Nuntius: Delivering Android Notifications To The GNOME Desktop

[RahulSundaram]

They couldn't be bothered to spend 30 seconds to check if someone was already doing what they wanted to do before spending weeks doing it themselves. I guess, technically, not caring about the rest of the Linux software ecosystem is not NIH syndrome, but it is part of the same general mentality.

Nope. Let's assume it is ignorance and for a couple of hobbyist developers it would have been obvious in 30 seconds that KDE connect is something they can actually use although I think that is far from the case. Ignorance is pretty much the opposite of NIH especially when someone says they will look into it when they are made aware of it. Let's not throw around the term as a generic criticism for everything we don't like

[TheBlackCat]

Nope. Let's assume it is ignorance and for a couple of hobbyist developers it would have been obvious in 30 seconds that KDE connect is something they can actually use although I think that is far from the case. Ignorance is pretty much the opposite of NIH especially when someone says they will look into it when they are made aware of it. Let's not throw around the term as a generic criticism for everything we don't like

The problem isn't ignorance, the problem is not caring. However long you think it would have taken them to find out that KDE connect existed, and that they planned to support Gnome, it was easily orders of magnitude less time than writing two new programs (the desktop and android parts) from scratch themselves. The fact that they didn't look shows they didn't care if there was already a solution.

[RahulSundaram]

The problem isn't ignorance, the problem is not caring. However long you think it would have taken them to find out that KDE connect existed, and that they planned to support Gnome, it was easily orders of magnitude less time than writing two new programs (the desktop and android parts) from scratch themselves. The fact that they didn't look shows they didn't care if there was already a solution.

Let's assume your assertion is correct. You did read the motivation part of the blog post, correct?. If I am doing a hobbyist program based on watercooler ideas to learn more about android, I don't care if there is a protocol out there that does something similar. I can easily adopt it if I find it suitable later on. If I wasted a few hours more, that is my prerogative entirely.

[TheBlackCat]

Let's assume your assertion is correct. You did read the motivation part of the blog post, correct?. If I am doing a hobbyist program based on watercooler ideas to learn more about android, I don't care if there is a protocol out there that does something similar. I can easily adopt it if I find it suitable later on. If I wasted a few hours more, that is my prerogative entirely.

I am not saying it isn't their choice, I am just saying it is part of the same mentality that is responsible for NIH syndrome. Of course gnome projects are allowed to ignore the rest of the linux software ecosystem, they do it all the time. But that doesn't mean we have to like it.

Yes, I agree if all you care about is learning about android, then learning about android is fine. However, if your goal is to have a project that provides useful functionality to end-users, then it is no longer just a project to learn about android.

[RahulSundaram]

I am not saying it isn't their choice, I am just saying it is part of the same mentality that is responsible for NIH syndrome. Yes, I agree if all you care about is learning about android, then learning about android is fine. However, if your goal is to have a project that provides useful functionality to end-users, then it is no longer just a project to learn about android.

I am going to have to disagree with the idea that not being aware of another project and agreeing to look at it once someone is aware of it can be equated to NIH. NIH is being aware of another project and deliberately choosing to reimplement something.

I also don't agree with the false dichotomy presented by you on useful functionality to end users vs trying to learn something. Linux itself is very much a counter example. One can perfectly well do both

[TheBlackCat]

I am going to have to disagree with the idea that not being aware of another project and agreeing to look at it once someone is aware of it can be equated to NIH. NIH is being aware of another project and deliberately choosing to reimplement something.

Again, not only did I not say they were equivalent, I said they weren't. What I said is that they are part of the same mentality, which I stand by.

I also don't agree with the false dichotomy presented by you on useful functionality to end users vs trying to learn something. Linux itself is very much a counter example. One can perfectly well do both

That is not a very good example. Linus was well aware of the alternatives, and he was criticized at the time for reinventing the wheel. However, at the time the alternatives were still a long way from being usable. That is not the case here.

[RahulSundaram]

Again, not only did I not say they were equivalent, I said they weren't. What I said is that they are part of the same mentality, which I stand by.


That is not a very good example. Linus was well aware of the alternatives, and he was criticized at the time for reinventing the wheel. However, at the time the alternatives were still a long way from being usable. That is not the case here.

Your argument that completely opposite things are part of the same mentality is pretty dubious to me. Linux is a perfectly good example of someone doing something to learn and it becoming useful for other folks. If you want a more direct counter example, I am using Nuntius right now and nothing else is usable for me. So, there you go.