Re: Getting to Topaz (Was Re: getting on a longer release cycled)

[Havoc Pennington <hp redhat com>]

Maxim Udushlivy wrote:
> I remember somebody compared Gnome with a car. But the desktop is an 
> environment, so it is not a car, it is a parking. The same goes about a 
> hammer: desktop environment is a collection of tools. Different tasks 
> require different collections. The items that you mentioned may fit very 
> well into one desktop ideology (e.g. simplicity) as several profiles.
>
> It is possible to make a parallel with Eclipse IDE which has profiles 
> (they call them perspectives). There are profiles for Java source code 
> editing, SVN browsing, debugging, etc. Every profile has its own layout 
> and a set of opened sub-windows (hammers). All profiles are Eclipse-style.
>
> Desktops have so-called workspaces (never used them), may be they could 
> be extended into task-oriented profiles?!

The Eclipse platform is a great example really, let's contrast it with 
GNOME.

First, there's an Eclipse "rich client platform" which is roughly on the 
level of gtk/dbus/gconf/gnome-vfs type stuff, i.e. it's libraries.

On top of that there are at least two large projects.

One is the Eclipse IDE, which is already narrowed in scope to software 
developers; it can make some UI decisions intended for that audience in 
a global way. Inside the Eclipse IDE, there are task or audience 
oriented perspectives and plugins for different kinds of software 
developers.

Another large project is IBM Workplace, which is (in some sense) "a 
desktop." However, it's a desktop very specifically for corporate office 
workers. And IBM does not leave it at that, they tune the desktop for 
very specific vertical markets. So here's an example that Google turned 
up (everyone will have to look past all the corporate buzzword speak):

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/tividd/software/saleskits/H219009P42370K84/KEY_36.html

click on "tech specs" on the right, and look at slide 2 in the 
powerpoint deck. Slide 1 is the title slide. So the first slide with 
content is labeled "value proposition" and that slide has a table. The 
first two rows in the table are:

For: Chief Operating Officer, Chief Information Officer, Procurement Team
Who needs: Enhanced collaboration across the organization and with OEMs, 
Streamlined service and parts operations, and more efficient buying and 
procurement processes

Made clear just before that in the slide is that this is specifically 
for the automotive industry.

Now, I don't think this is the _best_ example:
 - it's all a bit too "market segment" instead of "ethnography/persona"
 - the Eclipse UI does feel a little clunky imo, like it's wedging
   everything into a Grand Unified Platform whether it wants to fit or
   not

Still, the broadest, most general-purpose description of IBM Workplace 
is still tightly focused on corporate office workers with IT staff 
(GNOME has not narrowed down to that) and the broadest, most 
general-purpose description of the Eclipse IDE is that it's for 
developers (GNOME has not narrowed down to that either).

Havoc