Always when a type of application is missing, there is bound to be a version in development. For difficult and complicated programs, the case is not the same but most of the powerful apps have a steep learning curve and although developers are already working hard on user-friendly alternatives, due to the complicated nature of the software, not many resources are available and the development time is much slower.
In order to attract some interest for certain slow, but extremely important projects I’ve picked out a few attractive apps which could become powerful contributors to the widespread adoption of the Linux desktop. We need to get stable, functional, user-friendly apps out. Linux does have some cool stuff available, but we often forget that a lot of it also depends on the interface.
Let us build a cool desktop! I am aware of the awesomeness that is customization, though many people forget that most desktop users want to simply start working. I love tweaking my Arch system for a whole weekend, it is just that I do not believe your typical grandmother is interested in such stuff. You see, she does not know the difference between tiling and floating window managers and the advantages of using virtual desktops, but she will like a prettier out-of-the-box experience, along with free applications for every task you can think of, which look good, do the job well and are easy to work with.
A garage-band like package, Jokosher can be a great tool for audio production, it just needs more functions. I don’t know if the developers are still working on it, the last version was released sometimes last year. It works fine on most distributions and is good for basic tasks, though there is a lot of work to be done to ensure stability and better functionality. I’d be very sad to see this project die.
Even though the project released a new version of their sexy video editing application, I’m not sure whether they will be able to keep up. More contribution would be need, since amateur video editing (except for the high-high end) is pretty weak on Linux (thank goodness for Kino and Cinelerra, but they just don’t cut it for the ‘middle market’) and I believe many dev resources and energy are required for such a complicated project to mature.
A personal favorite of mine. It is something like an equivalent of OpenCanvas. Along with the linuxwacom project the Gogh project wishes to make the perfect drawing app for tablet users. It is very important for sketching, also it features layers, colour palettes and other basic features. I’d like for Gogh to get more publicity, since it is quite a simple project, but crucial for tablet users to get to know GNU/Linux better.
No comments:
Post a Comment