RE: [FR-devel] 'Ultimate' FreeRIDE ?

[Curt Hibbs]

Euan Mee wrote:
>
> On 7 May 2002, at 15:04, Baptiste Lepilleur wrote:
> > My vision of FreeRIDE is a powerful source editor for
> > Ruby, and maybe some related file formats such as XML and HTML.
> > Integration of debugging, refactoring, unit testing, project
> > (files, settings...), configuration management (cvs...). May be
> > also some UI related tools (I don't know a thing about FOX), but
> > icon/toolbar/menu editor, documentation/help editor. And probably
> > some other tools to help develop/customize FreeRIDE.
>
> Here are the items I'd like to add to the vision of 'Ultimate' FreeRIDE:
>
> Combining programming tools with formatting tools in FreeRIDE, so we
> can develop programs 'literately' , i.e. by concentrating on
> explaining to
> humans what we want the computer to do, instead of concentrating on
> instructing the computer what to do.

[snip, lots of good stuff]

>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -
> - - - - - - - - - - - -
>
> Whew!  Well, that's not much to ask for, is it?!!
>
> So how can we get it?

Right on!

I share this ultimate goal for FreeRIDE. I want to development tool that
facilitates what I do everyday without noticeably getting in the way. The
key is going to be keeping that guiding vision as we start small and
incrementally release more and more useful versions of FreeRIDE.

> IMO, 'Ultimate FreeRIDE' is really crying out for the entire Ruby
> community to take FreeRIDE to its heart, and for all tool
> developments for
> Ruby to be FreeRIDE-aware, and FreeRIDE-interoperable.
>
> So the FreeRIDE development needs to be aware of existing tool
> developments, and be on the look-out for new ones, so as to liaise with
> their development teams, so as to ensure a good mesh between FreeRIDE
> and the other tools, and their evolving descendants.

If we can make good on our promise to deliver a compelling Ruby IDE, then I
think that this will follow naturally. Tool authors will *want* their tools
to work well with/in FreeRIDE. And even those Ruby tool authors who don't
like IDEs at all, will find others writing wrappers that allow their tools
work within FreeRIDE.

Its good to raise the level of awareness. But I think the onus is on the
FreeRIDE developers to actually deliver, first.

> On a development team note, this will require the FreeRIDE team to
> continue to value, maintain and polish its habits of openness,
> friendliness,
> inclusiveness, and communicativeness, and to guard against
> NotInventedHere syndrome in the FreeRIDE development team, /and/ in
> the other tool development teams.
>
> If we can get these, a roadmap, shared between FreeRIDE and the other
> tool development projects, should be achievable.
>
> Comments?