Re: [pilot-db-list] icons

[Tom D. <td...@us...>]

On Tuesday 24 July 2001 09:02 am, Chalain Marc wrote:

> i'm still waiting your oint of view about icons.
> If i haven't more answers i will build only text version.

Icons are good since the size of the screen on a PDA is so small. Text 
buttons take up too much room. The only reason why I never got around to 
putting icons in earlier versions of DB is because I have no artistic ability 
whatsoever even for drawings as simple as icons.

However, icons have to be related to the command or option they represent. A 
good icon for "Find" would be a magnifying glass. For "Find Next", a good 
icon would be a magnifying glass with a + symbol in the middle of the circle.

If there is anyone with even a smidgen of artistic ability on the list, a 
contribution of icons to DB would be good way to contribute to the project. 
For each version, you would need to make a 1-bit monocolor and an 8-bit 
indexed color in a size of 11x11 or so. The PilRC resource compiler combines 
both version of the icon into a single resource. PalmOS automatically selects 
the correct version based on the capabilities of the device. Coordinate with 
the current maintainer if you want to contribute in such a fashion.

[The following is for everyone in general and not Marc since it does not 
apply to him since he is the maintainer. Also, if you have contributed, feel 
free to ignore the parts that don't apply to you.]

Not to repeat myself from earlier emails, but you do NOT need to know how to 
program in order to contribute to DB.

If you can make decent icons in Windows Paint, PhotoShop, or GIMP, contribute 
icons.

If you can write documentation, help write a user manual or help strings.

If you know HTML, help make the Web site a real place to go to instead of the 
ugly mess that I created.

If you are willing to run beta copies, then do so and report the bugs. Lots 
of people do this. :)

If you know languages other than English, contribute a translation. As matter 
of fact, several people such Thorsten Tietz, Christian Grigis, Roberto A. 
Foglietta, and Pedro Pessoa have done just that.

Some people have expressed an interest on the list for writing documentation. 
If you wish to do so, then make an account on http://sourceforge.net/ so that 
you can access the development copy of DB in CVS and also the Web site. 
Contact the current maintainer, Marc Chalain, and let him know how you wish 
to help and your SourceForge username so he can add your SourceForge account 
to DB's SourceForge project.

Open Source and Free Software is what YOU make of it through your 
contributions, time, and energy. Nothing more. Nothing less. The monetary 
price may be zero but there is a price of your time. Others have paid for DB 
with their time, why not return the favor with a contribution of your own 
time?

Sorry to nag to you all, but many people fail to realize how easy it is to 
contribute to Open Source projects in many different ways.

And if you know how to code, come on and help out! Thanks to Marc Chalain, DB 
development has not stalled due to my time constraints with work and such. 
However, due to those time constraints, DB had no net change in the number of 
developers because I am no longer an active developer. The more developers 
the better since DB development will then be less dependent on any single 
developer all the time.

Maybe Marc's plugin architecture will allow some more distributed development 
of DB? A third-party plugins page on the Web page might be a good idea. As a 
matter of fact, if anyone on the list knows HTML page, maintaining such a 
page and not the plugins themselves is one opportunity for contribution.

A jobs Web page for DB would also be a great way to contribute to the DB 
community and "own" a piece of the project.

--

Thanks for listenting to me!