I just found your project as a result of a similar posting on our open source software’s Discourse forum. (The @thomwithoutanh posting about a survey about improving Weblate for open source projects.)
Perhaps this thread could start a discussion which writes a Mission Statement that is clear memorable… but is not a heavy-handed marketing “sell” or hype.
It took too much drilling-down to discover what Tryton is about. Could you put something on your home page and the “Welcome to Discourse” posting for new visitors. Am I correct that it essentially can be summarized as “a comprehensive integrated suite of business administration software from the open source software community”? You don’t have a single-sentence mission statement that is written for the ESOL audience?
Perplexity.ai noted that the following “TRYTON is business software, ideal for companies of any size, easy to use, complete and 100% Open Source.” appears verbatim twice on tryton.org (once in large type, once below), followed by “All you need to run your business.” It functions as their de facto tagline, emphasizing purpose (complete business software) and open-source nature without being a verbose mission statement.
The “Tryton Foundation” page states its aims more broadly (and badly) using an unexplained name as a definition for the term being defined:
**“It aims to protect, promote and develop Tryton as Free Software.”**
Maybe the “Welcome to Discourse” page is a bit terse (but it is expected that people going to a forum usually already know what the forum is about) but I think that the home page is quite explicit.
What is ESOL audience ?
It is the mission statement of the foundation.
What kind of wording would you expect?
Rather than the weak “It aims to protect, promote and develop Tryton as Free Software.”
Perhaps: “The mission of the Tryton Foundation is to protect, promote, and develop Tryton to be the most complete integrated business suite, driven by the openness and collaboration of Free Software.”
And possible taglines should (tersely) place emphasis on business empowerment and scalability. Making the message far more compelling to real-world users. The idea is that Tryton and its Free Software nature give companies freedom to grow smarter, not just spend less.
Here are a few tagline options reflecting that business‑value focus:
“Powering business growth with open innovation.”
“Freedom to build, run, and grow your business.”
“From startup to enterprise—Tryton grows with you.”
“Open software that lets businesses invest in success, not licenses.”
“Sustaining business growth through freedom and collaboration.”
Do the Tryton Foundation ‘statutes’ have something explicitly presented as a Mission Statement? I did not find anything other than the re-iterated sentence.
And the suggestion above does NOTHING to change the goal in that sentence. It merely describes what “Tryton” is … so the reader does not need to work as hard to find that information.
which writes a Mission Statement that is clear memorable
Why would such a mission statement be necessary? Anf if so, why is “Tryton is business software, ideal for companies of any size, easy to use, complete and 100% Open Source” not okay for you?
“Powering business growth with open innovation.”
“Freedom to build, run, and grow your business.”
“From startup to enterprise—Tryton grows with you.”
“Open software that lets businesses invest in success, not licenses.”
“Sustaining business growth through freedom and collaboration.”
These are no mission statements, but marketing blurb. Sorry to say.
The separate items (mission statement and taglines) are only connected by suffering from different aspects the same clarity of messaging problem.
Tryton Foundation Mission Statement being discussed: **“It aims to protect, promote and develop Tryton as Free Software.”**
The mission statement portion for the Tryton Foundation suffers from “Brand-name orphaning”. The reader must already know what Tryton software does to understand the mission. And whether you are trying recruit volunteer or resource support for your mission, that undermines confidence that you comprehend business.
Tryton de facto tagline: “TRYTON is business software, ideal for companies of any size, easy to use, complete and 100% Open Source.”
The taglines break the classic AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) formula (Attention, Interest via clear category hook), as outsiders can’t self-qualify in 3 seconds. “TRYTON is business software…” aims for Attention/Interest but skips Desire (benefits) and Action (clear Call To Action), leaving readers hanging without category clarity.
