Re: Bring a conlusion please

["David Trowbridge" <trowbrds gmail com>]

> And regarding "what Gnome is and to whom it caters" discussion, after 14
> releases I think it's too late to start such a topic.

It's never too late to reevaluate where you are, what you want to do,
and how to do it.  The computing environment that GNOME 1.0 fit into
is different than the one 2.0 did, different from the one 2.14 did,
and it will be different in 2.30 (maybe we'll hit 3.0 by then ;).
Every so often, someone will propose *something* that won't fit into
the current vision for "what is GNOME" and if it's compelling enough,
that vision may have to be redefined.  We've seen this debate come
from mono-based applications for a while (vis-a-vis desktop
environment vs. platform), and we're starting to see it with the
software surrounding mobile platforms such as the N770 and OLPC.  To
say that we're going to keep GNOME focused on the same vision of a
"desktop" that fueled 2.0 will only serve to limit possibilities and
frustrate the developers who are working so hard on cool things.

> Lastly, Gnome needs a new next-gen language. Please elect/find a product
> manager that most Gnome devs and the Board agree that is good for the job
> (could even be someone inside the Board too, or the Board itself), let him
> read the lists, research and let him decide if the next-gen language of
> Gnome is Python, C# or Java. Point of the matter is that fewer and fewer
> graduates learn C++ and even fewer learn C. For Gnome to appeal to new
> programmers, a new, fully supported by Gnome, environment must be found.
> This is being stated over and over again for 3 years now, but no one does
> anything about it because people can't agree. This is why a product manager
> (or a Board that takes technical decisions) is much needed to give an end to
> these disagreements after they have studied all opinions and pros and cons.

One of the strengths of the GNOME platform is that you're not limited
to any one language.  Blessing a single language as "the next-gen
language of GNOME" will cause nothing but flamewars and animosity
between people who are really working towards the same thing.  We have
excellent environments for both python and CLI languages, and a lot of
the other bindings (such as Java and ruby) are improving rapidly.
Surely a platform with robust bindings into many languages is a better
option than just catering to the university-taught-platform du jour.

-David