Re: gEDA-user: gEDA just hit SlashDotOrg

[John Doty <jpd@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Aug 12, 2009, at 9:44 AM, DJ Delorie wrote:

>
>> 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.

Yes, and that last sentence is my point. gEDA is a chainsaw in a  
world of where most only know handsaws.

>
> 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).

Yes. They know how to use a handsaw. The problem is they've never  
seen the elements of a power tool (Makefile, pipeline, script,  
revision control system, ...). Or are frightened of them, as a lot of  
people are of power tools.

> 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.

"Anyone familiar with a handsaw should be able to use a chainsaw do  
do common forestry without learning anything new." I don't think so...

>   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.

You had to start the engine, didn't you? I bet you didn't try to cut  
by pushing it back and forth by hand! That's the difficulty with  
gEDA: people familiar with less flexible, lower productivity systems  
find learning how to fuel it, oil it, and start its engine an  
intolerable burden. They expect it to work like a hand tool.

John Doty              Noqsi Aerospace, Ltd.
http://www.noqsi.com/
jpd@xxxxxxxxx




_______________________________________________
geda-user mailing list
geda-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user