App duplication again (Re: new project in kdemultimedia)

[Lauri Watts]

On Saturday 04 May 2002 21.44, Joseph Wenninger wrote:

> As long as two different applications have a smiliar purpose, but target
> different user groups, I think it is not that bad to keep both  (4 is a
> littlebit much though), that should not prevent the developers to exchange
> ideas/code/strings to translate/...... .

It's plain fact that CD burning (and CD burning apps) are complex enough they 
really do need some documentation. Unfortunately, writing isn't easy, if it 
was, more people would be doing it.  

I'd hate to say to a new writer asking for a pointer what to work on "well, 
there's CDBakeOven to write about, would that interest you?", have them 
invest a substantial amount of their time over the next while writing it a 
manual, only to have it disappear in the release.   

What a way to lose an enthusiastic volunteer - this exact thing has happened 
before, for example, Pixie, where a new author invested a substantial amount 
of time in documenting an unusual interface, only to have his work removed at 
the last minute.  I felt very bad writing to him to say "Sorry, you wrote a 
really great and very thorough document, thanks a lot for your time, but I've 
just removed it from CVS."   I realise this was a different set of 
circumstances, but it won't make the poor author who has wasted his time 
documenting fooCDBurner feel any better.

Until it's certain what is going on, when a new writer asks for a hint what to 
to work on, you bet we'll be pointing them at other apps in need of help 
(say, Kit, or KPovModeller, which is a really neat app, or Atlantik or Kolf 
or the new kdeedu apps or... well there's plenty to keep a new writer busy, 
without going near apps that may or may not be undergoing fundamental changes 
in the near future or might not even make it into a release of KDE at all.)

Of course, if someone writes and says "I'd like to contribute documentation, 
and I'm really interested in writing a manual for K3B or CDBakeOven" then 
great.  Reality is, most people don't do that though, they write and ask 
where to start.

Regards,
-- 
Lauri Watts