[haiku] Re: Who is Haiku for?
- From: "Humdinger" <humdingerb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: haiku@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:00:20 +0100
-- Nicholas Blachford, on Sun, 8 Nov 2009 22:41:42 +0000:
> Some systems can be very elitist and some are downright hostile
> towards casual users. I never found this was the case with BeOS and
> I
> hope this is also true with Haiku.
Hey, I saw you running Haiku at BG19, so you should know that. :)
> *By casual users I mean non-computer enthusiasts.
>
>
> So, who is Haiku for?
>
> 1) Casual users
> 2) Geeks
> 3) Both
>
> I'd like 3, what do you think?
Well, Nick, if you make me choose, I'd go for 3 as well. :)
I wonder however, if "geeks" really have demands that go against the
ones of "casuals".
Geeks will, too, appreciate an easy to use GUI that doesn't get in
their way. They may use some advanced (as in hidden therefore non-
disruptive) features and shortcuts, but as long as there's an
unobtrusive but obvious way for casuals, it's OK. One geeky icon, for
example, the shell, exists without impacting the casual user one bit.
Things that ATM depend on the shell (e.g. casual managing of indexes
could easily be put into FileTypes or their own prefs. Though you might
say dealing with the index is geeky itself and sane defaults relief the
casuals of that burden).
Maybe we need examples to illustrate the (perceived) conflict... I have
none.
IMO it all boils down to (3rd party) software. No video geeks without
powerful video editor, no photo geeks without 1st class imaging tools,
no gamers without games.
There are the related hardware driver issues, and of course the limited
man power, but as long as Haiku tries its best to provide the
frameworks needed for sophisticated software features (e.g. in the
interface_kit) what is keeping anyone from creating either a network-
analyzing geektool or a dead-simple music archiving jukebox? Oh, I
know: time, job, a life and all that... :)
Regards,
Humdinger
PS: I do like that you bring these topics up. They are important to
ponder every once in a while. Please do continue.
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