Re: gEDA-user: gEDA just hit SlashDotOrg

[DJ Delorie <dj@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> If you try to use a chainsaw as if it was a hand saw it will seem
> very clumsy.

As someone who uses a chainsaw often, I find that analogy stupid[*].

A chainsaw is a perfect example of what gEDA is *not*.  Anyone
familiar with chainsaws can pick up pretty much any chainsaw and do
most of what you'd need to do with a chainsaw.  Despite differences,
it's easy to figure out how to prime and start it, what the safety and
operational features are, and how to use it correctly.  Assuming you
know how to use chainsaws in general, of course.

But it's more than just a tool for cutting up firewood.  I've seen
people sculpt statues with it, cut rough window openings with it, do
post and beam construction, and even shave 1/16" off the length of a
beam.  Heck, I've used it while camping to carve a bowl to eat stew
out of.  None of these uses preclude its ease of use for common
operations.

As for gEDA, I think we can assume that our target audience knows
something about EDA (or is trying to learn something about EDA).
We're not targetting economics majors or chefs or other non-EDA
people.  For a majority of the EDA crowd, gEDA needs to "just work" as
an EDA workflow.  Anyone familiar with EDA should be able to install
it and do common EDA stuff.  Yet, people familiar with gEDA who wish
to work "outside the box" should be able to do so also.


[*] Especially as I've used a chain saw in a situtation where a hand
    saw normally would have been used, and it was an elegant solution
    to my problem.


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