Purpose: You got me. I keep seeing people try to classify various users into a variety of camps. I had the strange compulsion today to create a page listing a number of these, as well as to attempt to qualify what the pros and cons, to the user as well as to the tcl community, their category would be...
By use or user below, I include both external user of an application and developer use of tcl as a language.
Users with no exposure to tcl
- Personal Pros: many of these (my parents for instance) feel that not knowing programming is a benefit ...
- Personal Cons: who knows how many of these would benefit from knowing Tcl? I would suspect that the majority of this category don't even have access to computers.
- Community Pros: can you imagine trying to handle an influx of millions of people who don't even know how to turn on a computer? It is beneficial to the community not to deal with this segment of population.
- Community Cons: can you imagine how much revenue could be generated from this huge segment if there were some way to tap into it?
Users unaware of their exposure to tcl
- Personal Pro: if people can use tcl and not know it, then in my mind that's a real positive attribute; it says that tcl can meet a developer's need.
- Personal Con: user might not be aware of how they could potentially customize their applications if they don't know tcl
- Community Pros: if people are using apps and not knowing it, then by advertising the fact (where permitted by the authors) there is publicity opportunity
- Community Cons: I have heard developers talk about how they would prefer not to let their competitors know that tcl is their advantage.
Users indifferent to their use of tcl
- Personal Pro: in general, people in this category benefit from the fact that the developers get things done more quickly. That's probably the only real benefit this category get from tcl.
- Personal Con: perhaps does not get the greatest benefit from tcl's presence
- Community Pros: this group represents a potential pool of converts to the last category ;-)
- Community Cons: users in this segment have no motivation to contribute back to the community
Users hostile to tcl
- Personal Pro: user can, hopefully, find some better tool for the tasks at hand
- Personal Con: a bad experience can result in turning away not only one's self, but the sphere of influence one has from tcl
- Community Pros: if community remains open to criticism, and works to correct problems, then tcl can continue to improve
- Community Cons: can cause turbulence (aka trolling) within the community
Users favoribly inclined to tcl
- Personal Pro: hopefully, user is finding tcl a benefit
- Personal Con: none that I can think of
- Community Pros: in general, these are the active members of the community
- Community Cons: none