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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: Unified document viewer, lack of communication
From:       Zack Rusin <zack () kde ! org>
Date:       2005-06-05 1:02:28
Message-ID: 200506042102.29271.zack () kde ! org
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On Saturday 04 June 2005 11:14, Stefan Kebekus wrote:
> Since I have only limited time, I would very much like to support
> others working on the problem of a unified viewer. I would like to
> ask, however, what will become of my contributions to KDVI. I am
> working on the project as a volunteer, and invest a substantial
> amount of my rare spare time, I am naturally worried about
> duplicating functionality in KDE. My motivation to work for the KDE
> project would be near zero if I need to fear that one morning I will
> have to learn that a student with more time than me re-did all the
> programming I did the last months in his summer vacation, and that
> all my efforts were worthless, just because someone didn't care
> enough to write an e-mail to me explaining their intentions.

It's really sad that you see competition as such a horrible thing. I 
can't believe it's coming from an Open Source developer as well but oh, 
well everyone is allowed to have their own opinion. 

> Assuming that you are no persons who like to frustrate others, or who
> simply don't care, I suggest that we keep in touch, so that
> duplicated programming efforts can be avoided. Do you agree to that?
> Do you believe that we can find a modus vivendi where everyone can
> contribute, or do you believe that people like me who have only
> limited time should better not work for the KDE project?
>
> Can we agree on a transition process that will preserve the work that
> I plan to do in the next few monthes (good printing support for DJVU,
> bookmark support for KDVI (mostly done), some more) will not be lost?
> Do you already have a well-documented API that one could use? How
> much of the API that I have documented recently do you plan to use?
>
> Do you plan to keep that DCOP-interface of KDVI that is used, e.g. by
> KILE? How do you plan to integrate forward/inverse search?

You're asking whether things no one implemented will be implemented the 
way you want them implement? That's a little silly. Personally I hope 
people will take a completely different approach. In fact I'd hope that 
they will do something original. I think I expressed before that I 
don't think that using KParts for formats in a document viewer makes a 
lot of sense. If you're so sure that your way of doing things is better 
than you have nothing to worry about, now do you? On the other hand if 
you're so afraid that someone will implement something better to send 
emails like this maybe you should rethink some of your design decisions 
rather than making new people follow them. That's of course my opinion 
and I would certainly hope that people who will be implementing this 
task will also form their own decisions rather than submitting to a 
pressure coming from anyone. 

Zack

-- 
The three most dangerous things are a programmer with a soldering
iron, a manager who codes, and a user who gets ideas. 
 
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