Re: gEDA: Some suggestions

[Peter Kaiser <peter-at-NOSPAMeasy-asic_dot_de>]

Hi everybody,

I think, there are very interesting points on this list and we should read it 
carefully. I think we can distinguish the people using gEDA in two groups:

1.The programmers: They have fun, writing this program and know all the 
compiler flags and different versions of libraries. The have no problem 
compiling a new program on a system

2.The users: They don't care, what scripting language or what version of GTK 
is used. They just want to make schematics and boards. They prefer a plug and 
play solution. Every time they start compiling they hope that no error 
message comes up, because they are lost .... 

I belong to the second group. First of all I have to say thank you to all the 
programmers, for the beautiful work they have done. After all the hacking at 
the beginning of the development, gEDA has reached a stable status and I can 
work in professional projects with it. That very good!!!

Now its time for the next step. Documentation, tutorials, easy installation 
procedures, advertisement, press releases ... 

First actions are already done. Stuart, I love your gEDA installation CD. It's 
exactly what the second group needs. Plug and play. Cordially wrote a 
tutorial on linuxfocus.org. ....

We from the second group (including myself) now have to make it easier for new 
user to start with gEDA. I am confident, when we take criticism like this 
serious, we will get a lot of new users.

Peter




Am Dienstag, 28. Dezember 2004 21:02 schrieb Stuart Brorson:
> Hi Guys --
>
> I had an exchange with a guy on the Gnucap-devel list recently.   He
> claimed that gEDA wasn't ready for prime time, so I challenged him to
> list specific complaints about gEDA.  His response was both thoughtful
> and interesting.  He posted it to the web at:
>
> http://www.triode.net.au/~telford/news/2004/12/28/
>
> Those involved in developing gEDA -- including myself -- should give
> this a read.  (Actually, I've read it once already, but want to print
> it out & use it as a template for fixing things.)  I think he makes a
> lot of good usability points.
>
> Rather than finding excuses for his issues, I think his comments
> represent a typical new-user experience, and we should take his
> remarks seriously.  Some of his points, like the fact that gschem
> starts up zoomed waaaaaay out seem spot-on to me.  Others, such as his
> dislike of Scheme for gnetlist, may or may not be important points,
> but it is too late to fix it now.
>
> I will try to make some patches to address some of
> his concerns; others involved in developing parts of gEDA might also
> want to take a good, hard look at their stuff in the light of his
> comments.  His criticism is constructive, and if we pay attention to
> comments like this, then gEDA will be improved greatly.
>
> BTW:  I don't mean this to delay the next release. . .   :-)
>
> Stuart