[Scribus] Why do?

[Christoph Schäfer]

Am Sonntag, 23. Juli 2006 20:25 schrieb BandiPat:
[snip]
> Sorry Christoph,
> Didn't mean to reply to you direct, normally the reply sends it back to
> the list and I missed that when replying to your email.  At least I
> didn't send out two of them!  :-)
>
> My "rude" language, as you put it, may have been sharp, but not intended
> to be rude to the list or the developers as you seem to think.  I know
> most of the guys working on this thing, talked with them in great length
> in the early stages of Scribus, so again don't underestimate my
> relationship with DTP or Scribus.  I don't think all Scribus users will
> disagree the program is difficult.  Gathering from all the email here
> and the chatter on the IRC, I think that alone would contradict your
> statements.
>
> No, Pagestream doesn't have the market share in the main stream as those
> you mention, but does that make it exotic or any the less capable?  It
> still has features many of the others don't, but I don't feel he's got
> it ready for Linux yet and I really appreciate the effort everyone's put
> into Scribus, it's worthy of our use & respect, but is strong enough
> also to stand some criticism.
>
> If you've read my other mails, you know I tried the Properties box, I
> always have it open when using Scribus.  I'm not so sure it shouldn't
> open automatically when the program starts, because most users are not
> going to be aware of it or it's features.  It's an intricate part of the
> whole program, so possibly it should be Scribus' toolbox that's always
> open.
>
> But don't despair, I've just begun to find bugs!  One thing I ask of all
> of you that want to be critical of me.  Put yourself in a new user's
> chair for a time.  I know it would be difficult for the users that have
> become very comfortable with the way Scribus does things, but if you're
> unable to do it yourself, do it through someone else wanting to start
> using it or convert someone from a word processor to it.  That will help
> you better understand my many objections.

Pat,

it is one thing to ask questions and to discuss things, it's another to scream 
and shout instead. That was the reason for my critcism. Compare "Wouldn't it 
be better ..." to "Where the heck ..." or "I don't understand ... " to "This 
is silly ...".

As far as I can tell, the wizards are very serious about usability, and if 
there are any issues, they need to be discussed, albeit in a civilised 
manner. Your suggestion of opening the properties palette on start up sounds 
reasonable to me. This a matter to be discussed. 

As for the rest, the learning curve for scribus is as flat as it can be for a 
DTP program. Serious DTP isn't trivial, and most of the difficulties for 
newbies arise from the general requirements, not from any software. Your 
questions/objections regarding columns are a good example: A serious DTP 
application will give full control to the user, not provide auto features 
everywhere. Newbies will have to learn to "think frames", i.e. a very basic 
concept. This issue exists independent of the used software. In any case, 
people who want to use a DTP program will have to read a bit. I got the 
impression that you expect users to understand a piece of software without 
reading one single sentence of documentation. That's unrealistic! If you 
replace QuarkXPress with InDesign on the desktop of an expierenced Quark 
user, he won't succeed without some instructions. The same goes for Scribus. 
>
> regards,
> Pat

Cheers,

Christoph