Subject: Re: [linux-audio-dev] How non-programmers use documentation.
From: David A. Bartold (foxx_AT_mail.utexas.edu)
Date: Mon Aug 27 2001 - 23:59:29 EEST
I don't have the original message, but all the points listed are good and
apply to programmers too, not just non-programmers. I like software that
is easy to use and just works. If it takes several hours to get a linux
program working, it is cheaper to just buy the Windows equivalent, which
almost invariably works immediately. Time is money.
> >12. Non-programmers don't want to see information about how a feature was
> >implemented.
>
> In audio processing they will want if they are professionals.
> So many things can go wrong if DSP algorithms are incorrectly
>
> >16. Non-programmers that I talked to have never sent a bug report or a
> >feature request to a software company. The idea of sending one directly to
> >a programmer or a technical writer was a completely foreign concept.
I think some of the users who don't send bug reports don't do so due to
bad experiences talking with software developers. On at least one major
linux desktop environment website (which won't be named) I've seen a few
bug descriptions posted as replies to news items. The users got back the
message from a software developer something along the lines of "Please
enter what you wrote into the bugs system". Why couldn't the software
developer do it himself, emailing the original user for more information,
if needed? End users are not QA engineers, software developers shouldn't
rely on them submitting formal bug reports. Is an issue a bug, a
feature request, or works as intended? Unless the user got a seg fault,
categorizing a problem can be tricky.
Automation of sending of debug data in the apps would make life easier in
addition to having something like "Send feedback..." in the help menu.
- David
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