Re: SEUL: The Cathedral and the bazaar

[David Cary <d.cary@ieee.org>]

(Summarizing a long thread; perhaps for a web page)

I'm assuming everyone has read
  "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" by Eric S. Raymond
  http://www.ccil.org/~esr/writings/cathedral.html
(which points to the German translation
  http://www.linux-magazin.de/ausgabe.1997.08/Basar/basar.html
)

It's a very compelling idea.

However, there are a couple of things that don't seem to fit into this model:
 * How do we create a *global* help system ?
 * How do we create a *consistent*, easy-to-use user interface ?

These are so very important to the SEUL distribution. But we want to
maintain as much of the a bazaar-like atmosphere as possible.

Erik Walthinsen <omega@seul.org> - SEUL Project system architect
says
"I do not feel
that we can adopt a 100% Bazaar structure.  The scope of the project is
simply too large to jump in without planning at least the general structure
and goals of the project.  We have a specific goal: to create a distribution
for end-users.  A Bazaar model is not as useful for this simply because, left
to their own devices, those who code software will code within their realm of
expertise in user interface, i.e. not necessarily consistent with other
projects or usable by end-users."

--
+ David Cary "mailto:d.cary@ieee.org" "http://www.rdrop.com/~cary/"
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