[Ldsoss] Linux and Windows--How wide the divide

[Stacey]

Please note:

(1) If the application is a web app then there is nothing to install on 
the client except a web browser.  Thankfully, a web browser is already 
installed for all these poor Windows users.   No matter how good of an 
installer you have it seems you will have some user that won't be able 
to install your application.   They might have a desktop full of 
viruses, for example.

(2) I  think that "disconnected operation" might be best handled by a 
separate application that "syncs" to the web app/DB.   "Write onces, run 
everywhere" works really only on paper (see #3 below, for example).  
Think of email, for example... You can read your email on-line using 
webmail interface in a browser.   Or you can download and read your 
email (even off-line) with an email client that runs on your desktop 
such as Thunderbird. 

(3) Picking a programming language without first picking a platform is 
pointless.   For example, soon or later someone is going to want to run 
scout tracking software on their PDA.  The JRE (Java Runtime Env) or 
Perl or Python is not going to work well on most PDAs.  You will need to 
use an embedded language in most cases.

Before trying to answer all these other questions it might be best to 
think about the architecture first.   In my opinion, it makes sense to 
start with a web app.   That should serve a wide audience with minimal 
support.  Also, it may be the fastest to develop.   Then add clients 
(that can operate disconnected) for all the various devices people may 
want to use. 

-stacey.


Thomas Haws wrote:
> The recent discussion about Troop/Youth advancement tracking and this
> question about journal writing software for Windows have startlingly
> refreshed my appreciation that the Linux masses and the Windows masses
> are truly on different planets.
>
> I don't think that the Linux masses truly appreciate, or perhaps even
> understand, the extent to which Windows users are conditioned to use
> the computer without mind focus.  Windows users really and truly
> expect as a birthright that we should be able to successfully use our
> computers to do amazing things even while our brains are half asleep
> and we are focused on other things.
>
> In my programming activities (in the Windows realm), I have slowly
> come to understand and accept that my programs must be usable:
>
> -After a 3-year hiatus
> -On half my brain (in sleep-deprived, disinterested mode)
> -With no planning
> -On a fleeting whim
>
> Perl, Apache, and Mediawiki are wonderful.  But you have to be honest
> in asking yourself, "Could I get this going in Windows if I were
> nearly apathetic, nearly focusless, and nearly brain dead?"  This is
> no disrespect for any user; people are busy and have other interests
> and responsibilities.  Even the Java Runtime Environment is pushing
> the limit, I'm afraid.
>
> I'm not sure who needs to change.  Is focusless operation an
> entitlement for users, or is user focus an entitlement for authors?
> But I know the divide is wider than our discussions seem to
> acknowledge.
>