:( sorry to see you go. Rockwalrus On Mon, Feb 23, 2015, 4:27 PM peter sikking <peter@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Dear GIMP team, > > it is time to say farewell. This is not easy for me, but > I have come to the conclusion that our collaboration cannot > be revived anymore. For the reasons why, I will take us back > to the very beginning: > > From early 2005 maintainer Sven Neumann worked really hard > to reach out in the Berlin openUsability scene and find > help for GIMP’s usability. He knew that the state of GIMP’s > UI was a life-threatening problem and that no one in the GIMP > team and community could do anything about it. > > Ellen Reitmayr organised bi-weekly meetings to bring FLOSS > and usability people together. Sven and I were there most of the, > time, if not every time. During these discussions my ideas on > (great) product making and working with a product vision were > formed. Sven was patient and waited until the time was right. > > That was LGM 2006. We made the GIMP product vision there > (a first) and after a hiatus Ellen ensured that our > collaboration got rolling; the first of its kind and > with the first openUsability internship (Kamila Giedrojc). > > Sven ensured that we all were working towards GIMP’s vision, > and made that everyone in the project understood that a > new way of working, of collaboration with the UI team, had > arrived. I learned a lot in those days. Sven came up with > the idea (and action) to work via a wiki, and I am still > using that today in many projects. > > You can say that Sven’s conclusions about the state of GIMP > and all his actions were the necessary precondition for a > successful collaboration. > > A bit later Martin Nordholts joined the GIMP team. He > understood the importance of interaction (design) for > making software that works, and we started a great > collaboration. It was based on ‘I help you, you help me’ > and respect for each other’s competence and work. It was > very uplifting and again I learned a lot. > > You can say that Martin’s attitude and his actions were > the necessary precondition for a successful collaboration. > (At this point I’d like to mention GSoC student Aurimas Juška, > with whom collaboration was also a pleasure.) > > All of this was not perfect, there were enough infuriating > moments for me, but it got results. We moved issues big and > small from absolutely awful, to elegant and powerful. > > > And then… Sven and Martin left the project. > > That is years ago and with 20/20 hindsight, when both of them > had left each and every precondition for a successful collaboration > had vanished from the GIMP project. We soldiered on, in an > on-and-off fashion, for years. Results became vanishingly rare. > > The TiTO fiasco put a big magnifying glass on all the missing > preconditions: something is broken, for a long time, and it cannot > be patched up by some new rules of engagement. > > > practical stuff: I will close the GIMP UI brainstorm. > > gui.gimp.org is a repository and will be waiting for a new > usability/interaction/UX maintainer. I guess it will take a while > for such a person to turn up at the GIMP project, but when the > day arrives I will have a friendly chat with them (to ensure > that GIMP will be in safe & experienced hands), and hand it over. > > --ps > > founder + interaction architect > man + machine interface works > > http://blog.mmiworks.net: on interaction architecture > > > > > _______________________________________________ > gimp-developer-list mailing list > List address: gimp-developer-list@xxxxxxxxx > List membership: https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gimp- > developer-list > List archives: https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gimp-developer-list > _______________________________________________ gimp-developer-list mailing list List address: gimp-developer-list@xxxxxxxxx List membership: https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gimp-developer-list List archives: https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gimp-developer-list
