RE: [GnomeMeeting-list] 2.4 Proposed Modules - GnomeMeeting

[Murray Cumming Comneon com]

> From: Damien Sandras [mailto:dsandras seconix com] 
> Le mer 07/05/2003 à 13:15, Murray Cumming Comneon com a écrit :
> > 
> > I think that's a decision for distros. I don't see how 
> adding GnomeMeeting
> > to our official Desktop release set would change anything. 
> It's hard to draw
> > a fine line, but I think _something_ must not belong in the 
> main Desktop
> > release.
> > 
> 
> That is a vision of things, but you cannot reject 
> GnomeMeeting for that
> reason without having defined what is the desktop and what is not the
> desktop release.

It would be nice to define it, yes.

> If something like gnumeric can't be included in the
> desktop release, then the desktop release shouldn't include any e-mail
> client or web browser either.

I don't think it should include an e-mail client. The best arguments for
including a web browser is that people really do use one all the time and
that it needs to work closely with the rest of the Desktop in ways that
Mozilla does not. I'm not personally convinced that means it needs to be
part of the Desktop release set, but the consensus seems to say it will.

> I personally think that the Desktop Release should contain every day
> applications (mailer, browser, office suite, collaborative tools, IM,
> ...) and offer a coherent bundle of the desktop applications.

I'm against bundling. I believe MS was wrong. Others disagree. 

> But I'm
> not the one who decides that :)

Yes, you (plural) are. I am certainly not the one who will decide any more
than you are. The release team just follows the orders of the GNOME
development community, as best as it can understand them.
 
> > What do we do when a new GNOME-based VOIP application comes 
> along? How do we
> > justify blessing one applicatoin over another.
> > 
> 
> Simply choose the best one, ie the one that respects 
> standards (like GM
> respects H.323 and thus is compatible with all other H.323 
> apps) and is
> gnome compliant, that's the evolution of Free Software.

By bundling you prevent evolution, by preventing competition.
 
> [..]
> 
> > However, I don't personally have any idea whether VOIP will 
> become an
> > everyday part of Desktop usage. Until it does, I would 
> prefer not to bless
> > or support a particular VOIP application. Nothing stops people from
> > installing it if they want it.
> 
> That's what I call "reacting when it is too late". Either you 
> build the
> future, or you react to it. I think it is better to be innovative.

Yes, you've done that. You created GnomeMeeting. GnomeMeeting would continue
to exist even if we decided not to bless it as part of the GNOME Desktop.

> GnomeMeeting is largely used in companies, corporations, and so on. It
> is a good part of the user base.
> 
> I took the decision to create a GNOME application instead of 
> a pure GTK
> application. Some people argue that it is limiting the diffusion of
> GnomeMeeting, because of the numerous dependancies. But 
> GnomeMeeting was
> part of my vision of the desktop of the future, that is why 
> I've done my
> best to integrate it well in GNOME, and now I realize I'm perhaps the
> only one to have that vision of a coherent, unified and powerful (in
> terms of tasks) desktop.

Erm, I explicitly said that I was stating my own opinion. And I have
repeatedly said that other people think that bundling is a good idea.

> > Also, you could also say "I really believe in spreadsheets 
> and I think that
> > spreadsheets will spread more and more in the future.". But 
> that wouldn't
> > justify bundling gnumeric with the GNOME Desktop.
> > 
> 
> I think it should be included, but that's my opinion.

Murray Cumming
murrayc usa net
www.murrayc.com