On 05/05/06, Timothée Anglade <timothee.anglade@...1261...> wrote:
On 5/5/06, Ben Fowler <ben.the.mole@...400...> wrote:
On 05/05/06, Timothée Anglade <timothee.anglade@...1261...> wrote:
As far as 're-designing' Inkscape, it sure does sound interesting, but that's not something I would get myself into unless it was strongly demanded by the community. I know for a fact that in most re-designs (be it for websites, apps, logos or whatever) it's useless to do it if there is not a need that is felt by the community. I may feel like Inkscape needs a re-design, you may too, but that's something that would most definitely has to start from a strong signal from the entire dev team.
You have, I think, hit the nail on the head, if not squarely. The current (Gtk+) design for Inkscape is good, and changes to it are resisted. Look at the 'Edit' menu which only a mother could love. I suspect that it is easy for OSS projects to reach a local maximum.
If we want to be 'best of breed' then we need to re-think.
We are often urged to do a root and branch redesign - the Firefox model, and like all these endeavours, it will start well.
Personally, I think that just as OSS coding comes from people using the program contributing the bug fixes, the enhancements and new features, so OSS UI design should come about by getting users into the loop. We need tools and social structures so that individual users can fix, enhance and add to the UI.
In the absence of this discipline, I fall back on urging anyone who seems the slightest bit interested into somehow contributing to or testing the UI for Inkscape.
Tim, looking for a reason to be 'fier'...
Sorry, the word in this country is often associated with motherhood, and I wasn't thinking that it was an adjective.
Ben