On 12/03/2009 04:29 PM, Paul W. Frields wrote:
The GIMP, Inkscape, Scribus, and other art and design applications in
Linux are superb. There's no doubt about that -- they're very useful
for people who know, or want to know, how to create great art. But
they also have learning curves that far exceed the patience of an
average desktop productivity user. (I speak as a person who's not
much of an artist, and able to do only minimal tasks in any of these
apps.) So there's nothing wrong with moving those apps out of a
system that's designed for a user like me. I can always get them
later if I want them.
Paul, I know you are trying to define a set of personas who are the
Fedora target and those are what is usually called "power users"
(enthusiasts, developers, system administrators). The Desktop Spin is
something more like the lowest common denominator, not something for
this category of users.
On the other hand, having those apps in a dedicated Design spin is a
great idea. Promoting that alternate spin is just as valid as
promoting any other, and it's one of the primary reasons we even have
spins. We needn't have such a negative conversation about it; it's an
opportunity to create something new to fill a niche you feel is not
currently served well. I'd prefer if the introduction of that spin is
not colored by hostility toward another part of the Fedora community,
but instead, introduced in a positive spirit of helping a new group do
cool things with the Fedora distribution.
Honestly, I would NOT prefer to recommend a Design Spin as a default
download, but more likely something like a Workstation Spin, having also
some development tools, some productivity stuff and so on.
--
nicu ::
http://nicubunu.ro ::
http://nicubunu.blogspot.com/