The Heart and Soul of GnuCash

[Linas Vepstas]

On Fri, Aug 29, 2003 at 04:17:53AM -0400, tripp+gnucash-devel at perspex.com was heard to remark:

> > I guess you don't like http://gnucash/en/roadmap.phtml
> > (which hasn't changed in 2-3 years, and no one seems to comment on?)
>
> It's a fine document that asks a lot of worthy questions about the road
> ahead. It might be stronger if it answered some of those questions, or
> assigned priorities to them, or established mechanisms for answering them
> (e.g., a "roadmap review").

And how,exactly, does one assign a priority?

That roadmap tries to point out that there are many possible different
paths that can be taken.  I find that the ones that are the most
intersting to me, personally, as a way-cool technology thing, are
those that have the smallest audience (in the short term).  In ten
years, some of these way-cool accounting technologies could pay off
big time.  But I think it would be very wrong hijack the down-to-earth,
we-just-need-a-basic-acccounting-package core of gnucash users to
pursue some moon-landing technology that I happen ot think is neat.

> A perfectly acceptable answer to some of these hypotheticals, by the way,
> is "no. gnucash scratches the core developers' itch, and this is as it
> should be."

Well, but this is true.  Any/all volunteer communities, are, in the end,
all driven by the 'itches' of the volunteers.  This is a basic law
of gravity that won't be repealed.

Growing volunteer groups have discovered a way of announcing a message
"hey all you itchy developers out there, if you come here, you get
a better scratch!".  Doctors Without Borders or the Peace Corps work
on drawing on the nobility of the causes, which you can't get with just
any 'brand-x' volunteer organization.   The Salvation Army has a
different message: you can help without having to move to a different
country.

What's the core message that GnuCash emanates to the world?  Why
would a potential developer want to become a part of gnucash, as opposed
to becomeing a part of some other project?   Sexier technology?
More recognition?  A worthier cause?

I don't think that we've ever really dealt with that question.  That's
also my chance to take a pot-shot at Benoit's  call for help.: I think
he put the cart before the horse.  He asked for help, without explaining
why the f. anyone should give a s. about helping. I don't think that
"help us, we are a large but under-rated project" is a message that
is effective.   I dunno, maybe it is, but I don't think it forges an
identity, a brand, an image.

"who are we, really?" and "what do we want to accomplish?" are
questions that should have been asked, and asnwered, *before* getting
slashdotted.

---------------------------------
We now have built a scalable, more-or-less, core technology.  We have
not built a scalable volunteer organization. 

-- We don't have a set of tasks waiting for eager volunteers.
-- We don't have an effective way of announcing and conveying 
   the tehcnical features in GnuCash.  Note the confusion about
   "client server" and "the gnome2 port" in earlier notes.
-- We don't have a system whereby we could follow mutiple, intertwined
   technology paths.  The differnt things in 
   http://gnucash/en/roadmap.phtml
   don't need to be either/or decisions.  With effective organization,
   they could be "and" items.
-- We have trouble building relationships to related projects. We
   don't know how to scale those. We should be striving for commanality
   with the various stock-chart graphers, not to mention GnuE or
   even some of my babies, like gnotime or qof.  
   Why can't we get the digital-cash types to hang out around here,
   and help share thier vision?
-- we don't speak in a unified, coherent voice.  We don't radiate
   confidence.  We don't have a message for the world.   I don't
   think statement like "gnucash would die if derek was hit by a bus"
   are either accurate, nor do they achieve any sort of positive 
   advancement.  And if it was true (which its not), its morally 
   inappropriate to put that on slashdot. 

I really think we need toask "who are we, and what do we want to
accomplish?" and communicate that, effectively, on the website, 
and the developers will come on thier own accord, wihtout the begging
and the wringing of hands.

--linas


-- 
pub  1024D/01045933 2001-02-01 Linas Vepstas (Labas!) <linas at linas.org>
PGP Key fingerprint = 8305 2521 6000 0B5E 8984  3F54 64A9 9A82 0104 5933