Re: [Evolution-hackers] PIM application suite

[Jakub Steiner <jimmac ximian com>]

I very much share the sentiment of dropping the
one-application-does-it-all model. There is a limited number of tasks
than an iterface can be designed to fulfill well. Separate applications
can work together better than a monolithic beast like the old
staroffice. Apple's iApps are a good example of separate apps working
together (and, well, so is the gnome desktop).

The reason to have evolution split and have individual components behave
like separate applications is that the interface can become a lot more
simple. I'm very excited about the e-d-s concept and applications
getting access to evolution data. 

As an example, take a look at the File>New menu. Right now you get a
different shrtcut to bring up a new message depending on the active
component. If we had separate application windows we could take
advantage of consistency. Use sameshortcuts to do similar tasks. If the
user ran an "addressbook" he wouldn't expect to open a new mail there.
It is a lot easier to follow the Gnome HIG guidelines like that. 

It is hard to design an interface to "do a million things and do them
well."

-- 
Jakub Steiner <jimmac ximian com>
Novell, Inc.