On Aug 12, 2009, at 9:44 AM, DJ Delorie wrote: > >> If you try to use a chainsaw as if it was a hand saw it will seem >> very clumsy. > > As someone who uses a chainsaw often, I find that analogy stupid[*]. > > A chainsaw is a perfect example of what gEDA is *not*. Anyone > familiar with chainsaws can pick up pretty much any chainsaw and do > most of what you'd need to do with a chainsaw. Despite differences, > it's easy to figure out how to prime and start it, what the safety and > operational features are, and how to use it correctly. Assuming you > know how to use chainsaws in general, of course.
Yes, and that last sentence is my point. gEDA is a chainsaw in a world of where most only know handsaws. > > But it's more than just a tool for cutting up firewood. I've seen > people sculpt statues with it, cut rough window openings with it, do > post and beam construction, and even shave 1/16" off the length of a > beam. Heck, I've used it while camping to carve a bowl to eat stew > out of. None of these uses preclude its ease of use for common > operations. > > As for gEDA, I think we can assume that our target audience knows > something about EDA (or is trying to learn something about EDA). Yes. They know how to use a handsaw. The problem is they've never seen the elements of a power tool (Makefile, pipeline, script, revision control system, ...). Or are frightened of them, as a lot of people are of power tools. > We're not targetting economics majors or chefs or other non-EDA > people. For a majority of the EDA crowd, gEDA needs to "just work" as > an EDA workflow. Anyone familiar with EDA should be able to install > it and do common EDA stuff. "Anyone familiar with a handsaw should be able to use a chainsaw do do common forestry without learning anything new." I don't think so... > Yet, people familiar with gEDA who wish > to work "outside the box" should be able to do so also. > > > [*] Especially as I've used a chain saw in a situtation where a hand > saw normally would have been used, and it was an elegant solution > to my problem. You had to start the engine, didn't you? I bet you didn't try to cut by pushing it back and forth by hand! That's the difficulty with gEDA: people familiar with less flexible, lower productivity systems find learning how to fuel it, oil it, and start its engine an intolerable burden. They expect it to work like a hand tool. John Doty Noqsi Aerospace, Ltd. http://www.noqsi.com/ [email protected] _______________________________________________ geda-user mailing list [email protected] http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
