> Hey, we have been doing a bunch of PR and marketing lately in a bid to
> get a good push behind Etherpad Lite when we release version 1 in
> August.  If you haven't heard of Etherpad Lite then you need to read
> this.

> We have found that the best way to introduce people to Etherpad Lite
> is to give them a beta option, in PrimaryPad's case we are replacing
> public pads with Etherpad Lite.

> If you can write a blog post, a tweet, or even make some videos that
> go up to youtube that would be perfect.

> So why should you be interested in Etherpad Lite?
>    Cleaner/Slicker UI - easier to use
>    Less Code - easier to modify
>    Less resources required - less hardware barriers to adopt Etherpad
>    An API - easier to integrate Etherpad with other pieces of
> awesomeness

> All of the above and we kept 99% of the core functionality.

> See Etherpad lite here:  http://beta.etherpad.org
> Details including a link to download available here:  http://etherpad.org/get-involved/

> Note for people heavily invested in developing Etherpad:  I believe
> that Etherpad lite is the natural evolutionary path of Etherpad, it
> brings Etherpad to a larger audience and ergo we should find more
> developers and users getting involved.  I admit that we do lose some
> of the hard work we have put in other the last 2 years by taking this
> road and that does hurt and come at a cost, probably no more so than
> the cost to Primary Technology who have paid for the majority of the
> Etherpad Lite development.  I expect we will make some enemies/losing
> some friends by having two versions.  Any input/advice is appreciated,
> we need everyone's support to take Etherpad to the next level!

> Note for people working on pro democracy/humanitarian based projects:
> Etherpad has become the standard for many foreign countries going
> through times of conflict.  These countries tend not to trust western
> superpowers so often choose to host their own Collaborative editor to
> draft new laws and try to find a way to settle conflicts by using
> words other than weapons.  At the Etherpad foundation we want to
> support their struggle, we believe Etherpad Lite makes this way more
> possible as you can now run the Etherpad server on a mobile phone.  By
> running the server on a mobile phone with hotspot mode enabled you are
> able to get 4 or 5 people in a room or over the net working together
> to solve a problem without any dependency or influence on third
> parties.  This is also key for freedom organizations and/or parties
> don't represent the status quo/majority vote.  This is truly
> significant from a humanitarian stand point, it is difficult to stress
> our responsibility here, we shouldn't take it lightly.

> Cheers

> John McLear
> Etherpad - Our goal is to make collaborative editing the standard on
> the web.