>Reactions and insights most welcomed.
I agree whole heartedly, Mark:
Planning and developing a shared perception of the final product are essential.
How many of you recall that the penultimate Mars mission crashed because
one software landing routine spoke feet & inches to another routine that
understood metric? It can _and will_ happen if we're not on the same
wavelength.
In addition to Mark's renegade leader/dictator/visionary or disciplined
community, we will need one or more list keepers keeping track of things
like:
* global variable names
* objects supported, including default property settings
* libraries of general purpose handlers (eg: justify, stripBlanks, etc)
* a standard heading for all handlers listing information such as author,
last modification date, copyright, etc.
* a standrd format for printed and online documantation & help
* standard programming conventions (an example I'll propose: "Whenever an
answer dialog is to be displayed as the result of a user action, the dialog
is skipped and the default answer is returned if the optionKey is down.")
* standrd icons and or other resources (whether in a resource fork or not)
* a list of all the lists :{`)
But it all starts with sharing our goals & objectives and adding detail as
we get further into the design. If you have not already done so, take a
closer look at the applications you use every day. What is it about each
app's UI that you find innovative, and what features leave you cursing?
What apps' UIs would you list as especially good/bad?
(My candidate for a UI worth looking at: NetObjects Fusion
http://www.netobjects.com/ There's a free demo download; but it's not small
as I recall. It can get a bit cluttered if too many windows are open at
once; but I really don't see how the functionality could be attained in a
simpler fashion...perhaps one of you will.)
Our membership spans at least two continents; so a face-to-face meeting
would likely leave some members out. I don't mind an attempt at an online
chat; but would suggest if the object is to introduce ourselves and our
ideas, we do it in text and eMail copies ahead of time.
Suggestion: Eric is working on the partnership agreement. When he is
finished he will need to know who the initial partners will be and what the
partnership will be named. May we set the goals of:
* Finalizing the partnership name by Christmas
* Finalizing the initial partner list by New Years
?
In my ongoing effort to kill two birds with one stone, how do you feel
about asking each person who wants to be a partner to submit a statement of
canadacy describing his/her motivation for joining the partnership, vision
for FreeCard, and proposed area(s) of contribution to the FreeCard project?
Whether or not that's agreeable, can we get some idea of how many people
are interested in partnership? We have the magnificant seven who voted in
the first or second round and Adrian & MP0wered who spoke up during the
discussion. Will those who are not one of the nine and want to be a
partner let us know who you are. Likewise, any among the nine who don't
want to be partners should say so.
Rob Cozens, CCW
http://www.serendipitysoftware.com/who.html
"And I, which was two fooles, do so grow three;
Who are a little wise, the best fooles bee."
from "The Triple Foole" by John Donne (1572-1631)
