Re: A Critique: Getting Started with GNUstep on Windows

[Doc O'Leary]

For your reference, records indicate that 
Doug Simons <doug.simons@testplant.com> wrote:

That was a great account of your experience.  My perspective on these
points:

> Our challenges working with GNUstep fall mainly in these areas:
> (1) - Bugs -- things are sometimes buggy compared to Cocoa (no surprise, =
> given the relative resources of GNUstep and Apple!)
> (2) - Code Limitations -- the frameworks are always playing catch-up =
> with Cocoa, of course, so we have to either add the missing pieces or be =
> limited in what classes we can use

In general, I would say addressing these issues should be the absolute
core purpose of the GNUstep project.  Missing pieces need to be filled in
and errors corrected.

A secondary purpose along the same lines *should* be to make code
available in the other direction.  GNUstep would see some huge gains
in visibility if there was a concerted effort to make *Apple* the one
who is shown to be missing some key features/frameworks.  But I don’t
know of any GNUstep code that is helpfully packaged up for iOS/Mac
developers.

> (3) - Nib Files -- this is a tricky compatibility area
> (4) - Infrastructure -- the build environment is particularly =
> challenging

As a developer, I’m willing to let some things slide.  It’s not ideal
to have to re-do interface files or create makefiles (worst case), but
the solution to focus on really comes down to which direction you’re
looking for people to go.

I mean, I *hate* that Xcode has swallowed IB and stuck it in a
single-window experience.  Rather than pulling Apple .xib files into
GNUstep, I might be more interested in doing *all* my interface
tweaking on the GNUstep side from the get-go.  I have no idea if that
appeals to anyone else, but it is just another way that re-thinking
what GNUstep offers could have a dramatic impact on how useful it is
to developers.

> (5) - User Experience -- the user interface is less polished than we =
> would like, in both appearance and usability

This is probably the biggest deal when it comes to selling the product,
but the smallest deal when it comes to coding.  Improvements here are
the types of things that everyone gets “for free” thanks to the OO
underpinnings.

> (6) - Community -- working with the community is sometimes a challenge

I maintain that it’s mainly because no solid message is being
communicated to participants.  Some direction needs to be set so that
everyone knows where things are going.

-- 
"Also . . . I can kill you with my brain."
River Tam, Trash, Firefly