Re: Modulesets Reorganization

[Paolo Borelli <pborelli katamail com>]

Hi Lucas,

On Wed, 2010-06-02 at 11:59 +0100, Lucas Rocha wrote:
> I don't see this as a move to avoid decisions. It's more about being
> inclusive with app developers. Why do we have to choose between
> high-quality competing apps? If they follow GNOME guidelines, use our
> platform, are well implemented, have a lively user community, I'd
> prefer to have both considered as first-class citizens in GNOME.
> 

But this way you are not being equally inclusive, you are being equally
exclusive. Applications writers wants their app delivered to the users,
on linux this means shipped by distributions: a well defined gnome
desktop is a way for distributors to delegate to gnome a lot of the
decision-making in exchange for high quality standards.

If being part of gnome is loosened into a "set of guidelines to comply
with", gnome will just become an "external dependency" for the
application itself and all the decision making will happen downstream,
which inevitably means that:

- applications developers will move downstream near distributions to
make sure their app is shipped as default

- design discussion will happen downstream to make sure the apps fits
well in the target distribution

- QA will move downstream to make sure app works well in release X of
distro Y (opposed to "works well in gnome 2.30")

- cross-app integration will move downstream (e.g. apps will assume that
a pdf is opened in the pdf reader shipped by ditro X, not by the gnome
pdf reader)

- documentation will move downstream since it is where they can
concentrate on a well defined experience to be documented.

- technology choices will move downstream (eg use the lib used by
distribution X for notifications etc)

But most important of all, new contributors will simply join downstream
and get involved there, since downstream provides all the required
facilities (code hosting, discussion forums, conferences, etc) and very
few of them will make the leap of contributing to the core gnome
platform since it will just be seen as a disconnected external entity
providing some basic functionality they take for granted.



Ciao

	Paolo