[Zope] Allaire Spectra

[Brian Lloyd]

> >Good news, I think. They're not learning.
> 
> On the contrary, I believe that there is a great deal that we
> could learn from CF. I still remember the first time I downloaded
> CF and had built my own custom apps within an evening - not just 
> prepackaged apps (like Zope's "products" or just using the  web
> interface) but my own stuff. 
> ie. they had me writing code immediately. 
> I am, to paraphrase snowcrash 'as slow as a mammal can be and still
> have respiratory functions', so this was no mean feat.
> 
> Their packaging is superb. This *is* important though we (when
> wearing our 'techie' hats) would like to think it isn't. I don't 
> refer to the pretty box that software arrives in, I refer to the 
> completeness of the documentation, the website, the very simple 
> tutorials that get people up and running in no time at all. They 
> understand their target audience well ... and the docs are 
> written such that even a total mong would understand. Yes, I 
> speak from experience in the department ;)

I think that this is an important thread - while we do not
necessarily want to compete with every other product in the
marketplace on a feature-by-feature basis, it _is_ important 
to keep an eye on the competition and to learn from both their
successes and failures.

Zopistas with significant experience using other systems are 
invaluable in this process - you have enough of a foot in both
worlds to give informed feedback as to what we can learn from
the other guys out there.

The main general points I see above:

  o short learning curve, quick tutorials and productivity

  o very good docs/organization/presentation

...are things that (believe me) we have been hearing loud and
clear for a while now. We (and the Zopista community) have been
focusing a lot of effort on HowTos, better documentation and 
improving zope.org as a learning resource to make progress on 
these concerns. That doesn't mean that the problem is solved,
of course, but the community as a whole is certainly aware of
it and taking action.

That said, are there other particular lessons that you think we
should learn from CF/Spectra? 


Brian Lloyd        brian@digicool.com
Software Engineer  540.371.6909              
Digital Creations  http://www.digicool.com