Bump...

It's been a few hours since the last post, but I think this thread deserves more attention (and time in the "Active Topics" bar). A huge thanks to Texrat for starting the ball rolling. Sorry if the following rambles a bit, but so it goes...

I personally LOVE the idea of this thread. I've been following the NITs since the 770 - got one of the first developer devices, and have had a love/hate relationship ever since. For the past four years I've been waiting patiently to create a port of Audacity (audio editor) for the NIT, which is still not possible due to a combination of hardware/software issues. Hopefully the new hardware/software will solve this, but I'll believe it when I see it (in my hands).

Some members have been great in discussing things with me, while others... well, I don't have a computer science degree, and this is sometimes a problem. You see, I'm "a newbie" (I HATE that term) when it comes to programming, but not when it comes to music/audio. And because I don't tend to think like a programmer (whatever that means), many of my ideas get dismissed out of hand. Yet, after a dozen years of university, numerous degrees, and well over 100 audio recording projects, I'm quite confident in my understanding of the material. I may not know/care about programming, but I _get_ what the users need.

So here's the problem: I want to contribute to the community, but I'm not convinced the community wants me. Instead of watching things become more open, allowing me to actually get on with my ideas, I've seen a wide range of tools emerge for the programmers and not much come for the other users. And when I've raised this point in the past, I have always been summarily dismissed. Sadly, these harsh words have almost always come from one "leader" or another.

At this point, I'm keeping myself busy with the occasional bug report, and I'd love to contribute some system sounds to the NIT. But the environment here is so hostile at times that I default back to more gentle options (like installing a bathroom fan while sitting in the attic, in fibreglass, for 5 hours).

My question, I suppose, is this: is Maemo becoming a more programmer-specific project? If this is the case, I'll cut my losses and move on. If there is a plan to engage and embrace new users of all stripes, I'll continue to purchase &/or suggest NITs for my family, friends, students, etc. I appreciate a community approach as much as anyone, but can someone please tell me where the h#%* we're going?

And Texrat, PM me if you want to discuss ways to tweak your bluegrass vocals. I've got the tools...