[vlc] User - friendliness and VLC

[Harold Brochmann]

I downloaded VLC and 4 pfd documents and have played with this for the last day or two. With your permission I shall make some comments which may easily be taken as criticisms - which I guess they are.

Perhaps I do not have what is perceived to be the required qualifications to make these observations. Let me just state that I'm now in my early 70's, retired after teaching Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science for 30-odd years and at one time I wrote a lot of software for the early Commodore machines, including a couple of word processors.

VLC seems to be pretty skookum when it comes to what I assume it is (or will be) capable of doing. Most impressive. But... some common errors are being made.

If you want to write a successful piece of software you need to write the manual first - and it needs to be edited over and over by non-programmer potential users. Only after this is in the can do you start coding.

This is not what appears to have happened here.

Also - the 4 pdf documents were, in common with most documentation "these days" (!) gives the distinct impression that the purpose of the exercise is to use as much paper as possible - rather than actually leading the unfamiliar potential user through the steps needed to make things happen.

Well there you have it. I'm not intentionally pissing on your parade... just being "upfront" - and perhaps contributing? Well, I hope, anyhow.

Best wishes



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Harold  Brochmann
SaltSpring Island BC, Canada
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