José, thanks for taking the time to explain things. 2009/9/4 José Matos <jama...@fc.up.pt>: > Alex please notice that we have heard this kind of argument all over the > years, why don't we add this nice little hack that will solve problem in the > short term instead of taking a more thoughtful approach and fix it in the > right way? After all after this small change we can fix it the right way.
I can sympathize with the sentiment, believe me. I have been developing software professionally for more than 10 years now, and as an amateur for much longer. After a certain point you have to say "stop" to the twisted hacks and start doing things the right way, since it is much better in the long run. The longer it takes for you to say "stop" is the harder your life is going to be for a few years. But that is not the argument I am making. Instead, it is: this nice little hack solves a problem (HTML export with different tools) in the long term, and it does not add to the big issue (clutter in the export menu) significantly. The "better" solution is an overall improvement, but completely orthogonal to the HTML export problem we have now. So what I say is: let us solve the issue that people are demanding now, since someone is offering to help; and let us worry about the perceived clutter later, since nobody is volunteering to do that. Reversing the order (i.e. if a solution for menu clutter was in the works, wait for that and then fix HTML export) would not change the perceived difficulty of either problem. > When Jean-Marc and Jürgen insist on getting it right is not by a personal whim > but more by the understanding that we reaching a threshold and the building > does not need another patch instead it needs a new roof. :-) Of course I have a biased view of the issue since I am involved in HTML export, and you are all probably right. But please consider the merits of my argument dispassionately, since an outsider point of view can sometimes be an advantage; do not just dismiss it saying "I'm too lazy to explain my obviously righteous position". Alex.
