Thus spoke Olof S Kylander > Hello Michael, Howdy! > Well I know that there are people trying to write books, I'm one of them. > And sure my life would be a lot easier if we just said release Gimp 1.2 > on Jan 21 2000. But I tend to look at the user and the community instead. > I think the best goal is to make us (the developers and supporters of > Gimp) and naturally all the users happy, than making one or two > Publishers happy. Its a honorable goal, but making "all the users happy" would be a bit unrealisitc. Most projects aim to offer as much as possible for users in a reasonable time frame. Consider, for example, that even Linus felt the time between releases was too long between pre2.0 and 2.0. Thats why 2.2 and 2.4 had accelerated release schedules (well, part of the reasoning at least). There is a balance that has to be struck between the need for updates (be they new features, bug fixes or design changes) and delivering an updated product to users. > > Additionally, UI changes were not part of the design specifications for the > > 1.2 release. > > There was no design specifications (if I'm not totally out in the sky > flying). We code and write etc. for the fun and joy not to do > specifications (don't interpret me wrong design specifications is a very > good thing most of the time). That may be the way projects start, but in the long term it will be very difficult to survive that way. The problem is that the project (I'm speaking in generalities here, not specifically about the Gimp) grows and involves more people. If developers fail to recognize these peoples need to make and stick to schedules, then those added people move away. People will chose the tools which meet their needs, and many users include release schedules in their needs. Of course, design specs are hard to avoid after the product gets as sophisticated as the 1.2 release has. You have many people working in many areas, and design specs just help make sure everyone is working toward the same goals. Although I agree with the need for UI consistancy, at this point I feel the need for a "reasonably near" release date would do more for user morale. The new features will outweight the UI problems, at least for a time. That extra time could be used for a 1.2.x release with the UI updates. Anyway, this is all just another point of view. As a writer, I'll adjust to what the developers decide, as I'm sure many people will. -- Michael J. Hammel | All the worlds a stage, and all the men and The Graphics Muse | women merely players. mjhammel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | Shakespeare, "As You Like It", II, 7 http://www.graphics-muse.com
