Comments on: Thomas Thurman does not like cold meals because of broken applications

By: otte

otte — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:15:42 +0000

> I’m not sure Gnome really “needs” me.
>
There you have the IMO second-biggest reason why people don’t come helping. This might be just a German thing, but a very huge amount of people think that they aren’t worthy of “big things” and GNOME is in the papers, so it must be big. Even though we could use every minute of every person.

The biggest reason however is that people don’t even get the idea that they could help. See http://www.hadess.net/2008/06/how-not-to-do-laptop-support-page.html for an example. Those people don’t get the idea that they could (no, that they _should_) come directly to use instead of ranting on forums or wikis.

By: King Karlos

King Karlos — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:55:58 +0000

Hey Thomas. True, True and True. I’ve been doing minor programming projects at work for some time, starting with php web apps, and now mostly python webapps and simple interfaces to machinery we use.
I personally find it hard to contribute to gnome because of how hard it is for me to wrap my head around C. I’m getting better though. I’m not so good at much else other than minor python hacking.
That where my dilemma come in. Do I only work on python based gnome apps? I really dont want to see core parts of gnome appearing in python. I did learn a little C# a few years ago, and have just started working on some patches for banshee now. I like C# but I dont make the time to learn it because I dont see core parts of gnome being accepted as C# wither.

So… I tend to try and avoid getting involved in gnome at all. I LOVE the idea of courses to introduce gnome structure though. Even when I dont fully understand what i’m learning at the time, as I start to put it into practice, it all slowly starts to fit into place.

Also.. How about a brainstorm site for gnome? Something to help everybody get good ideas out there.

By: Eetu Huisman

Eetu Huisman — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:08:46 +0000

The reason why I haven’t is a form of 4, I guess. I make my living as a programmer, but it isn’t exactly easy to jump from server side Java to GObject and friends. So far, I haven’t had the time to learn a new way of thinking so that I could really contribute.

I think that instead of providing bindings for virtually every possible language, Gnome – as a platform – should make one higher level language a first class citizen. And yes, I know that this suggestion is a good way to start a flame war.

I have tried to do what I can by fixing translations etc. When reporting bugs, I’ve usually tried to provide debugging information. That’s pretty much it.

It would be nice to give back more than I currently do, but on the other hand I’m quite happy to be “just a user” and I’m not sure Gnome really “needs” me.

By: John Stowers

John Stowers — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:47:22 +0000

I think you missed a few obvious ones.
1) Not wanting to. Those people who want to work on software to the same extent I want to make my own wooden kitchen furniture
2) Computer is a tool. Tools work. If they dont work you accept it, or you live with the quirks. My scooter is hard to start when cold. I live with it.