay and the amazing work he’s done, but shouldn’t there be an explicit mention there that you can install it for free (plus hosting costs) yourself?

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [2017年四月18日 00:33 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878/29 "2017-04-18T00:33:48Z")

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All I would do is link the words “100% free and open source” to `github/discourse/discourse` as usual. If people can’t find the install linked directly from that page.. geez.. should someone drive to their house and install it for them, or something? 😉

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**Author:** ![mpalmer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/mpalmer/32/45740_2.png) [@mpalmer](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mpalmer)\
**Post date:** [2017年四月18日 00:40 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878/30 "2017-04-18T00:40:40Z")

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Linking “100% free and open source software” to `github.com/discourse/discourse` makes sense. What about also making the second sentence read:

> You can [install it yourself](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/tree/master/docs/INSTALL-cloud.md) on your own server, or for a flat one-time fee of $99, a trusted member of the Discourse community can install Discourse in the cloud for you.

?

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**Author:** ![nicatronTg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/nicatrontg/32/103643_2.png) [@nicatronTg](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nicatronTg)\
**Post date:** [2017年四月18日 00:42 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878/31 "2017-04-18T00:42:15Z")

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@codinghorror I’m 100% with the change to “Install from GitHub” and linking to discourse/discourse. Requires minimal changes and accomplishes a lot (I think)?

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**Author:** ![pfaffman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/pfaffman/32/120154_2.png) [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)\
**Post date:** [2017年四月18日 15:39 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878/32 "2017-04-18T15:39:52Z")

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> [@jomaxro](#):
>
> I’m all for supporting Jay

Me too! 🙂 (And this month has had fewer installs than any since I started; glancing at the traffic stats, it appears to be a statistical anomaly).

> [@jomaxro](#):
>
> houldn’t there be an explicit mention there that you can install it for free

Maybe just add a link to INSTALL-cloud like this:

> [@](#):
>
> … and that this option is completely self-support after the initial install. [Click here to purchase a self-supported community install](https://www.literatecomputing.com/product/discourse-install/), or [click here to do it yourself](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/master/docs/INSTALL-cloud.md).

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**Author:** ![Lee\_Ars](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/lee_ars/32/1597_2.png) [@Lee\_Ars](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Lee_Ars)\
**Post date:** [2017年四月18日 19:21 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878/33 "2017-04-18T19:21:20Z")

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> [@codinghorror](#):
>
> So the idea wasn’t that you’d be an average user installing Discourse, you would be highly technical, a developer.

Point of order: i can’t code my way out of a wet paper bag and I’ve never been a developer at all in my entire life, but I am a pretty handy sysadmin—and that’s why I wanted to self-host. Not to hack on the code (I leave that to folks who can do it without curling into the fetal position, which is what I end up doing), but to have the pleasure of hosting a community my way and on a server I already pay for.

So, cloaking the download behind “Are you a developer?” is a little sideways, imo, just because developer != admin (and, much love to the devs I’ve worked with professionally, but most of them are sucktastically awful at anything resembling operations or security, at least as it applies to big-picture best practices in a multi-tenant, multi-application environment).

However, that being said, “Install from Github” is perfect. That avoids the “what if i’m not a developer but i want to self-host?” question.

**tl;dr:** the bikeshed should be purple

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**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/codinghorror/32/110067_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)\
**Post date:** [2017年四月21日 01:24 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878/34 "2017-04-21T01:24:42Z")

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Ok! The changes discussed above are in and deployed. Thanks for everyone’s feedback!

[上一頁](https://meta.discourse.org/t/a-brand-new-discourse-org/60878.md?page=1)
