From: taylanbayirli@gmail.com (Taylan Ulrich Bayırlı/Kammer)
To: Christopher Allan Webber <cwebber@dustycloud.org>
Cc: Amirouche Boubekki <amirouche@hypermove.net>, guile-devel@gnu.org
Subject: Re: The Guile community we could have (or: solving Worse is More Accessible)
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2015 10:04:04 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <87h9mhvc7f.fsf@T420.taylan> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <87io6yrp6x.fsf@dustycloud.org> (Christopher Allan Webber's message of "Fri, 25 Sep 2015 18:28:25 -0500")
Christopher Allan Webber <cwebber@dustycloud.org> writes:
> Luis Felipe López Acevedo writes:
>
>>> Really the design is really well made, no problem with that, I just
>>> want to be sure that we won't disappoint the main audience and
>>> attract a lot of newsbies which i think we are not ready for.
>>>
>>> If I can vote, I will +0.
>>
>> I get you point about the illustrations, but I disagree :)
>>
>> My Idea was to put "newbies" first without leaving out the experts.
>> Maybe with this change we can push ourselves a bit to make the project
>> be ready for people getting started in programming (it is not far from
>> that, I think).
>
> I think this is absolutely the right goal, and the right call. I am
> 100% behind the visual design, partly for this very reason! I like the
> design, it is the right level of modern, crisp and professional design,
> but with just the right touch of playfulness. That playfulness is
> critical, I think. Consider the community we have, and the community we
> would like to bring in?
>
> From what I've gathered, the traditional and public view of lisp and
> scheme is of some ancient wizards (perhaps not so far from the cover of
> SICP) casting spells from towers or potentially labs, maybe AI
> labs... I love wizards, and lisp's history has a lot to thank of fairly
> wizardly characters, but while wizards evoke a sense of magic, it is a
> kind of unapproachable magic.
>
> The new design appeals to me: it retains a kind of magic, but it is the
> kind of magic of childhood, and when Guile is at its best, this is
> true. Guile is a magical, wonderful playground, and one whose limits is
> your imagination and your patience. Perhaps you will indeed become a
> powerful wizard, but maybe you will become a magician of some other
> type. But no matter what, magic is under your fingertips from the very
> beginning. Come play along!
>
> If you'll permit me to ramble a bit, I think Guile's community is at an
> opportune time. It's not visible to the outside world so much yet, but
> Guile's community is a deeply welcoming one... something that was
> surprising to me when I entered. I've heard from plenty of others in
> the community that one of the reasons this or that person stayed is
> because of the level of patience and care given to questions, and this
> is a great sign.
>
> We aren't a diverse community... look at the gender distribution on
> these mailing lists, and that's telling enough. But Guile has the right
> environment to become a better. Guile's three maintainers, Ludo, Andy
> and Mark, have all expressed interest in becoming an even more welcoming
> and diverse place. But that requires hard work. There are lots of
> steps to be made, but how we present ourselves is foundational.
>
> To put it another way, many here have probably read the "Worse is
> Better" essays. That paradox of "better" I think sticks in the craw of
> many lispers; something both seems wrong and yet frustratingly right
> about it. Maybe another way to look at it: "Worse is more accessible",
> or "worse has the path of least resistance", or also importantly, "worse
> is where I felt welcomed." Given that, no wonder many people feel safe
> and better rather than what lispers believe is "the right thing".
>
> But maybe we could have both. I believe it requires effort, and perhaps
> a rebranding of imagery. The wizard towers are still there if you want
> them... I doubt any lisper or schemer will give up on Guile or Scheme
> because of some fun and inviting drawings. The fun drawings don't take
> anything away! But they add something: they make Guile feel like
> somplace, even as a newcomer, you might belong.
>
> There's plenty more to do (and to be said) to make that true, but I
> think this redesign is a great step in that direction.
>
> - Chris
>
> PS: As for the "it's not professional enough", most companies follow
> where developers want to go these days anyway, and those who are so
> entrenched in professionalism are probably "enterprise software"
> shops. Those companies are already so deeply entrenched in Java or
> .NET that I wouldn't worry about them at this point. :)
Thank you for these wonderful words. :-) A big +1 from me as well, for
Luis' design and your words.
Taylan
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2015-09-26 8:04 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 52+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2015-09-15 19:23 New logo and website design proposal Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-09-15 19:43 ` Mathieu Lirzin
2015-09-15 23:48 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-09-15 21:05 ` David Pirotte
2015-09-15 23:55 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-09-16 0:12 ` Nala Ginrut
2015-09-15 21:31 ` Christopher Allan Webber
2015-09-16 0:38 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-09-21 20:40 ` Ludovic Courtès
2015-09-23 16:18 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-09-23 21:12 ` Ludovic Courtès
2015-10-09 22:24 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-10-10 11:40 ` Amirouche Boubekki
2015-10-10 14:49 ` Christopher Allan Webber
2015-10-10 17:24 ` Thompson, David
2015-10-10 19:17 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-10-11 20:11 ` Ludovic Courtès
2015-10-11 21:39 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-10-12 13:23 ` Ludovic Courtès
2015-10-12 21:13 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-10-18 17:58 ` Ludovic Courtès
2015-10-18 18:06 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-10-20 12:50 ` Ludovic Courtès
2015-10-20 14:58 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-10-20 15:05 ` Ludovic Courtès
2015-10-20 20:13 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-10-26 23:24 ` Ludovic Courtès
2015-10-27 14:46 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-10-27 18:15 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-11-05 9:56 ` New web site is live! Ludovic Courtès
2015-10-12 6:07 ` New logo and website design proposal Aleix Conchillo Flaqué
2015-10-12 13:26 ` Ludovic Courtès
2015-10-12 13:06 ` tomas
2015-10-12 18:15 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-10-12 18:59 ` tomas
2015-10-12 20:32 ` Amirouche Boubekki
2015-10-12 8:15 ` Nala Ginrut
2015-10-12 18:00 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-10-12 17:03 ` Aleix Conchillo Flaqué
2015-10-12 18:20 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-09-16 6:43 ` Ricardo Wurmus
2015-09-17 14:33 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-09-16 8:19 ` Alex Sassmannshausen
2015-09-17 14:59 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-09-17 15:09 ` Thompson, David
2015-09-18 9:47 ` Amirouche Boubekki
2015-09-23 15:17 ` Luis Felipe López Acevedo
2015-09-25 23:28 ` The Guile community we could have (or: solving Worse is More Accessible) Christopher Allan Webber
2015-09-26 8:04 ` Taylan Ulrich Bayırlı/Kammer [this message]
2015-09-26 9:04 ` Alex Sassmannshausen
2015-10-20 8:46 ` Ludovic Courtès
2015-10-20 14:48 ` Christopher Allan Webber
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