Eclipse Member Distro Downloads Program

Goals of this Program

This program has two main goals:

  1. Make the ecosystem around Eclipse more visible to those who are downloading Eclipse.
  2. Improve the first user experience with Eclipse - a better solution than downloading many different files to get the Eclipse installation they need.

This program is about encouraging Eclipse Member companies to interact with the Eclipse user base by offering downloads of projects that are part of the Eclipse project release trains. Organizations can also offer additional downloads including other OSS projects and commercial software.

Details

  1. The eclipse.org download page will have a section devoted to downloading Eclipse based distros from participating Eclipse Foundation members.
  2. Each member company/distro entry on the page will link to a page on that member company's website with the Eclipse related distro. (In other words, the member company Eclipse distros will NOT be hosted at eclipse.org)
Note that the order of the participating organizations is random, and weighted by the amount of bandwidth pledged.

Criteria

To provide a link on the download page a member must:

  • Be an Eclipse member company
  • Provide at least 10 Mbits of bandwidth for Eclipse downloads
  • Provide a 64x64 logo.
  • Provide not more than 100 character description of the distro (such as sever location, target audiences, etc)
  • Offer the Eclipse projects to be download without forcing a registration< of any kind/li>
  • Offer a clear "Download" from the landing page without forcing site navigation to find it
  • If the member is also offering Eclipse code downloads, there must be a clear deliniation between what is an Eclipse project download and what is specific to the member.
    • Good examples:
      • Member provides an All-in-one zip of Eclipse projects
      • Member provides an All-in-one zip of a useful subset of the Eclipse projects (similar to the all-in-one zip that WTP provides)
      • Member provides an Installshield or similar installer that provides options to install Eclipse projects
      • Member provides an Installer that provides options to install Eclipse projects and options to install Company X's for-pay projects - good as long as the Eclipse projects can be selected without paying for the other projects (similar to the Yoxos installer or Actuate BIRT)
    • Bad examples:
      • Member requires clicking through pages of marketing to get to Eclipse download
      • Member obscures download link and tricks people to download member application
      • Member forces registration of email address or other personal information
      • Member provides installer that offers only commercial projects even when those projects embedded Eclipse projects
The spirit of this effort is that members can and should promote their company, brand, products, services and involvement in the Eclipse Ecosystem, and they should do this clearly on the landing page! However, the spirit is also that, in the true nature of open source, personal information be gathered in a opt-in only basis and not through any trickery or hassle.

Ordering Of The List

Members will be listed based on random selection methods based on the amount of bandwidth provided. For example, the weights will be by download bandwidth thus company A providing twice the bandwidth of company B will appear higher on the download page twice as often. As there are more participants than space available on the main eclipse.org download page, each download page view will contain a random set (likely 3) distros, with a link to a distros page that will contain all participants.

Isn't this just a "Mirror"?

No. Eclipse has many mirrors, but mirrors merely donate bandwidth. The user only interacts with the eclipse.org website even though the download ultimately comes from donated bandwidth. This proposal is an opportunity to have someone voluntarily visit a landing page on your website to download Eclipse projects. Some visitors may simply be there for a fast download pipe, but visitors will have had to explicitly choose to "download from member sites" and then explicitly choose your company link. Seems like a great opportunity to further promote yourself! Wording of the link on the eclipse.org download page will make every attempt to direct people who 'just want the download damnit' to the eclipse.org and mirror infrastructure. This project is aimed to promote the ecosystem to those who are interested!

How do I get the Eclipse Project Bits and keep them updated?

To get the Callisto bits and keep the up to date, you will use the same tool as the mirrors - RSYNC. You will need to tell us (see mirror information page below) what the internet-Facing IP address of your RSYNC client is, so we can allow you to RSYNC from eclipse.org. The IT staff of the member companies can look here for more details on being an Eclipse mirror. You do not need to fill out the form at the mir_request page (just email us the IP you will RSYNC from), but should observe other mirror instructions.

How many clicks can we expect?

Current participants are reporting between 10-20k clicks per month coming from Eclipse.org directly. Some members have noted that by having a link from Eclipse.org, their hits from search engines has increased dramatically also.

How do I sign up?!

Send and email to membership@eclipse.org. Be sure to Include the following information: Company Name, Contact Name, Email and Phone Number. If possible, also include the amount of bandwidth you plan to allocate, which of the projects you would plan to host (or All), a 100 character description you would place on the link and a 64px X 64px graphic to use.