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List:       kde
Subject:    KDE - Does user opinion matter? (RE: Thoughts of a KDE sceptic)
From:       "Timothy R. Butler" <kde () uninetsolutions ! com>
Date:       1999-11-17 22:35:31
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> >  I agree - however, since it does involve the project as a
> whole - not the
> > individual developers, the project should be open to suggestions on the
> > "official release" by it's users, should it not? For example
> say 80% of the
> > users absolutely hated kDVI (for the sake of discussion, we
> will do this).
>
> Then that 80% of the users is absolutely free not to care or even look at
> kdvi ever again. What harm was done to them?

 Basically what I meant, is in a full installation kDVI is included.  It
seems to me since KDE is basically an organizational entity that depends on
support from corporations to keep the servers run'in and the software
bundle'in it needs to keep them appeased. If people tell Caldera that they
don't want KDE in the distro, Caldera support for KDE would most likely dry
up, for instance.
 If someone complains about one of the tools I create personally I can do
whatever I wish. However if it were an official GNU project for instance,
I'm just a programmer among others, and it should be GNU's decision on
whether it remains official, or if they no longer want anything to do with
it.
 Now maybe everyone who does actual programming for the KDE code base likes
kDvi, if so, then fine it should be up to them. If the majority of
developers of the code base think it devalues KDE then it should be spun of
the project. I note that this is just an example, I don't have a personal
vendetta against kDvi or anything like that. :-)

> You seem to have the strange idea that development of free software
> somehow resembles a democracy :-)
>
> He who does does. He who does not do, can only humbly suggest.

 If there isn't a monarchy (such as Linus Torvalds on Linux), a dictatorship
(a single person project), or a democracy, then the project must be in an
anarchy of sorts and will ultimately fail in my opinion. I'm not saying
someone like myself should have any power since I don't contribute (except
more opinion than most would like to hear :-) - but anyone who does work on
the project should have a say, should they not?
 However you should also remember that a corporate project (yes, an entity
like KDE is corporate in a manor of speaking) that becomes deaf to it's
users will fail (just like IBM almost did, they wanted main frames, people
wanted PCs). You don't want to be fiddling while Rome burns, especially if
your trying to compete with GNOME.

 Like I said, I don't even dis-like kDvi, or use it for that matter. I was
just stating that the project needs to be able to eliminate things that are
dis-liked, and listen to the users to a certain point (more of a Democratic
Republic, ala America, not a Democracy ala Athens). Neither am I saying that
I think kDvi could destroy KDE, but if people didn't like kPanel for
instance...

  Warmest Regards,
               Tim

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