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

[Maxim Udushlivy <maxim udushlivy gmail com>]

Havoc Pennington wrote:
> 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
I used Eclipse IDE just as an example of perspective (profile) 
switching. Like Eclipse, Gnome may have different perspectives: one for 
developers, another for internet browsing and email, third for 
office-related tasks, etc. These perspectives form *one* desktop by 
means of several workspaces, one workspace for each perspective. I 
wanted to say that there is no need to narrow Gnome to only one 
audience/task/perspective. Of course Gnome must target certain category 
of users, but that should not be done by limiting the whole Gnome to a 
some subset of all possible desktop tasks. Desktop is a general-purpose 
environment and Gnome should find its users by promoting certain 
ideology (for example UI simplicity, extended functionality and minimal 
configuration effort).