Re: Questions

[Gregory Casamento]

Doc,

On Sun, Mar 6, 2016 at 1:52 PM, Doc O'Leary <droleary@2015usenet1.subsume.com> wrote:

For your reference, records indicate that
Gregory Casamento <greg.casamento@gmail.com> wrote:

> On a side note: I have
> also often heard people express the idea that if you have a comment you
> should also be willing to help fix whatever you're commenting on.   While
> it would be nice if this were always the case it is not good practice to
> exclude the opinions of those who either don't have the skill or the time
> to contribute, but who want to USE the platform for their projects.  It
> would be a terrible mistake not to listen to them.

On this point I’d go a step further: if someone signs on to do work on a
part of the project, you should be accepting the *responsibility* of that
role, which should be seen as far greater than simply coding some bits to
suit your own purposes.  The reason I would like to see a clear goal
stated is so that people can understand the bigger picture and see where
their contributions fit into the whole.

​I agree with this.  ​When someone wants to submit a patch that's one thing, but if someone expresses a desire to add more then they become responsible for it.

 

> > GNUstep's mission is extended to one of bringing the ease of Cocoa
> > development to as many platforms as possible.
> >
> >
> > That is something I can agree with and find it attractive.
> >
>
> I'm glad, then maybe we should change the website to reflect something
> similar.

But it still isn’t clear *how* GNUstep is organized to achieve that goal.

​This is plainly beyond the scope of a mission statement.  Also saying we are "bringing Cocoa to other platforms" clearly implies that there is a path.  Describing that path is the domain of​ documentation.  There are articles on the Wiki which make this clear.  Those articles should be more prominently featured perhaps.

We can’t just ignore the big gorilla in the room (Apple), either. 

​Sure we can.  We can mention we are compatible with something by name.  As long as there is not a possibility of brand confusing we are clear in the legal sense, so there is no sense making a huge deal about this.  In my 20 years on this project there has not been a single stirring of the fruit basket. ;)   I don't expect one now unless we become wildly popular which, given how things are going, I believe that Apple is the absolute least of our concerns.​

I’m

​ ​

not trying to make it sound like it needs to be complex, but it does need
to be *clear* where GNUstep positions itself in the sphere of Cocoa
development. 

​The mission statement I gave is very short, understandable, and crystal clear such that anyone with a primary / grade school education would be able to follow it.

 

I maintain it isn’t clear if or how a Mac app can be run
with GNUstep, nor is it clear if or how a GNUstep-first app can be run on
a Mac.

​There are wiki pages for this....​

 http://mediawiki.gnustep.org/index.php/Writing_portable_code

 

​This page details both directions.  The issue is that it is not linked to on the site so it is not immediately obvious how this should work.​

--
"Also . . . I can kill you with my brain."
River Tam, Trash, Firefly

​By the way I am a huge firefly fan... that's one of my favorite quotes.​

 

​GC​

--

Gregory Casamento
GNUstep Lead Developer / OLC, Principal Consultant
http://www.gnustep.org - http://heronsperch.blogspot.com
http://ind.ie/phoenix/