Re: Re: extra app list (revision)

[Dan Mueth <d-mueth uchicago edu>]

On Wed, 8 Nov 2000, mathieu [ chaos chaos chaos since 79 ] wrote:

> >I also suggest to add gpaint (http://gpaint.sourceforge.net) to the list.
> >Gpaint is a simple to use paint program that serves great as a simple
> >image editor for a desktop environment.
> 
> the Gimp is capable of everything, I wonder why we should need need a «
> simple » image editor...
> 
> The *less-able* image editors are, for me, an invention of non-Free world,
> the way to put an image editor without too much cost in their
> distributions, considering that people who cant afford expensives softs
> dont deserve better.... 
> 
> I guess everyone prefers to use a good and complete application, even for
> doing little things .... 

I think gpaint should be included in the "extra" apps for 1.4, for the
following reasons:

1) It fills a significant void in GNOME:  It is a light-weight and
easy-to-use painting program.  This will make users with weaker machines
and less experience with the GIMP happy.  

Although expert GIMP users may not realize it, GIMP is actually pretty
tough to learn.  As an example, imagine you are your mom or dad, open the
gimp, read and close all the dialogs that open up, create a new window
(from a rather complex new window dialog), and try to make a hollow blue
rectangle on a white background.  Just to make a solid blue rectangle on a
white background requires an understanding of selections, interaction with
a rather complex color selection widget, and the ability to find the
bucket-fill button.  I'm not even sure how to do the hollow rectangle, and
I can be confident my parents will not figure it out before rebooting into
Windows.

2) Although people argue that the GIMP may be used as the core for an
easy-to-use paint program, it is not obvious to me whether it will still
be light-weight.  More importantly, gpaint exists now, and this
theoretical GIMP derivative does not.

3) Andy has shown that is is very Free, GNOME-ish, and doesn't do any big
sins like forking GNOME libraries.

4) The purpose of the extra apps (IMO) is to provide users with an easy
way to get GNOME applications which are stable, work with GNOME 1.4, and
are actively maintained.  It is not yet clear how much work each
incremental application creates for the extra apps release coordinators,
but I would be inclined to be rather liberal with letting apps in to the
extent that it doesn't become un-managable by the coordinators.  The more
stable, tested applications we offer to the users, the better.  We should
see how often each app is downloaded and provide a mechanism for user
feedback if we want to start weeding out applications which are not deemed
useful by GNOME users.  

Dan