Re: [Gimp-developer] Fw: suggestion for new versions of GIMP

[Aleksandar Kovač <alex open design gmail com>]

Hi!

Based on what I picked up from the ideas so far in this thread, and if I 
understood them correctly: Although 'selector bar' sounds simpler, 
Rhino/blender like command bar still tickles my fancy a bit more than 
selector bar.
1) command bar could perform comparably to selector bar + the commands.
2) the idea of 'selector bar' feels like a fix for a fix.; i.e. 
historically, menus have been introduced as GUI fix for overcrowded main 
bar, now, 'selector' bar helps us go thru overcrowded menus. Doesn't 
sound like a solution.
3) 'selector bar' presumes that users use lots of plugins. Therefore, 
selector bar's usefulness is questionable in cases with no or few plugins.
...

My 2 yen while blowing my own horn, all at the same time:
If people happen to like this new mode of interaction in GIMP, they 
might like to use it in other applications, too. Please excuse me for I 
am ignorant of how GIMP and other applications' guts really-really work, 
but I like to imagine that there are hooks in GIMP etc. that this tool 
could pull 'from the outside'. In that case, we would have to tell 
'thingy' where the hooks in the respective applications are. If this is 
possible, this tool might become relevant for more than just GIMP 
people. Using it could feel almost like pulling strings to achieve some 
effect.
(Maybe those are imaginary hooks... will try to learn more how stuff 
works, I promise :)

If this is true, then organizationally, it would be convenient to run it 
as an independent, modular project maintained by a community of 
interested developers/reasonably skilled users where it won't get in the 
way of stuff that matters. (I think we all like to see the next version 
of ____!) Perhaps an online tool to contribute command dictionaries and 
thesauri? A simplish way to indicate/correlate equivalent/similar basic 
commands across the applications? Something where we could add commands 
for any future software?

What's so cool about it?
- People choose to use it or not. Either way it won't obstruct their 
workflow.
- People choose to maintain it or not. Either way it won't obstruct the 
development of the applications it serves.
- It presents only 'another way to do things'. nothing more. All GUI 
improvement efforts currently on the way in GIMP are very, very much 
crucially important.
- Nice people from GIMP, Inkscape, etc. do not have to waste a cycle 
implementing 'another hip thing that could fail' + the original modes of 
interaction with respective software stay intact.
- Might become another way to integrate various software on a human level.

Famous last words? 'What could go wrong?'
- If this idea never gets articulated enough, it won't fly. Has to be as 
tight as... something really tight.
- There might be actions impossible to achieve using 'strings'. Would 
this fact break the UI consistency?
- The localizations will never be of consistent quality.
- GIMP, Inkscape, etc. updates might break the 'strings'?
- This suggestion might just be a misinformed megalomaniac's wishful 
thinking. :)
...


Greetings!

Alex