Re: new module decisions [was Re: gnome-screensaver]

[Alexander Larsson <alexl redhat com>]

On Fri, 2006-02-17 at 01:41 +0100, Rodrigo Moya wrote:
> So, what
> if we just set a list of things a module has to conform with to get
> accepted and base our decisions on that?
> 
> For instance, we could have:
> * uses at least basic platform libs (GTK mainly)
> * uses existing platform libraries for everything possible (that is,
> does not use libs implementing an already existing feature in GNOME
> platform)
> * follows GNOME standards (coding standards, freedesktop specs, HIG,
> documentation, licensing, release dates and freezes, etc)
> * is source in GNOME CVS?
> 
> If we have a complete and concise list, the decision is easy to be made,
> since you just have to tick or not the corresponding column in the list.
> When all columns are ticked, the module gets accepted.

This strikes me as totally wrong, focusing only on certain, not very
interesting aspects of the modules. Much more important are things like:

* Does it conflict/compete/overlap with other software in the desktop
* Does it integrate with the desktop
* Is it good, interesting software
* Is this something that we think is important for a desktop to contain.

I mean, with the set of rules above we could import most of the gtk+
category on freshmeat, and I don't think that does anyone any good.

In the end, what is interesting is not the technology used, but the user
experience of the desktop. In fact, I would rather put something in the
desktop that violated some technical rule, but was some amazing
innovation that really fit in our desktop than some uninteresting piece
of technically good and standard-following software. 

Of course, the rules I wrote are subjective and depends on your view of
the goals of the project and what a desktop is...

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Alexander Larsson                                            Red Hat, Inc 
                   alexl redhat com    alla lysator liu se 
He's a leather-clad amnesiac househusband looking for a cure to the poison 
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