In Bianca, the Firefox start page was linking to mintWifi and offline documentation. In Cassandra we introduced a flash animation with links to the main Mint sites. In Celena, the start page becomes online and for three purposes:
- It will help us have a better idea of our user base. We’ll count the number of Linux Mint users by keeping track of the number of distinct IP addresses hitting this start page. We’ll be able to know about the most popular screen resolutions, and the worldwide repartition of users in terms of locations and languages.
- It will generate an other source of income for Linux Mint. The start page will include a Google seach bar which will generate extra money for the project through the Adsense program.
- It will allow us to put content and have it reached by users from a central online point. The Wiki proved to be inefficient at raising awareness of new tools and storing tutorials. We will use this start page at the basic entry point for all tutorials, videos, and user-centric documentation about Linux Mint.
In the long run we’ll know more about our user base, our users will know more about their operating system, and we’ll even get money out of it. Everybody’s happy.