Yes, I got this argument in the IRC channel. And it's a faulty one. The GIMP project began at UC Berkeley, right? English speakers, right? Then why did a bunch of native English speakers give a name that is known to have offensive connotations in English to a project.
It's English, GNU Image Manipulation Program, the mascot is Wilbur not an Eurasian Bullfinch.
The whole "It's not offensive in foreign languages" excuse is just that, an excuse to be stubborn and not admit the original mistake.
How could they not know that using "GIMP" was a bad idea. Oh wait, I know, they're geeks who might be a bit lacking in "people skills" in love with their own recursive cleverness.
As has been said, a products name should encourage people to want to use it, not discourage it. People have been complaining about the name for years, the GIMP developers are just to stubborn to admit they were wrong to have chosen "GIMP" in the first place.
Admit that the program has problems. You keep insisting on proof when proof is all around you. There are designers and SMEs who want to help, but you keep getting defensive and saying that it's not a problem with the software, it's our preconceptions....I hate to break it to you, but our preconceptions drive software interfaces. Why do you think you have little pictures of file folders on your desktop. Why does it have a trash can? If you don't want to design to our preconceptions, why not just make the picture of a paint bucket look like a chicken shooting gore on a canvas? Could it be that we have a preconception of how tools work, and a good developer/designer creat
I had the exact same issue with the Pidgin developers, they wanted "objective" data on why some of their recent UI decisions were not so good. Simply saying, "Look at all the complaints from the users." wasn't good enough for them. The had the "What do they users know, and they're not paying us anyway." attitude.
I could be mean and say that some open source developers have no emotional sensitivity or understanding of user-needs or UI at all. That's what I've seen. It could be the GIMP developers, or the Pidgin ones or the ffmpeg ones. It's all "I released it to scratch an itch, I don't care if anyone else uses it at all. I am the developer, I'm not being paid, user opinions don't matter"
If that's the case, keep it private and never release it. Personally I tend to judge projects on end user documentation, if it sucks, the developers don't care about their users and probably are like those mentioned above. Projects with good end user documentation get my respect.
And yes, I just got banned from gimp.net too. Apparently they don't like being told the name is stupid. Yes, it's all traditionally recursive in that silly overly geeky way, and it's a Pulp Fiction reference but that doesn't make it a good name at all. In fact It's a stupid name. GIMP developers, admit it and change it and quit being stubborn about it. Personally, I think gnuImage would be nice.
And just because other software has non-obvious names like "Firefox" or "Excel" or "Thunderbird" doesn't mean that the name "GIMP" sucks any less. That's no excuse. Fix it and end the complaints, then you can focus on the CMYK and 8 bit issues they all complain about.
I have Linux on one of my PS2's, I also have a lot of games.
Sony supports Linux as a way of supporting "homebrew in a sandbox" in the tradition of the Yaroze for the PS1. And it adds value, It's a games console that can run Open Office, so it can easily supplement any PC already in the house. If someone needs to do "PC" stuff and it's taken, there's the PS3.
You could also think of it as a Linux box, that can run commercial on-the-shelf games. The ultimate thumb your nose at Microsoft device.
As for HPC, IIRC Terrasoft, the makers of YDL, market the PS3+YDL as a cheap HPC solution/testbed.
Look, it was YABASIC on the PS2 in EU which was the attempt to beat the tax, not Linux. The tax itself doesn't exist anymore and has no effect on the PS3.
Linux is on the PS3 as a continuation of Sony's "let's support homebrew in a sandbox" philosophy:
Yaroze on the PS1 ($800 IIRC) The PS2 Linux kit ($200) Linux on the PS3. (Free!)
They actually do have a special "jail", it's something of a farm/field where you can't do anything except ride a tractor. You, meaning your avatar, has to serve their time, and then you get back to the main grid.
A great game designer does not put secrets in games that average gamer would not find on their own without reading about. In a simple game where it's possible to check every "tile" screen, it's tedius but acceptable, but in larger more complex games, no.
I don't get this "Final Fantasy games are too full of movies" meme. If you're seeing cut scenes that often you're rushing through the game too fast. Slow down, build up your money, items, and skills/attributes.
Why couldn't I move a character behind the enemy and gain an advantage?
Because Final Fantasy mainline games are not tactical RPG's, combat maneuver is simply not a part of the design philosophy of them.
But you could get the drop on enemies, (encountering them with their backs turned) every now and then and there was materia that would increase the chance of that happening. You could also use materia slap enemies with statuses with things like the Enemy Skill: Bad Breath.
I heard of it, IIRC it was actually a Japanese game with the HOMM name grafted on. Why they didn't just straight port the original is beyond me, they could even have left mouse/keyboard support in.
I know I harp on the PS2's/PS3's USB ports but they should make porting from PC more feasible for certain genres. Do a Dual Shock/Sixaxis type control scheme for those who don't want to use mouse/keyboard and put it in for those who do.
Ever play Civ II on the PSone? You'll notice two things, the AI si slooooow, especially as time goes by and the save files are HUGE. The DS version would have to be tuned down, perhaps resembling an enhanced SNES Civilization. Which might not be a bad thing.
The PSP on the other hand has the horsepower and storage, but lacks the touch screen. The analog nub might serve well as a mouse replacement though.
You mean the Xbox port of Deus Ex: Invisible war not the PS2 port of the original, which included mouse/keyboard support. Blame the Xbox, not consoles in general.
I couldn't imagine how cluttered or dumbed-down the UI would need to be on a console.
But it doesn't have to be, there are these things called USB ports, most consoles have them. So they could offer two control schemes, one with the controller and one for folks like you.
Why wouldn't Civ as done on the PC work on the consoles, it's been done before. I've got the PSone version of Civ II right here. They could even throw in mouse/keyboard support for curmudgeons.
Why were you disappointed? It had been years since they had done a console game, and that's where they got their start doin console development as Silicon and Synapse. They hadn't even ported (or let someone else port) Diablo II to any console. A Blizzard console game is way overdue.
Sure it's successfull, but the attach rate is low. Wii's are selling to people who aren't traditional gamers and who simply do not buy games. Those people are using their Wii's as a manner similar to those joysticks with built in games. They're not Wii's but Wii Sports machines.
Could you explain why you hate SOE so much, as I stated above, as a console gamer, SOE does quality games. For example, in some ways I think EQOA is a better game than FFXI, just simply more "fun" and less "work", and the two Snowblind Engine Diablo clones are great games. Even the PSP's Untold Legends is a fun little Diablo clone, not perfect, but I enjoy playing it.
To me, SOE makes quality games, but then again I'm a console gamer.
But like some of their PC cousins, SOE still maintains servers for their PS2 titles: EQOA and the two SOE PS2 Diablo clones, Champions of Norrath and Champions Return to Arms.
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Yes, I got this argument in the IRC channel. And it's a faulty one. The GIMP project began at UC Berkeley, right? English speakers, right? Then why did a bunch of native English speakers give a name that is known to have offensive connotations in English to a project.
It's English, GNU Image Manipulation Program, the mascot is Wilbur not an Eurasian Bullfinch.
The whole "It's not offensive in foreign languages" excuse is just that, an excuse to be stubborn and not admit the original mistake.
How could they not know that using "GIMP" was a bad idea. Oh wait, I know, they're geeks who might be a bit lacking in "people skills" in love with their own recursive cleverness.
As has been said, a products name should encourage people to want to use it, not discourage it. People have been complaining about the name for years, the GIMP developers are just to stubborn to admit they were wrong to have chosen "GIMP" in the first place.
I had the exact same issue with the Pidgin developers, they wanted "objective" data on why some of their recent UI decisions were not so good. Simply saying, "Look at all the complaints from the users." wasn't good enough for them. The had the "What do they users know, and they're not paying us anyway." attitude.
I could be mean and say that some open source developers have no emotional sensitivity or understanding of user-needs or UI at all. That's what I've seen. It could be the GIMP developers, or the Pidgin ones or the ffmpeg ones. It's all "I released it to scratch an itch, I don't care if anyone else uses it at all. I am the developer, I'm not being paid, user opinions don't matter"
If that's the case, keep it private and never release it. Personally I tend to judge projects on end user documentation, if it sucks, the developers don't care about their users and probably are like those mentioned above. Projects with good end user documentation get my respect.
And yes, I just got banned from gimp.net too. Apparently they don't like being told the name is stupid. Yes, it's all traditionally recursive in that silly overly geeky way, and it's a Pulp Fiction reference but that doesn't make it a good name at all. In fact It's a stupid name. GIMP developers, admit it and change it and quit being stubborn about it. Personally, I think gnuImage would be nice.
And just because other software has non-obvious names like "Firefox" or "Excel" or "Thunderbird" doesn't mean that the name "GIMP" sucks any less. That's no excuse. Fix it and end the complaints, then you can focus on the CMYK and 8 bit issues they all complain about.
I have Linux on one of my PS2's, I also have a lot of games.
Sony supports Linux as a way of supporting "homebrew in a sandbox" in the tradition of the Yaroze for the PS1. And it adds value, It's a games console that can run Open Office, so it can easily supplement any PC already in the house. If someone needs to do "PC" stuff and it's taken, there's the PS3.
You could also think of it as a Linux box, that can run commercial on-the-shelf games. The ultimate thumb your nose at Microsoft device.
As for HPC, IIRC Terrasoft, the makers of YDL, market the PS3+YDL as a cheap HPC solution/testbed.
Not this old chestnut again.
Look, it was YABASIC on the PS2 in EU which was the attempt to beat the tax, not Linux. The tax itself doesn't exist anymore and has no effect on the PS3.
Linux is on the PS3 as a continuation of Sony's "let's support homebrew in a sandbox" philosophy:
Yaroze on the PS1 ($800 IIRC)
The PS2 Linux kit ($200)
Linux on the PS3. (Free!)
you'll probably have to compile your media player specifically with xvid support after installing the libs.
it's "Universal Media" disc not Universal "Media disc"
Universal refers to the disc's ability to hold multiple kinds of data, games, music or video.
I bet you snap your suspenders as you pine for the days before:
OPTIONS=number_pad, color, IBMgraphics
SL is not a game, it's not even an MMORPG, though it's possible to play games within it.
It's a virtual sandbox playtoy. There are no goals in SL, other than ones you place on yourself.
Wanna have virtual sex? you can
Want to use the scripting and building tools to create interesting toys? Yep.
Want to play "Virtual dolls" and spend your time shopping? Yes, indeed.
Want to hang out with others while listening to a music stream. Yes.
SL is what one makes of it, no more, no less.
They actually do have a special "jail", it's something of a farm/field where you can't do anything except ride a tractor. You, meaning your avatar, has to serve their time, and then you get back to the main grid.
The Edge is primarily a console magazine. This would be like me complaining if CGW or PC Gamer did a list and didn't include Final Fantasy.
A great game designer does not put secrets in games that average gamer would not find on their own without reading about. In a simple game where it's possible to check every "tile"
screen, it's tedius but acceptable, but in larger more complex games, no.
I don't get this "Final Fantasy games are too full of movies" meme. If you're seeing cut scenes that often you're rushing through the game too fast. Slow down, build up your money, items, and skills/attributes.
Because Final Fantasy mainline games are not tactical RPG's, combat maneuver is simply not a part of the design philosophy of them.
But you could get the drop on enemies, (encountering them with their backs turned) every now and then and there was materia that would increase the chance of that happening. You could also use materia slap enemies with statuses with things like the Enemy Skill: Bad Breath.
I heard of it, IIRC it was actually a Japanese game with the HOMM name grafted on. Why they didn't just straight port the original is beyond me, they could even have left mouse/keyboard support in.
I know I harp on the PS2's/PS3's USB ports but they should make porting from PC more feasible for certain genres. Do a Dual Shock/Sixaxis type control scheme for those who don't want to use mouse/keyboard and put it in for those who do.
Ever play Civ II on the PSone? You'll notice two things, the AI si slooooow, especially as time goes by and the save files are HUGE. The DS version would have to be tuned down, perhaps resembling an enhanced SNES Civilization. Which might not be a bad thing.
The PSP on the other hand has the horsepower and storage, but lacks the touch screen. The analog nub might serve well as a mouse replacement though.
You mean the Xbox port of Deus Ex: Invisible war not the PS2 port of the original, which included mouse/keyboard support. Blame the Xbox, not consoles in general.
But it doesn't have to be, there are these things called USB ports, most consoles have them. So they could offer two control schemes, one with the controller and one for folks like you.
Why wouldn't Civ as done on the PC work on the consoles, it's been done before. I've got the PSone version of Civ II right here. They could even throw in mouse/keyboard support for curmudgeons.
Why were you disappointed? It had been years since they had done a console game, and that's where they got their start doin console development as Silicon and Synapse. They hadn't even ported (or let someone else port) Diablo II to any console. A Blizzard console game is way overdue.
But that is strong market. If you want portable RPG's the PSP is the go to device similar to how the PS2 was/is.
Sure it's successfull, but the attach rate is low. Wii's are selling to people who aren't traditional gamers and who simply do not buy games. Those people are using their Wii's as a manner similar to those joysticks with built in games. They're not Wii's but Wii Sports machines.
Could you explain why you hate SOE so much, as I stated above, as a console gamer, SOE does quality games. For example, in some ways I think EQOA is a better game than FFXI, just simply more "fun" and less "work", and the two Snowblind Engine Diablo clones are great games. Even the PSP's Untold Legends is a fun little Diablo clone, not perfect, but I enjoy playing it.
To me, SOE makes quality games, but then again I'm a console gamer.
But like some of their PC cousins, SOE still maintains servers for their PS2 titles: EQOA and the two SOE PS2 Diablo clones, Champions of Norrath and Champions Return to Arms.