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

[John Williams <john williams lists gmail com>]

On Thu, 2006-02-16 at 13:33 -0700, Elijah Newren wrote:
> For completeness, I should also note that there are two other big
> problems involved which I don't know how to solve on a short timescale
> (e.g. before 2.16):
>   - Havoc's recent points about identifying our target audience is
> important in many ways; in relation to this email, it's hard to judge
> what should be part of the desktop when we don't have a defined target
> audience (some who are working on Gnome have a defined target
> audience, but I don't think all of those who do agree)

The more I think about it, the more I have become convinced that our
target audience, if not simply "Linux/BSD/Solaris/Whatever
Distributions" should be "People who HAVE to use GNOME".  This basically
means corporate workers stuck in cubicles staring at computers all day,
I suppose.  It also means that these end users are likely to have
sysadmin support.

So, for example, this tells us that the sysadmin and printing parts of
GNOME are more important than the, say, cd-ripping or DVD playing parts.
(hmm, maybe playing DVDs is important in corporations these days?)  It
also tells us that laptop, PDA and wireless support is more important
than, say, gaming support.

Another thing it tells us is that stability is more important than
configurability.  Etc., etc.  

What do you think?  It makes sense to me, but I am not privy to the
thoughts of the inner circle.