HOME | DD

Description
So, that's it. A few days more, then Eclipse will become the one and the only available interface for DA users, regardless they like it or don't. Me and other users have supported a lot of petitions and campaigns pro freedom of choice, but honestly I didn't really hope that such of protests could have got any result. On a side, the DA staff is completely ignoring the diffuse malcontent, and on the other side they can trust in a "silent majority" of users, who will go on using DA: regardless of how many angry users manifest their malcontent, regardless of the graphical interface and regardless the mandatory transformation of DA into just another sliding showcase.

I want to be clear and explicit. I'm not supporting any crusade against Eclipse. The web changes, the web evolves. If a new interface provides more features, if it's more efficient and responsive, changing is a good thing. If a new interface offers more chances, if a new interface make easier to "work" on DA, if a new interface goes on supporting the community's activities, changing is a good things. And our habits just have to change as well. Changing habits can be difficult and unpleasant but when the change grants more possibilities, more choices, more efficiency, at the end people will be happy to change their habits.

Unfortunately this is NOT the case. Eclipse is far from being a complete product. Eclipse is far from being free from bugs and malfunctions. Moreover, Eclipse is far from providing a support to the functions and features which made DA unique and that made DA the tool of choice for thousands of both artists and art lovers. Unfortunately Eclipse is not going to change only a color skin, it's going to change the fundamentals in the way of using DA. I don't know if there's an intentional choice in this, or if the DA staff is just unaware of what they're doing, or if they just expect that users will gladly change their habits and they will accept the change on the long terms, even if today they're angry.

What I know for sure is that Eclipse doesn't provide any real support for our usual community and groups activities. The DA staff goes on telling us that "DA belongs to the community". But as a matter of fact groups' activities are totally unsupported by the new interface. Eclipse has been imposed as mandatory because "the old interface and the new one cannot convive", but what actually is going to happen is that groups will go on being used with the old interface, because Eclipse doesn't support them. So, can they convive or not?

This makes totally hypocritical the staff's statements about "DA belongs to the community". Groups are a structural, core feature of DA and the fact they're not supported by Eclipse is not a "minor bug" to be reported as a normal feedback among thousands of other "minor bugs" and implementation requests.

If really "DA belongs to the comunity" the Eclipse developers should have taken into account the impact on the groups' activities. Which will be impacted not only directly by the new interface, lacking of a new version of groups, but also and more heavily by how Eclipse manages the notifications, the watches notifications and the subscriptions to artworks submitted in the groups.

All aspects of all daily groups' activities will be affected by "collateral damages" by the lacks of Eclipse. All these are not "minor bugs" or feedbacks to be reported like minor issues "for future implementations".

It's precisely this kind of arrogance and indifference, that makes users angry and upset due to the decision of making mandatory Eclipse so soon.
And this is why I sincerely don't know how much our groups' activities will be impacted in the future.

Description
So, that's it. A few days more, then Eclipse will become the one and the only available interface for DA users, regardless they like it or don't. Me and other users have supported a lot of petitions and campaigns pro freedom of choice, but honestly I didn't really hope that such of protests could have got any result. On a side, the DA staff is completely ignoring the diffuse malcontent, and on the other side they can trust in a "silent majority" of users, who will go on using DA: regardless of how many angry users manifest their malcontent, regardless of the graphical interface and regardless the mandatory transformation of DA into just another sliding showcase.

I want to be clear and explicit. I'm not supporting any crusade against Eclipse. The web changes, the web evolves. If a new interface provides more features, if it's more efficient and responsive, changing is a good thing. If a new interface offers more chances, if a new interface make easier to "work" on DA, if a new interface goes on supporting the community's activities, changing is a good things. And our habits just have to change as well. Changing habits can be difficult and unpleasant but when the change grants more possibilities, more choices, more efficiency, at the end people will be happy to change their habits.

Unfortunately this is NOT the case. Eclipse is far from being a complete product. Eclipse is far from being free from bugs and malfunctions. Moreover, Eclipse is far from providing a support to the functions and features which made DA unique and that made DA the tool of choice for thousands of both artists and art lovers. Unfortunately Eclipse is not going to change only a color skin, it's going to change the fundamentals in the way of using DA. I don't know if there's an intentional choice in this, or if the DA staff is just unaware of what they're doing, or if they just expect that users will gladly change their habits and they will accept the change on the long terms, even if today they're angry.

What I know for sure is that Eclipse doesn't provide any real support for our usual community and groups activities. The DA staff goes on telling us that "DA belongs to the community". But as a matter of fact groups' activities are totally unsupported by the new interface. Eclipse has been imposed as mandatory because "the old interface and the new one cannot convive", but what actually is going to happen is that groups will go on being used with the old interface, because Eclipse doesn't support them. So, can they convive or not?

This makes totally hypocritical the staff's statements about "DA belongs to the community". Groups are a structural, core feature of DA and the fact they're not supported by Eclipse is not a "minor bug" to be reported as a normal feedback among thousands of other "minor bugs" and implementation requests.

If really "DA belongs to the comunity" the Eclipse developers should have taken into account the impact on the groups' activities. Which will be impacted not only directly by the new interface, lacking of a new version of groups, but also and more heavily by how Eclipse manages the notifications, the watches notifications and the subscriptions to artworks submitted in the groups.

All aspects of all daily groups' activities will be affected by "collateral damages" by the lacks of Eclipse. All these are not "minor bugs" or feedbacks to be reported like minor issues "for future implementations".

It's precisely this kind of arrogance and indifference, that makes users angry and upset due to the decision of making mandatory Eclipse so soon.
And this is why I sincerely don't know how much our groups' activities will be impacted in the future.