At 4:23 PM -0700 on 7/5/99, Alain Farmer wrote:
>Alain : In some regards, you are right that the programming is the most
>significant part of the project, but :
>
>(1) many would argue that the interface is the most important aspect
>because that is what the user experiences when he will use our system.
>Programming and Interface are often at odds in a system. Which one will
>have primacy over the other one when hard choices will have to be made
>?
The UI!
>
>(2) I believe that the collaborative aspects are the most important for
>the success and long-term viability of this team effort. Without a
>solid infrastructure and some shared freely-agreed-upon rules, our best
>efforts might be sabotaged by various conflicts. The licencing issue,
Well, the licencing issue is pretty much a non-issue presently: The people
who write the stuff will decide a licence. I can't force Uli -- and should
not be able for force -- to accept the LGPL, and simularly no one can force
me -- or should be able to force me -- to accept a clause forbidding sale
of Interpreter.
The programmers, artists, etc. who have their actual intellectual property
in OpenCard obvoisly have to agree on some terms under which to put
OpenCard out, but that's long into the future.
>for example, is potentially explosive particularly when things will
>have evolved to the point where commercial interests might cloud our
>community-spirit.
More explosive is the line, "where commercial interests might cloud our
community-spirit."
Because, quite frankly, I don't think any of us are here except that we
have something -- a replacement for a needed software product -- to gain.
At least I hope that's the case. And I don't think that there is anything
wrong with commercial interests, and everything wrong with
"community-spirit" -- at least in the sence it is normally held to mean. No
one here should be under any obligation to contribute any work; any work
forced out of people will be lower than par in quality, and is wrong,
besides.
I've probably started a political flamewar... I'm getting the fire
extinguisher and fire-resistant clothing <g>.
