[Klug-general] Killer apps for GNOME

J D Freeman kent at quixotic.org.uk
Sun Dec 30 14:42:50 GMT 2007


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On Sun, Dec 30, 2007 at 10:45:16AM +0000, Karl Lattimer wrote:
> Hi all, I wanted to quickly gauge public opinion on a set of killer apps
> for gnome and get your input...

Excellent.

> Things that interest me on Mac OSX:
>  * iLife - iPhoto, garage band, iMovie+iDVD, iTunes
>  * omni outliner
>  * photobooth
>  * comic life
>  * iSync + .Mac
> 
> When poking around gnome I find:
>  * f-spot
>  * Jokosher
>  * DVD-styler
>  * Pitivi
>  * Notecase
>  * Banshee
>  * cheese
>  * Conduit + OpenSync
>  * ++ ++ I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING FOR COMICLIFE!!! ++ ++
> 
> Each of the gnome apps needs a little polish, with the exception of
> f-spot and banshee which are pretty much feature complete and have great
> UIs.

First off I will clarify my positition of finding gnome/kde/OSX/windows
all far to overkill for most users. I also have not played with any of
the GNOME apps you mention, I have however played with some of the apple
stuff on my old housemates machine, and in the apple shop.

With this in mind, onto the questions:

> I suppose my point here is, of all the people you know who don't use
> computers that often what is it that they'd want to do most? For me I
> see this market as the photos, music, home movies and video blogging,
> high level creative apps (easy to use very powerful e.g. comiclife), and
> being able to build sync and publishing profiles across the myriad of
> devices and destinations available in todays web 2.0 world. 

I disagree, while there are a good number of people who would like to do
much of that, most users are however going to fit into the catagory of
our parents.

Typically this means that they use a computer for:

 * Uploading the holiday snaps
 * Spamming my inbox with emails
 * Reading up on wikipedia or similiar sites about something.

So, whilst there is a large market for people doing the rich activities
that you mention, there is an equally large, if not larger number for
who they are more consumers than creators. With the exception of their
holiday snaps, they don't really share anything.

With the holiday snaps. They don't really have the skills, desire or
inclination to process them in anyway, they just want the digital
equivilant of the 6x4 prints you hand round when the kids come round for tea.

> Are there any other apps that are important to you which are more to do
> with >DOING THINGS< that you can see being important, or at least having
> an important feature you'd maybe like exposed in an easier way?

Yes. I think one of they key points here is not so much the software, as
the hardware needed for said software. 

Both my parents have aging AMD K6-2 450 (I think, its been so long since
I built them). Both of which easily do what they need, and don't seem to
stressed in doing it. Now consider what would happen if I installed
GNOME or (assuming hypothetically it ran on such a machine) MAC OS X.

Consider how much time the CPU would spend on each of the following:

 * Doing something productive
 * Doing something pretty

Then consider how the second can detract from the former. 

So, after this long introduction, in conclusion, I would say that the
question as originally asked is to narrow in scope and there should
perhaps be rephrased as "Is there anything that is important to you
which enables you to >DO MORE THINGS< with your computer" or some such.

Consider the EEE-PC or the XO. Neither are great CPU powerhouses.
Neither is going to be considered on its computing capability. But,
consider what the user interface allows, what is installed, and how
without mucking around to much wasting time on windows that bounce,
fade, dance, or otherwise perform acts of no purpose other than to look
good. Yet both provide most of the functionality most people want, at a
bargain price. This is an obvious break in the trend from ever more
powerful machines with ever more fancy graphical flash detracting us
from the very basic tenat of getting your work done.

I hope, this email answers your question alittle, even if I have
somewhat intentionally missed the point you were trying to make with
your mail.

Julia
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