01-31-2003, 04:26 PM -
Quote:Different people, different needs.
I think you've hit the proverbial nail on the head with that statement. Like you, I was first attracted to TLB because of it's core features: ease of use, flexibility, resource friendliness. However, I've stayed with TLB, and in fact stayed with the explorer shell in general, because of all the optional features available in the form of plugins (and because I have "direct" access to the developer
)."Shell tweakers", those people who are unhappy with their user interface and find ways to make it better - the kind of people that use TLB, are motivated to varying extents by three basic needs: simplicity, efficiency, and appearance. Those who tend toward simplicity prefer neat, organized, intuitive designs. Those motivated by efficiency strive to achieve the most functionality with the least impact on resources (RAM, screen real estate, CPU cycles, bandwidth etc). Those in the appearance camp simply want their computers to look cool. Usually a shell tweaker is fueled by two or even all three of these different needs, and so far I think Yuri has done a great job balancing them.
I think the best solution would be for Yuri to enlist some help, either paid or volunteer. As far as I know, he is the only one actively developing TLB and its plugins. This worked fine in TLB's early days, but it now seems the project has grown too big for just one programmer. Adding more programmers would increase the speed at which new features were implemented/fixed, which would in turn increase TLB's user base, and of course revenue. A little extra beef in the marketing department wouldn't hurt, either.
They say you've reached a good compromise when nobody's happy. I say you've reached a better compromise when nobody's unhappy.