Re: [orca-list] Possibly Forking Gnome 2

[Joanmarie Diggs <joanied gnome org>]

Hey Thomas, all.

I see that whilst I was working, others on this list have provided you
with some constructive directions to proceed which would not entail a
fork. So I won't bother to state what they've already stated so
eloquently. Instead, I'll tell you a brief anecdote -- some might call
it a confession even.... 

I have these moments... They're pretty rare, but they do happen from
time to time.... And they are usually the result of <insert something
related to free software and accessibility here> not going the way I
think it should be going. At all. And I get really frustrated, and
really fed up, and I think to myself, "Ya know, I sure didn't sign up
for <insert that annoying thing here>." And I strongly consider running
away to become a librarian in some small, isolated fishing village in
Canada. Seriously. (Go ahead, laugh at me. I'll wait. <grins>)

The reason I'm telling this to you is because when I read your message
about forking GNOME 2, I couldn't help but thinking that your fork is my
fishing village: It's a totally understandable, very human reaction to
what can seem like a really inhumane situation. And it's a way to put
yourself back in control of your own destiny. Or so it seems. The
reality, however, is that neither of these oh-so-tempting alternatives
are likely to be successful endeavors, and they instead pose an
excellent chance of making our respective situations even worse. So...
It sucks to be us. <smiles and shrugs>

> The problem is, for a blind Linux user like myself, there really isn't
> any good alternatives. 

Yet.

We've been waiting for years to have an accessible KDE. Ditto for XFCE.
And while those things are not here today, for the first time ever I see
their respective lights at the end of the tunnel. These things are
actually going to happen. And I'm really, really excited about both. I
cannot wait to get 3.2 out the door so that I can resume working with
the XFCE devs and check out where things are with Qt and KDE, and pick
up where I left off on making Orca's GUI components compatible/native
with all of the modern, accessible desktop environments.

> However, there is no single desktop out there that compares with Gnome
> 2 in my opinion. 

For what it is worth, it took GNOME 2 quite some time to become
accessible. That didn't just spring up overnight. I do think GNOME 3
(and for that matter Unity) will get there a lot sooner. But having said
that.... If none of the other environments work for you, and if you are
determined to stick with GNOME 2, you really should check out
OpenIndiana. If you're new to Solaris, a few things take a bit of
getting used to. But it's not all that hard. And ZFS is all kinds of
awesome. I miss it daily. Plus, last time I checked, OpenIndiana had
actively-maintained XFCE and KDE repos.

> Any thoughts, suggestions, or comments?

Yeah. Allow yourself to entertain the notion of "By golly, I'll just
fork it all!" long enough to keep your sanity. Then remind yourself that
we're all in this boat together and that if we can remain focused on
where we truly want to go, and work together to achieve that, we'll get
there.

Take care.
--joanie