Re: The Path of GNUstep (Was: Re: Gnustep + mac + windows? Possible?)

[Pete French]

> The fact that GNUstep *PREDATES* Cocoa is irrelevant to OSX users. If
> GNUstep copies Cocoa, it's still going to be nothing more than an inferior
> clone -- because if it becomes a clone, it *will* be inferior. It's that
> vision thing: if you don't have it, you're doomed.

This is amusing as all those arguments can be levelled against Linux when
compared to UNIX. On the other hand it hasnt died a death with the advent
of free UNIX (much as I wish it would), so the fact that GNUstep will
be an inferior clone doesnt necessarily doom it. The Linux experience shows
that if you get enough people who love the inferior copy --- and usually
because they feel some "ownership" of the project, and involved in
some way --- then they are quite prepared to turn a blind eye to those
shortcommings, and even end up not seeing it as "inferior" at all.

> This time, you are absolutely wrong. Most OS X developers know about
> GNUstep. Why aren't they here? The simple fact is, not many of them CARE.

Indeed! Thats probably the crux of the problem.

> that most of the very things that make OS X attractive to developers (like
> QuickTime, for example) can't become available on GNUstep.

So we need a Unique Selling Point - something we can give OSX developers
which Apple currently isnt doing.

>From my perspective thats only one thing - the cross platform capability
which gives the OSX developers "instant" access to a much wider market for
their code than just the Mac platform. Apple isnt doing that right now,
in fact GNUstep is the only way an OSX developer can get their code to run
legitimately on other platforms.

heres another point worth making: when I joned this list and started taking
an interest in GNUstep and contirbuting to it, I assumed I would find a large
number of ex-NeXT/OpenStep people on here. My interest was in taking
my existing code and having it live on beyond the end of my current OpenStep
systems.

But this doesnt seem to be the case - I havent met anyone on this list that
I have also come across in the OpenStep community. I go out and meet with
people in the OpenStep world and I am the only one using GNUstep and
taking an interest in it. Indeed I do the occasional review of "How GNUstep is
going" to some NeXT lists for time to time - but it stirs little interest.

To put it bluntly - not only arent the OSX people interested, but for some
reason we have failed to get the old OpenStep people onboard either in any
significant numbers!

Which is amazing given how loyal people were to that platform...

-bat.