just got clear of an interesting discussion with some users on irc. apparently kde has no good applications. now, i disagree with that, but wanted to understand what this perception was based on.
answer? having tried various kde apps several releases ago. apparently amarok doesn't have an EQ; kmail doesn't have offline IMAP; kontact, whatzat? etc, etc, etc...
during the kde2 devel days, the project certainly did concentrate more on infrastructure than app development. and rightly so: the framework needed to mature, and that takes a lot of effort. given the manpower available, that pretty much dictated the pace.
with kde3, there was a conscious movement of concentration to application development. whereas most of the development pace seemed to focus on kdelibs and kdebase up to that point, the applications became the centre of gravity and kdelibs and kdebase moved out of the spotlight..
this is not to say lots of great work continued on in the infrastructure bits, with khtml, kwin, kicker, gethotnewstuff, and many more bits and nibbles getting lots of attention. but it's hard to deny that kontact, kopete, juk, kdeedu, kdevelop, kdeaccessability and a host of other apps really started to shine and became the most exciting things to track in cvs (and later svn).
and third party app devel took off like a rocket, too! k3b, digikam, konversation, amarok, kaffeine, apollon .....
things are far, far better today application wise than they were. and yet many people tried the apps a couple years ago and just stopped trying them. people give up easy. this is why it is critical to remember to keep the user community up to date with what you are doing with your apps.
to us as developers, our progress is incremental. our users see the differences in 6-12 month chunks (or more!) so it's often revolutionary. they also tend to give a piece of software only one or two chances before giving up on it, after which they need to be reminded that the things they missed then are there now.
if you are a kde application developer, ask yourself: "compared to 1, 2, 3 and 4 releases ago, what mis(sing)features would a user have wanted addressed?" make some screenshots of those new things and blog about them; msg canllaith for inclusion in the "what's new in svn" guide; write a theDot story giving an update on your app.
and if you feel that your app isn't deserving of that attention, that it's not significant: remember that to those who use and depend on the software you write it is very significant. they'd appreciate an update now and again.
peace 'n luv.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
You have a valid point there, but I think there's another point that affecs KDE project in a bad way, let me explaint:
Im a GNOME user since 3 years now, every time I see a forum, trolling etc, I only hear from KDE user how much GNOME sucks and how much KDE shines and that is 10 times better etc. That makes me try every new release of KDE and release that all the words I read in trolling forums about the wonder of KDE where only overrated from someone who obviosly was just trolling.
That makes me feel disapointed about KDE I and return to GNOME, and every time a read again about all the excitemnts of KDE I think "OK I won't bite it this time".
So, I think the exageration of some users is afecting KDE, if only I read nothing bout the true and how has KDE improved their work instead of saying "GNOME sucks KDE rules" w/o valid arguments, well at least I wouln't be disapointed every time I try KDE because I'd would spect something real, not exagerations.
My personal point of view.
The exact same thing can be said of GNOME advocates. I could find you plenty of examples of people going, "KDE sucks," "no one uses it," "GNOME is way better," yet having no actual evidence or reason backing things up.
The fact is, there are a lot of people on the internet who pick something as their favorite, and feel compelled to go dump on whatever they perceive as competition for their favorite, most of the time with unsubstantiated statements like you list.
I doubt that KDE has an abnormally high percentage of such people. If you believe otherwise, I submit that you're not looking closely enough. Our perceptions are easily colored by our own opinions, so you're more likely to see KDE trolls than GNOME trolls, simply because you like GNOME better, and therefore turn a blind eye, or because you frequent GNOME-biased groups, where a larger percentage of KDE people will be trolls.
Unfortunately, it's pretty much impossible to stop people from trolling for their personal favorite product, if they're so disposed. It's just human nature. I'd just recommend trying not to let the trolls influence your perspective on the project and the people who actually work on it.
yes, i'm not talking about random intarweb tr011s. they are, generally, all cut from the same ignorable cloth.
i'm talking about real life users, many of whom use kde as their chosen desktop but aren't aware of how the applications have matured since they last tried them and so limp along with things like thunderbird or xmms.
The fact is, if the person tries a KDE app, think it's immature, then tries anything else and this one fulfills his wishes, it's hard he will be willing to try again, unless the whole world praise that KDE app is better than his, or the person is likely to try software for fun.
The only reason to keeping an eye on an app is if there is a compelling reason to do so, say, it's the only FOSS alternative, or even being immature has interesting design, approach or features.
Some apps has such potential. Some doesn't, at least for certain people ('cause "interesting" is subjective).
The only advice possible is being cautious and humble when releasing an application. If you advertise it as great and it isn't, I understand people dismissing it. If you advertise it as "not ready yet", you have more chances people wait and back to check if it's ready.
Humility and quality control. As simple as that.
@Julio
> keeping an eye on an app is if
> there is a compelling reason to
> do so
and how do you think people should know when there is a compelling reason to keep your eye on app? it takes communication. something i often notice doesn't happen.
> If you advertise it as "not
> ready yet", you have more
> chances people wait and back to
> check if it's ready.
this is a rosy viewpoint on how software works but is pretty much completely unrealistic.
when you release software, unless it's marked as "alpha! dangerous!", people will try it and form conclusions. the only way to advertise it as "not ready yet" is to simply not release it.
moreover, while the software may well do most of what most people need, it may not do everything for everyone. should you therefore not release it? of course not!
so how then does one get those for whom the software didn't serve them well to try it again? by letting them know (aka communicating) that it now does cover their needs. many of our apps have reached this point and people still don't know about it.
> Humility and quality control. As
> simple as that.
so the kmail developers lack humility and quality control? or the amarok boys for not having an eq window sooner? =/
i'm sorry but i find your insinuation here not only naive but insulting.
this is all about communicating accurately but consistently with your audience, not some self-defeating "humility"
Two comments on this. I fully agree with your sentiments, of course this affects all platforms. People are still making fun of Windows stability even though that was basically solved with Windows 2000.
Also, I think the equalizer in Amarok was a bad example to choose, sure amarok has an EQ now, but it isn't nearly as good as the one in XMMS. XMMS has a better equalizer with some nice predefined presets and an easy way to load and save new ones. For me, that doesn't matter since I don't use the EQ, but for others I can see how it is an issue.
This blog is awesome! If you get a chance you may want to visit this time tracking software site, it's pretty awesome too!
Nice Blog, My site is:
software
Post a Comment