Re: project goal Re: Release schedule

[Willem Rein Oudshoorn]

Jason Clouse <jhclouse@charter.net> writes:

> On 2003-04-12 12:17:20 +0000 Philippe C.D. Robert
> <philippe.robert@gmx.net> wrote:
> > I do not think GNUstep will ever be able to catch up with Gnome or
> >KDE as pure X11 desktop solution ever.
> 
> Just a crazy thought--would anyone be interested in writing a backend
> for Fresco (http://www.fresco.org/)?  

I thought about that more than a year ago.  But I can not see myself
devoting the time to it that is needed to pull it off.  
(I do not think it is a really big task, but my time is very patchy.)

However, I think Fresco has the same problem as GNUstep and perhaps
even more so.  

I agree with most points raised by Helge.  From my limited point
of view superiority has nothing to do with becoming popular.
Filling a need seems to be the crucial factor.
Let me give a few examples.  Note however that I have *not* researched
it and is purely *my* perception of history.

Linux - was one of the first free  unix kind of systems on a very
        popular computer, the i386 systems.
gtk - developed for Gimp and Gimp was filling the "Photoshop" gap.
KDE - fills the "Desktop" gap.
GNOME - a little bit like KDE and in my perception worked because
        quite a few dedicated people wanted a free replacement for KDE.

And from a user point of view, why would a user try something new?
Most users are used to a particular system and learned how to live
with the quirks, any change takes time to learn and if there are no
obvious benefits it is normally not worth while.

However I also think that /gui/ is ready for developers.  It still is
a long way from being 1.0 release and as such not ready for the
ordinary developer, but it is far enough.

So if people really want to try to make /gui/ into a success and have
enough time the wise thing to do is to write an application.  This
application should fill in a real need.  A new mail client or a new
editor are very good to have and might persuade a few people, but if
you want to get more people involved it should be something that is
not readily available on other desktop systems.

Even if the program has a lot of quirks in the beginning, it will
attract people to fix it.
> 
> Fresco is a new frontier that no one seems to be taking advantage
> of.  Seems like getting in before anyone else would establish
> GNUstep as the premier desktop environment for Fresco.  Might even
> give a few people reason to try it out.  And I'm sure the Fresco
> developers would be grateful for the interest and might be willing
> to help out some in return.

Yes, it would be nice to try.  But it really suffers from the same
problem.  It might be superior from a design point of view.  It might
look great with rotation transparency all around etc.  But why would
the normal user care if he can not run smoothly all the programs he
uses daily?  And why would he care if all programs he uses daily run?

Note:  I like fixing a bug here and there in gui.  And I will
continue to do so.  And if someone starts a fresco backend
I will lend a hand.  [YES this fragment developer resources]

Wim Oudshoorn.