Spyros Blanas wrote:
Kevin Cannon wrote:
Now if you're goal is to become quite popular, you have to cater for everyday users.
It's maybe -a- goal, but not -the- goal. -The- goal is to be a good editor for SVG, last time I checked.
I'd say that out of every users who downloads Inkscape, you have about 5-10 minutes of them using it before they decide if they'll ever use it again.
A significant portion of people will never use it if they can't find out how to pan, zoom and rotate effectively in that time period. And it's really those people I'm speaking for. If someone is really motivated to learn Inkscape they will of course, but most people will be trying it out for a few minutes to see if they like it.
As a new Inkscape user, I have to admit that Kevin has -IMHO- quite a point. I can recall that in the very first five minutes I almost stopped using Inkscape (yes, forever) because I couldn't find out how to fill my juct-created rectangle with a green color, being used to these nice docking swatch toolbars Corel/Xara programs had. And I am not talking about rocket science, just about painting a box! No one should need to read the manual to do this! (Needless to say, patience paid out well in the end.)
In this regard, I think that creating Macromedia, Illustrator and Corel-like environments (shortcuts, menus, toolbars) would have a great impact on new users. I don't know to what extent this is possible, though.
Making the features of Inkscape either familiar, intuitive, or quickly guessed by induction, is certainly a good way to design it. Gaining an audience from the pool of Illustrator users is also a good thing. I have been a fan of Illustrator for many years, and have used it at work often. We would do well to measure its good qualities as candidates for Inkscape ideas. Blender is a good example, too. I once thought that Blender's keystroke-only interface was a horrible mess, until I saw a talented person using it productively.
But one thing should be remembered. Inkscape, in the end, will be its own individual project, and will work in the way it needs for users to be able to produce quality -SVG- output. There is no interest in producing an exact clone of Illustrator or Photoshop. There is no innovation involved in merely copying someone else's work. Nor is there any incentive for people writing code in their free time on nights or weekends to provide such a beast. If enough people want those, then they can petition Macromedia to port to Linux, or maybe start their own project. Let someone else do that.
SVG is something new and cool.
Being familiar is wonderful, but INNOVATION IS NOT EVIL. People should never be afraid to learn new things. When you lose your curiosity, you lose part of your soul.
But, yes, for those things that are new and different, there should be a good reason for them to be that way, and not just be mysterious in order to promote our l33tn3ss, as if the GUI were written in Latin. :-)
Personally, the best thing about Inkscape is that it is actually being developed by a community and is open-source. After all, in one month after first using Inkscape, here I am, tracking the inkscape-devel list!
The guys on this project make up one of the best groups of open source developers I have been fortunate enough to meet, and I have been in open source for quite a while now.
And don't forget, Inkscape developers are Inkscape users, too. Kinda like the Hair Club for Men.
bob