Re: A call to action

[Dan Mueth <d-mueth uchicago edu>]

On Sat, 14 Oct 2000, Gerry Chu wrote:

> It seems like our great little mailing list and the hitsquad have been for
> quite a long time swept into the backwaters of GNOME development.
> 
> Here's the beginning of a file dialog thread on gtk-devel-list:
> http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2000-August/msg00241.html
> 
> Here's an announcement of a new file dialog with screenshots:
> http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2000-August/msg00251.html
> 
> And here's the sourceforge page: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gtkfilesel/
> 
> No mention at all of us.  No mention of whether the developers cared about
> ui issues.  And this isn't the first time we have been left behind.

Hi.  I'd like to point out that I also completely neglected you guys in
"Joining the GNOME
Project" http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/joining-gnome/index.html
Actually, I briefly mentioned it but did not explain what it is, what you
do, where your mailing list is, what your web page is, etc.

Part of the reason for this is because I felt like the project had gone
somewhat dormant, and I wasn't sure exactly what to say about it.  The web
page for example seems to be dead, so I wasn't sure whether I should link
to it.  Plus, I think the web page should be moved to
http://developer.gnome.org/projects/ with the other GNOME projects.

I'd be happy to ammend this document.  Are there any web pages, reference
documents, etc. that I can mention?  Or do I just point people to this
mailing list?

I really feel the UI guidelines doc should get a very high priority and
should be placed very prominantly for application developers to use.  I
would not wait until it is done.  Sketch out the outline, then start
working on the most basic parts so that developers can start using it
ASAP.

If anybody needs a little help with moving the web pages to d.g.o., Kenny
and I can probably lend a hand.  Hmmm... Is Kenny still the maintainer of
those web pages?  I think he wants to hand it over to somebody else if
anybody is interested in taking on the job. (Could you clarify Kenny?)

> But we don't have anything to show for it.  The mailing list has high
> turnover, nothing from the hitsquad has been integrated, and eazel has
> dramatically changed the decision-making structure of the GNOME community.

I could be wrong here, but I think targetting programs after they are done
is the wrong approach.  I think you want to reach the developer early on
and say "Here, read this guideline and it will help you make a great
program.  If you have any questions or would like us to work with you on
your application then we'd be happy to.", instead of coming to them after
they are done saying "You did it all wrong and we made a nice big list of
all your mistakes you need to fix".  

In case you can't tell, I really like the idea of GNOME projects being
services for developers.  Go to the GDP and have them write your docs.  
Go the the GSP and have them make some nice sounds for events.  Go the the
GGP and have an icon, logo, and a nice graphic for your About dialog made.  
Go the the GUIP and get the UI Guide and some expert help on UI design.  
Geez - with all these resources, even a lousy hacker can make a great app.

And as soon as you are ready for business, make some noise.  Put something
on Gnotices and make Havoc include some UI bullets in his periodic report.

Go GUIP!  Ra Ra

Dan

Kenny - don't you like how I volunteer you for things ;)