I would add my vote to the concept of being more concerned about stability &
documentation of the current feature set at this point instead of considering adding
more features at this point. There was an initial feature set for Abi-word I'm
sure... I would complete that set per the current plan & continue with the bug
prioritization & triage. A robust application that DOES what it claims to do &
doesn't crash or lose work is your most important feature at this point. Most of the
things that have been discussed on this list lately (tables, letterheads, etc.) are
covered in some rudimintary fashion. Those features or extentions of features not in
Abiword should be added to the bug list as ENHANCEMENTS &, I suppose, if everyone
votes for one of these enhancements as important for version 1.0 then it could be
added. Otherwise, the roadmap for after version 1.0 would be laid out by the bug list.
For instance, the recent discussion of letterhead. I do not currently use this
feature, but it appears that Wordperfect handles this as a kind of header. To allow
letterheads, the following feature EXTENTION should be considered: a) Images in
headers, b) Multiple headers & footers per document, c) Allow headers & footers to be
assigned to individual document pages with up to 2 per page. This set of extentions
to the header/footer feature would not only allow for the classic business letterhead
format (full business name & address on 1st page with abreviated name on continuation
pages) but would handle a multitude of situations (facing pages on front and back
printed documents, chapter heading and numbering in books, etc.)
For what it is worth.
Regards,
J. Raines
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On 5/3/01 at 6:31 AM projectd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
For what it's worth, I'll chime in with my opinion on the series of threads currently
running on the developer's list.
I like the current numbering scheme, building towards a 1.0 release. It doesn't
particularly matter to me whether the next versions are 0.7.15, 0.7.16, etc, or 0.8.0,
0.8.1, etc. Seems like THAT decision has already been made and to change now would
add confusion.
What should be in version 1.0? The current feature set of course. I'd really like to
see tables, even if it's rudimentary. (Of course, ME
saying that is probably akin to one of the Pharohs saying, "and I'd like to put a
pyramid right over...there." Easy for ME to say; I'm not doing the work). A tables
implementation doesn't have to have all the bells and whistles of a Word tables
feature, just the ability to group some text together and box it in with lines and not
crash the app.
Speaking solely for myself though, if tables will take a year to do, I'd release 1.0
without tables. It's a close call, but I think stability and buglessness is more
important for 1.0 than a particular feature at this point. Abiword is NOT a toy; it's
already got some features that take it out of the realm of, say, WordPad and minor
apps like that. In general, if I download an app that's useful, but limited, I'll
have a better impression than if I download something that's got a gazillion features
but crashes or behaves inconsistently.
Key to my impression is getting the sense of on-going development. That is, if a
feature I really want is missing from a stable app, I want some assurance that the app
is still undergoing development. If/when you release 1.0, you need to make the point
that evelopment doesn't stop here; it's just a beginning. That way, I'm more likely
to stick around and wait on an app I like to get the features I need. If I download
something that's incomplete AND unstable, I'm more likely to simply abandon it and go
looking for something else. There's no way 1.0 will be seen as complete by EVERYONE.
In fact, it's more likey to be seen as incomplete (where's feature X? and Y?) than any
of the 0.X.X releases simply because it IS 1.0.
Given that 1.0 will be seen as missing some key feature by SOMEONE, your best bet is
to be as bugfree as possible, even at the cost of some features. That way your
reviews will read, "rock solid word processor, can hardly wait until the next release
when we'll probably see feature X" instead of "still some bugs to be worked out and
it's missing my favorite feature X."
Cheers,
Drew
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