RE: LYNX-DEV -dev != -programming

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From: Philip Webb <address@hidden>
Message-Id: <address@hidden>
Subject: LYNX-DEV -dev != -programming
To: address@hidden (lynx-dev listserv)
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 01:19:34 -0500 (EST)
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having thrown a pebble into the pond & watched a few ripples,
let me follow up as i intended.

first, thanx to Benjamin Sittler for answering my questions
& offering a reasoned rebuttal to my gripe.

second, i'm amused at the references in two responses to  browser.org :
yes, i HAVE contributed something to lynx-dev in the two months
i have been looking in: it was little me who pointed out the url was free
& suggested someone grab & use it for lynx.  thanx therefore to Rob & others
for following up my idea very promptly for the benefit of everyone.

i've been reading everything, learning something & reacting a bit.
lynx-dev is usually interesting, sometimes impressive, occasionally irritating.
there's an awful lot going thro' it, not all at the same level.

development is a lot more than programming.  there is clearly a number
of very good programmers contributing to lynx code, out of enthusiasm,
in their spare time.  but lynx-dev isn't about swapping patches
for more & more esoteric add-ons.  it's about developing a product
& making it available to a very large potential crowd of consumers.

yes, it's non-profit, done by volunteers: i'm taking the time, as a volunteer,
to raise an aspect of the endeavour which i see being too much overlooked.
i'm old enough to remember the '60s ("But to be young then was very Heaven"),
& lynx-dev has a lot of the constructive anarchy of that time.

two things have struck me over the last couple of months.  first, the extent
to which installing 2-6 presents difficulties.  almost every day there is
discussion of some problem there, a new one maybe every 3 or 4 days.
i have downloaded 2-6 (encountering & solving a couple of tiny problems),
but am still getting up the nerve to actually install it: i'm sure i can do it,
but not at all sure it will be easy & straightforward.

the system i use is UNIX in the form of IRIX on an SGI machine.  recently
there was an appeal for help from someone who was trying to compile 2-6
in the same environment (i've kept the thread for reference): Hiram Lester
gave a very good & appropriate explanation at just the right level.
the problem? -- you've got to  make clean .  the point? -- it's NOT COVERED
in the installation guide.

but surely EVERYBODY knows THAT! -- no: the vast majority of people
who may try to install 2-6 out there DON'T know that kind of thing
(i didn't, but do now), or at least can't be ASSUMED to know it.
that's just one of the still growing list of problems people are having
installing the latest official version of lynx.

there was a discussion recently whether to send out binaries a/a source:
the latter came out on top due to the great variety of machines & o/s's
on which lynx may be used.  but it presents a fundamental problem
for lynx developers, in that users need to have quick & easy installation.
it's not a matter which can be shuffled off or even dealt with AD HOC.

so, the first recommendation:  browser.org  should have a page which collects
all the problems people have encountered installing the latest lynx
on various machines/systems, & the page should be carefully organised
so that it's easy to find what applies to you.  this is AS IMPORTANT
to development of lynx as writing the code.

and a corollary: there should also be a page explaining background & jargon
-- as Mr Sittler did for me -- : no, most people DON'T know those things,
and they have no readier way of finding them out than to ask here.

what have i seen repeatedly (not always) during the last two months?
"Go search the archives" is utterly inadequate.  "That's a FAQ" is
a reasonable response only when there's an easy-to-find list of FAQs
with good answers: if it means "Somebody asked that a few months ago",
it's not good enough.  yes, there have to be people ready to maintain it
& everyone's a volunteer, but that doesn't make it LESS IMPORTANT.

second, isn't too much collective effort being put into patches?
there has been more than one comment that lynx is getting too big:
there's a very strong case for PC versions which would have to be smaller.
some of the recent patches seem to be rather esoteric: it may be clever
to allow multiple bookmark files, but is there more than one user anywhere
who wants them?

it goes back to point one: DEVELOPMENT should include a lot MORE of making
lynx more widely & more easily available & LESS of adding bells, whistles
& programming glitz to what already works so well.

there's more to say, but it's other people's turn.
========================,,============================================
SUPPORT     ___________//___,  Philip Webb : address@hidden
ELECTRIC   /] [] [] [] [] []|  Centre for Urban & Community Studies
TRANSIT    `-O----------O---'  University of Toronto
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