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Original post by BradDaBug
Oluseyi, always the party pooper!
:P
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What if people said "we don''t need another browser. We can''t make an IE clone. We have Lynx. That''s all we need." No Mozilla I guess.
What if people said "The browser paradigm is now inadequate. We need a product and tools that go a step further. We need an application that gives the developer a blank slate on which to construct any form of dynamic interface they desire. We need visual tools that reduce the development process largely to drag-and-drop, with occassional coding for unique effects and the like. We need expressive but simple technologies that even novices can master and use to create impressive works..."?
"Clone" is an ugly word when the original is inadequate.
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What I am trying to say is there''s no shame in trying to clone something. If we try to clone Visual C++ and have most of the features of it (autocomplete, virtual folders, etc) then it''ll be a good IDE.
Plug-in based design with open specs, allowing for infinite customization and extension. This reduces the core code to a text editor, because everything else can be added - and replaced - as a simple plug-in. It delocalizes development, allowing multiple developers to work on seperate or complimentary features as appropriate on a completely independent basis.
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And I think the reason for adopting a Visual C++ clone, in Linux anyways, is cause there''d be nothing else like it. Its like using Gimp in Linux instead of Photoshop...there''s just no other option.
I''ve heard people advocating that the GIMP adopt a MDI-style backdrop frame to "group" all its windows together - like PhotoShop 6 does. In effect, these people suggest keeping the clone in sync with the original. Except that the original has taken a silly turn. MDI is a foolish paradigm because it forces the user to work in application-centric rather than document-centric fashion.
OS X eschews MDI completely; it also encourages the
use of a single menu bar and
palette toolboxes if needed, as well as
non-modal dialogs with verb button labels.
Cloning limits innovation, and as long as Linux/free *nix software
simply mimics the follies of other platforms, specifically Windows, the chances of developing killer apps - the kind that motivate people to switch OSes, or at least catapult you into the spotlight - are effectively nil. I''m not saying we shouldn''t recognize and emulate
genuinely good ideas; we should incorporate the good and eliminate both the bad and the unnecessary in the search for greater productivity and usability.
Modern software sucks. Big time. We as developers need to radically alter the way we think if we want to create truly usable products in the (near) future.
