Application Database RFC

Andreas Mohr andi at rhlx01.fht-esslingen.de
Fri May 3 11:39:51 CDT 2002


On Thu, May 02, 2002 at 09:53:15PM -0600, Tony Lambregts wrote:
> I have done a lot of thinking about the Application Database
> http://appdb.codeweavers.com lately and how the rating system works. We 
> currently have 848 Applications in there but only 58 with a 5 star 
> rating which works out to less than 10% and thats the good news. The bad 
> news is that of those 58 only 26 rate that without windows installed. 
> After takeing a closer look, none of the apps I looked at actualy rated 
> 5 star by my way of judging. Now maybe I'm overly critical but in my way 
> of thinking If the app doesn't install in wine then it shouldn't get a 
> 5. IMHO We need to set criteria that give us a better/less subjective 
> way of measuring how well we are doing. So this is what I have come up with.
> 
> 1. Installation                                   (total possible 2)
>      Installs in wine with fake windows	                    2 points
>      Installs in wine with windows mounted                   1 point
>      Does not install in wine                                0 points
> 
> 2. Running & DLLS                                 (total possible 2)
>      Runs fine using all builtin dlls                        2 points
>      Runs fine using native dlls                             1 point
>      Does not run/crashes on startup                         0 points
> 
> 3  Running general                                (total possible 2)
>      program does not crash ever	                            2 points
>      Program crashes only after long use or rare aspect used 1 point
>      program crashes on startup or doing common function     0 points
> 
> 4. Screen Presentation/layout                     (total possible 2)
>      App looks exactly like it should                        2 points
>      Small problems that do not affect working with app      1 point
>      App is unusable because of display problems             0 points
> 
> 5. Fonts                                          (total possible 2)
>      Fonts look exacty right                                 2 points
>      Fonts not exactly right but acceptable                  1 point
>      Fonts unreadable or totaly wrong.                       0 points
> 
> 6. Mouse                                          (total possible 2)
>      Mouse behaves as expected                               2 points
>      Mouse behaves strange but can still use app             1 point
>      Mouse behaves badly and is unusable                     0 points
> 
> 7. Keyboard                                       (total possible 2)
>      Keyboard reacts as expected.                            2 points
>      Some keys/key combinations dont work but most do.       1 point
>      Keyboard locks up or unresposive                        0 points	
> 
> 8. Files save/restore                             (total possible 2)
>      Able to save and restore files without any problems     2 points
>      Can save and restore files but have problems            1 points
>      Cannot save or restore files                            0 points
> 
> 9. Sound                                          (total possible 2)
>      Not applicable
>      Sound is correct                                        2 points
>      sound is ok most of the time but has minor glichs       1 point
>      Sound is garbled or missing                             0 points
> 
> 10.Joystick/gamepad                               (total possible 2)
>      Not applicable
>      joystick/gamepad works correctly                        2 points
>      joystick/gamepad have problems but mostly work          1 point
>      joystick/gamepad unresponsive                           0 points
> 
> 11.Registy/rememberd state                        (total possible 2)
>      Not applicable
>      Program remembers key settings from one session to next 2 points
>      Program remembers most settings but not all             1 point
>      program does not remember most settings at all          0 points
> 
> 12. Date tested. Verison of wine used
> 
Way too complicated IMHO.

Do you really think people will put up with this system if currently
they very frequently don't even mention whether they actually tried the app
on Wine and what results they got ?
(yes, I added a comment which asks them to also mention this)

A lot of the submissions that I commit leave several things to be desired,
too (which I frequently improve a lot before committing, which shouldn't
really be my job, though).

IMHO the fact that the current *easy* rating system doesn't get used properly
sort of indicates that it would be even worse with a more complicated system.
One possible bad result:
less people putting up with submitting apps, because it's "too much work",
thus dramatically fewer apps listed.
Do we want that ?

IMHO we want as many apps listed as possible, even with a somewhat fuzzy
picture, as opposed to simply listing Office, IE, HalfLife and Starcraft
with perfect rating and description.

People do want to know whether a particular highly weird app
(take "Femta" as an example ;-) might have the slightest chance of running
on Wine, so having a relatively broad base is also pretty important.

-- 
Andreas Mohr                        Stauferstr. 6, D-71272 Renningen, Germany
Tel. +49 7159 800604                http://home.arcor.de/andi.mohr/



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