Re: gEDA-user: gEDA just hit SlashDotOrg

[DJ Delorie <dj@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I think that this is basically an argument in usability vs flexibility.

Hmm...  I don't think those are exclusive.

gEDA provides flexibility.  This allows for multiple workflows.  Power
users can use this flexibility to custom tailor their workflow.  Fine,
so far.  However, not everyone is a power user.

So, we must provide some default workflows for the beginners.  Is gEDA
powerful enough and flexible enough to provide a seamless easy-to-use
workflow for beginners while also offering a full expansion option to
power users?  Is it powerful enough to provide all the newbie
functionality in an obvious-to-use interface?  Easy to use does not
mean simple, it means well presented.

But the original argument wasn't one of usability.

We discussed this on IRC for a while, and I had a personal revelation:

  The "windows" problem isn't about making gEDA easy to *USE*.  It's
  about making gEDA easy to *TRY*.

Currently, no matter how much better we think gEDA is - beginner or
power user - there's a hurdle to getting it installed on Windows.
People just won't try it because it's too much effort for an unknown
benefit.  Think of it as a hysteresis - the user must put some work
into just getting it to the point where they can decide if it's worth
learning.  We must lower this requirement so that those who would
benefit from gEDA - even as it is - will take the opportunity.

So, can we ignore the "flexible" vs "easy" argument for now?  I think
it's much more important to get the intermediate step first - giving
people an easier solution to *trying* gEDA to see if it fits their
needs.


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