[scribus] off list Re: ! ;-)

[joseph harris]

From: "John Beardmore"
> joseph harris wrote:
>
> ...
>
>> Users of DTP vary trememdously because the term includes 
>> everything that may be prepared on a computer, printed out and 
>> distributed - whether the circulation is one, one million or 
>> more.
>
> Hmmm. I think that isn't a common interpretation.
>
> Remember the adage that DTP != WP.

And that there was a lot of 'can do DTP' in some WP selling. 
Whether it should have been is another issue. The fact is that 
DTP is a widely used term now. DT now includes portable computers 
for example, which are very powerful machines often. P is 
interpretable across a wide range of activities.

........
>>
>> Non-technical and not wanting to learn much to be able to use 
>> the program. Quark itself has had to do some dumbing down to 
>> meet the competition. A penalty of the commercial marketplace.
>
> Only if it reduced functionality. Did it ?

There is always development of programs so it is more now an 
issue of 'what might have been there' and to what extent has 
simpler operation reduced or contained flexibility. Assuming by 
dumbing down we mean easier operation at a price of some choices.

>
>> As you are really saying scribus is not in competition with 
>> these, nor should it be. But that is where the big numbers 
>> are.
>
> I wouldn't say it's not in competition with them. I've given up 
> spending money on Adobe because they didn't fix show stopping 
> bugs and charge an arm and a leg for upgrades, and scribus is 
> more cost effective.

I was thinking in marketing terms; at current market shares 
Scribus is an alternative, but not in any serious ways a 
competitor. The failures on bugs may indicate how competition can 
both drive to new ideas, but also reduce the sizes of technical 
teams. Scribus and open source generally is coming from the 
opposite direction, with the increase in interest increasing 
[even if slowly] the size of the technical team.

>
> My perception is based on direct experience rather than 
> marketing, and I'm not sure that marketing OSS is really what 
> it is or should be about.

And that I would not contest. But you were asking why so few took 
up Scribus in the first place; the answer has to do with 
marketing.

>
> OSS isn't about creating a _perception_ of superiority. It's 
> about doing what it says on the tin.
>
>
> Cheers, J/.

And that is what is so refreshing about it.

Joseph