[Xastir-Dev] Xastir-2 Initial Questions

[Chuck Byam]

On Wed, 2003-06-25 at 19:33, Curt Mills wrote:
> I almost think I shouldn't do this right now 'cuz I'll be pretty
> busy for the next few days, but it has to be done:
> 
> 1) What do we want Xastir-2 to look like?
> 
By look like I assume you mean literally.  Do we want to continue to use
Motif or would GNOME or KDE provide a better UI environment for
development and use?  How would something other than Motif affect
non-*ix users?

> 2) Is this a good time to start the wish-list?
> 
I would pose the question to the user base and get an idea what others
are looking for.

> 3) How long to compile a wish-list before we freeze it and start the
> design discussion?
> 
I think you'll find that most responses will be in within a short period
of time.  The discussion, on the hand, could drag on for considerably
longer ;)

> 4) When should we start on this major undertaking of splitting up the
> code into modules, separating client from server code, and
> integrating a database into the mix?
> 
I would spend considerable time and thought in the design phase before
starting.  Careful thought now can save many hours of work later.  While
I still have reservations on many of the suggestions that would make
Xastir a be all end all client{server}, I'll keep those to myself for
now.  I would only suggest that it be very good at it's primary function
and provide plugin support for add-on functionality.  Along the lines of
programming, what are folks thoughts on moving to a more OOP approach
ala C++?  I think this would lend itself well to this methedology.

> 5) How should we go about it, without causing much grief to CVS
> users?
> 
I don't think that branching will cause too much trouble.  Maintenance
could continue on v1 while work is done on v2.

> 6) What things on our bug-list or feature-request-list are important
> to get done before starting on Xastir-2?
> 
> 7) Should we pose these questions to the user list as well, or at
> least questions #1 and #6?
Certainly asking what they like or don't like in the current incarnation
would be appropriate.  Asking for features and suggestions would be as
well.  I would take all this as information to be considered.  

-- 
Chuck Byam <cbyam at virginia.edu>