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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    You back the attack,
From:       Casey Allen Shobe <cshobe () softhome ! net>
Date:       2003-12-14 2:42:59
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Frans Englich (lau, desember 13 2003 19:55)
> most worst group is developers because 1) They're a small group and 2) they
> have influence on the actual app -  they find some behavior which fits
> their particular need and go implement it. To all other users despair.
> Ofcourse, much configuration such as i18n can be modularized and separated
> - other thing can not. Perhaps the -patch-guessing feature can't.

Yes...too often the "this is open-source, which means I'll do whatever I want" 
attitude goes too far.  I was just discussing this on another list earlier 
today.  I'll quote (names removed to protect the innocent and guilty) for 
your pleasure:

-----BEGIN QUOTE-----
> We do what you want to do. (it's how open source work)

Well no.  For instance right now you must obey a string and feature freeze.  
When somebody has a really bad idea it gets removed or discouraged in 
advance.

*We* must do what *we* as a team want to do.  That is the important part, and 
the more it is ignored the more disparation between things exists.  The more 
we work as a team working towards the same goal, the better a product we will 
have (and also in a shorter timeframe).  Morale will improve and it will be a 
friendlier place.

A lot of tension gets created here because somebody says "I'm going to do this 
because it's what I want and that's how open source works so deal".  That 
only increases when people start responding disagreeing with them and big 
arguments ensue.

The place for that kind of tension is the commercial world.  We in the 
open-source world really need to learn how to work for the common good more - 
that's the whole point.  I know there's some stress now, at least for me, 
because there's a release around the corner and I want things to be perfect 
for it.  But regardless of any outstanding bug or flaw, we all need to pull 
together and think more communally.
-----END QUOTE-----

> > I don't like the idea of having the user answer question after question
> > just because there might be this wonderful feature they're missing out
> > on.

Agreed.  I have grown so used to seeing dumb checkboxes on Windows for "don't 
show this useless message again" I'm conditioned to check them off before 
even bothering to read them (and then becoming angry when there's no way to 
turn it back on).

> guarding the whole KDE to avoid config bloat because of absence of
> consensus.

Well, I think better configureability is the key here...but since I've already 
covered that, I digress...

> I suggest every maintainer get a gun and simply "silence" people when they
> mess around. But they're ofcourse only allowed to do that when they take
> the right decisions. /me hides behind Konqi

Noooo....I've spent more time fighting tooth and nail with some maintainer 
over something sensible than all the users combined.  The problem now is that 
many of the maintainers are dictators (not always the benevolant sort), and 
nobody wants to work together as much as they should (fighting with 
maintainers doesn't help this situation, but neither does rolling over and 
standing idly by while the application degrades...sometimes I don't really 
know what to do...).  But let's not give them guns, eh?  ;-)

-- 
Sigþór Björn Jarðarson (Casey Allen Shobe)
cshobe@softhome.net
Jabber: sigthor@jabber.org; ICQ: 1494523; AIM/Yahoo: SomeLinuxGuy
-- 
Free development contributor of:
> KDE toolbar icons
> Kopete user interface, usability, and testing
> X11 Icelandic Dvorak keymaps
* (website coming soon)
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