GNUstep theming (was Re: Objective-C 2.0 and other new features in Leopard)

[Gregory John Casamento]

Tomaz,

> What is the perceived need GnuStep wants to satisfy? What is  
> GnuStep's goal / target audience/market?
 
Other than saying "as many users as possible" I'm not sure what else to say.

No system/API/environment should ever specifically target a group of people.   
People should find us useful and decide to use our stuff, if they want to.  But 
I will not say "we're only for group X or group Y".

Let me say it as clearly as possible... GNUstep's goal is to have as many users 
as we can.  I suppose this means becoming "mainstream" but I also believe that 
updating GNUstep's look to be more modern can't be a bad thing.

GJC
--
Gregory Casamento -- OLC, Inc 
# GNUstep Chief Maintainer


----- Original Message ----
From: Dr Tomaž Slivnik <T.Slivnik@haldev.com>
To: Gregory John Casamento <greg_casamento@yahoo.com>
Cc: discuss-gnustep@gnustep.org
Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 7:17:27 PM
Subject: Re: Objective-C 2.0 and other new features in Leopard

>> if I want gummy and a Cocoa environment with the bestest and  
>> latest bloatware included, I can, and always will, buy Apple.
>>
>> Would I be far wrong if I guessed that most people involved in  
>> GnuStep are old-time NeXTies who want to be able to continue using  
>> their favourite user environment in the 21st century, and continue  
>> to develop it in the same careful, considered, and well-designed  
>> way the original NextStep was developed?
>>
>> GnuStep may need to ask itself the question - is its goal to  
>> pursue quality and satisfy this core group of users, and grow its  
>> user base organically, OR, to try to appeal to the masses, aim to  
>> become mainstream (an aim which, incidentally, I think is bound  
>> not to be achieved), and consequently have to make some  
>> compromises as a consequence (like Apple has done)?
>
> I think we need to do a little of both (growing organically and  
> appealing to the masses).

What is the perceived need GnuStep wants to satisfy? What is  
GnuStep's goal / target audience/market?

I think it is crucial to be crystal clear on this and to stay very  
focussed on that goal if you want to achieve it.

From where I stand, it doesn't look like GnuStep has a huge amount  
of market penetration, or even developer penetration. So GnuStep does  
not appear to have had much success with these objectives.

However, it has been wonderfully successful at achieving another  
equally, if not more, valid, objective, i.e. that of re-creating and  
evolving the great NeXT design. A design of virtually Platonic  
perfection at the time, but one which has since needed to evolve to  
support modern day technologies. This is a niche you appeal to and  
you can grow organically. I think Apple has rather let the NeXT  
legacy down, and that the job could have been done *much* better. So  
I've assumed doing this was GnuStep's objective. If not, what is it?

By trying to appeal to the masses, you will have to compromise (like  
Apple has done) and sacrifice goals you've already achieved - and you  
have much to be proud of. What will you gain in return? There are a  
lot of competitors (Microsoft, Apple, Gnome, KDE etc.) out there who  
very successfully cater for the needs of, and appeal to, the mass  
market. You will be hard pressed to compete with them.

T


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