[Digikam-users] Users manual?

Tue Jan 5 20:14:51 GMT 2010

One thing people tend to forget is that the majority of people working on projects like digiKam are not getting paid in any way for their work.  I think it's reasonable to ask developers for things, but complaining about all that is wrong with an application or Linux in general is not productive.  The fact that people are donating their free time to write code I can use is good enough for me.  If I have to give up some of my precious time to understand how to make it work that's a compromise I choose to make instead of buying propriety crap from MS, ADBE, or anyone else.  If you don't want to make that compromise, it's understandable, but it's not simply the fault of developers for not making things easy.  

Assuming that digiKam developers have limited time I'd be ok with never seeing any documentation and having them concentrate on new features, new releases, bug fixes, etc.  Yes I always want more, but I'm happy with whatever I get!

Vern

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Cloyd [mailto:tomcloyd at comcast.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 3:07 PM
To: digikam
Subject: Re: [Digikam-users] Users manual?

On 01/05/2010 07:20 AM, BGP wrote:
> Tom Cloyd wrote:
>> I STRONGLY think links to immediately available documentation should
>> be visible in the main menu's Help item drop down or some other
>> VISIBLE space. When I recently installed Digikam on my Kubuntu 9.10
>> OS, it came with NO help, no documentation a human being could easily
>> find, and a lot of frustration. All help links, context help, etc.,
>> led to "no documentation available" messages.
>>
>> It took me close to 2 hours to find the solution to this problem.
>> This is NOT good customer relations.  It's been three days and I
>> still pissed.
>>
>> I find this program to be quite interesting, and likely very useful
>> to me in the immediate future - BUT ONLY IF I CAN GET DOCUMENTATION
>> ON ITS FUNCTIONS WITHOUT CLEARING MY SCHEDULE AND JUMPING ONTO THREE
>> FORUMS (mild hyperbole there, but you get the idea) to find out where
>> the stuff is hiding and what I have to do to get it on my machine..
>>
>> I really do NOT want to hear why I had this experience. I'm not
>> interested. I don't care. I don't have time. I want to hear that it's
>> going to be fixed, that in the future I'm going to get a complete
>> program when I install digikam. A user interface that isn't rather
>> easy to get into or get figured out is a failure. Period. I'm far
>> from computer illiterate and I simply fell into a deep hole with my
>> initial installation of digikam.
>>
>> I continue to be amazed that this sort of thing is simply accepted in
>> the Linux world. You want acceptance? Make yourself acceptable.
>>
>> (And thanks for this great program - as I'm getting into it, it looks
>> very fine. I'm grateful to have it. Now please fix the damn packaging
>> problem.)
>>
>> t.
>>
>> On 01/05/2010 06:28 AM, BGP wrote:
>>> Gilles Caulier wrote:
>>>> install digikam handbook package.
>>>>
>>>> Gilles Caulier
>>>>
>>>> 2010/1/5 BGP<bigskypa at gmail.com>:
>>>>
>>>>> Gilles Caulier wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> as a separate package. anyway it's there :
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.digikam.org/drupal/docs
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Gilles Caulier
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2010/1/5 BGP<bigskypa at gmail.com>:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Where do I get a users manual for Digikam?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm using Ubuntu 9.10 (if that matters).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> Digikam-users mailing list
>>>>>>> Digikam-users at kde.org
>>>>>>> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> How do I configure Digikam so that when I hit the F1 key to get
>>>>> HELP the
>>>>> help/users manuals come up?
>>>>> Or, does everyone just download the PDF file and use it that way?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>> How do I do that?
>>>
>>> Where do I get it?
>>>
>>> I just downloaded the Digikam.pdf file which I can open seperate from
>>> Digikam.  Is that what everyone does?
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Digikam-users mailing list
>>> Digikam-users at kde.org
>>> https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/digikam-users
>>>
>>
>>
> I second your comments and it's exactly what I've thought about Linux
> for a long time.  Make it easy to access, understandable and not some
> computer geek techno-talk.  I have spent TOO MANY HOURS reading trash
> from people that, for whatever reason, think they are the high-priests
> of Linux, understand the system perfectly but have no brains in their
> head or ability to tell others how to solve their problems with Linux.
>
> Heck, I still don't even know how to download a program with that that
> Tar ball or Tar bag or whatever it's called!!!!
>
> Linux would've slaughtered Windows years ago if it had been as easy to
> use (with some exceptions) as Windows.  I have no intention of going
> back to Windows for most of my work but do not like having to put up
> with nonsense from a poorly presented system.
>
> On the other hand.....I really do like Ubuntu.  But, it's just a
> system, a bunch of code lines and not a person.  It's a product with
> no emotion and no soul so I'm under no obligation to regard it with
> the affection or loyalty I'd have for a person.
>
> Digikam is a good program.  Much nicer than that wretched Picasa (and
> any thing that fool Google comes up with). The developers have done a
> good job of making it....but they could add on a few more things
> that'd make it the best.  To get a help manual requires a PhD just to
> download and install.  Really, how hard could it be to include all of
> the extras we need to start with ?
>
>
>
>
>
>
Wow. I expected to be slaughtered for my observations, to which I was 
also prepared to cling firmly, as I'm confident of their soundness. 
Instead, you agree. Excellent. Thanks for the supportive response.

I make my living working with people (as a psychotherapist) - which 
doesn't mean I'm always very agreeable to be around! But, I do know that 
people require management, and fostering. Computer aren't about 
programmers, they're about users. Something as probably-terrific (I'll 
know soon) as DigiKam, needs to give a LOT more attention to public 
relations. My standard recommendations ('cause I've had this 
conversation before):

1. The folks driving the software need to slow down feature development, 
pull together a mechanism for getting and using customer feedback, and 
then visibly make some usability changes. Documentation is only the 
first step - not that many folks read the stuff (I do), but it still 
needs to be there. Observing and responding to user interactions with 
the interface IS the answer.

2. I strongly believe in the value of a user drive documentation wiki. 
Just do it. Then promote it. DO NOT ALLOW good ideas which come out of 
any related forum to lay buried there. Move them into the wiki. STOP ALL 
CODING AND DO THIS FOR 30 DAYS, for pete's sake. Help us catch up with you.

Bottom line: Computer literate as I am (mainframe operator experience. 
programming experience in multiple languages - currently Ruby, 
professional web site design experience), I DO NOT HAVE TIME TO WORK MY 
WAY THROUGH GEEKSPEAK, much less go on a g.d. treasure hunt to FIND the 
damned stuff. Since I often have little alternative, I give up time I 
ought to be skiing, practicing guitar, publishing, developing friends 
and lovers, just so I can locate the g. d. documentation for something I 
really really need to use. Not good for my mental health, and you don't 
want to meet me in a dark alley if I know you're the author of this ship 
wreck.

For what it's worth . Gotta get back to work.

t.

-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tom Cloyd, MS MA, LMHC
Private practice Psychotherapist
Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A: (360) 920-1226
<<  tc at tomcloyd.com>>  (email)
<<  TomCloyd.com>>  (website)
<<  sleightmind.wordpress.com>>  (mental health issues weblog)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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