Re: Commercial software hooks

[Derek Simkowiak <dereks kd-dev com>]

> > I was just wondering if anyone's doing anything to get GNOME hooks (eg,
> > icons and mime-types) added to commercial software like StarOffice and
> > RealPlayer7. Both those setup KDE menu icons and RP7 even adds the

> Does anyone have any comments on this?

	I strongly believe that friendly interaction with external apps is
important, but I'm not sure that any of the volunteer developers have the
wherewithall, resources, time, or clout to get in touch with
StarDivision/Borland/RealMedia/etc. and work with them on making their
apps work well with Gnome, and vice versa.

	Since Helix is a "commercial" entity, I would like to see it take
a leadership role in making Gnome play nice with external commercial
applications.  Or perhaps the company (whose name escapes me at the
moment) working on the new file manager could take charge.

	I'm a bit worried that Gnome is falling behind KDE because it
lacks a good IDE and integrated apps.  KDE also has the benefit of an
integrated window manager (I'm sure we've all experienced WM "issues" in
the past with Gnome) that Sawmill has only recently begun to address.  
Many popular "desktop" Linux distros, such as Mandrake, Storm, et. al. are
now shipping KDE as the default desktop.  Even though Gnome is an option,
it's not the default, and most win32 converts are going to stick with the
default at first--and then, for the long term, they'll stick with what
they know (i.e., KDE).

	Choice is groovy and I like KDE, but I don't want Gnome to become
a niche desktop.

	If anyone from either company is listening, I'd love to hear some
feedback about leading the non-Gnome app hooks.


--Derek Simkowiak