Indeed. This whole "not for end users" spiel is a pretty lame cop-out
response. This is like saying mozilla is not for end users, so we don't
plan on including address book searching (they are) or something basic
like a back button that works. The truth is, the mozilla team would be
working on it / including it if the manpower existed. Spell-checker is
a basic functionality of a mail client, not some bonus feature.
David Coppit wrote:
> Frequently I hear people say "Mozilla is not an end user application".
> Most often this is in reply to people asking about spell checkers for
> mail/news.
>
> Well, why not?
>
> Binaries are being released, and "end users" are using them. And from
> what I can see, there aren't large notices that say "Warning: these
> binaries are only meant to test the Mozilla code, and are not meant to
> be used by non-developers (end users)".
>
> I could understand if we were talking about some math library, or even
> some GUI library. But it seems to me that Mozilla provides user-level
> functionality, and is therefore an end user application.
>
> Instead of saying "Mozilla isn't an end user application", maybe it
> would be better to say "Mozilla is an end user application, but the
> developers are targeting the browser and mail/news right now. Try
> Netscape 6.1 if you want spell checking".
>
> If someone were to develop a copyright/royalty/patent free spell checker
> for Mozilla, it would be incorporated, right? So to imply that features
> like spell checking aren't on the radar isn't quite right, and probably
> hinders Mozilla's ability to eventually gain world domination by
> addressing common needs of end users. ;)
>
> Regards,
> David
>
