Mix and match components

[Alain Farmer]

Hello Andu (and others too),

>> One of our objectives is to create a
>> communication, collaboration and E-learning
>> platform where components are mixed-and-matched
>> at will, forming whole systems whose
>> components interoperate seemlessly.

> I've heard this before mostly in ads ... but
> never could figure out what exactly such
> contraption would look like and how exactly
> could one mix-and-match components and with what 
> purpose, could you please enlighten me?

For one thing, MetaCard's architecture is ideal for
this because everything in the GUI is an editable
stack that can be modified or replaced by another
'custom' stack. 

With a bit of work, a fool-proof user-friendly system
could be devised to make this swapping effortless and
foolproof. Take the ScriptEditor for example. FreeGUI
has several scriptEditors to choose from, so users get
to pick the scriptEditor that suits them best.

The prev paragraph describes what mixing and matching
might look like at the GUI level of MetaCard, but
there is also a more global "suite" level where the
stacks of your system/solution (custom ones not
bundled with MC) can be mixed-and-matched to suit your
particular goals. 

Take, for example, a suite of Web-savvy client stacks
for various Internet protocols: e-mail, FTP, Chat,
etc. They all work seamlessly together, but not all
teachers and/or situations require ALL of these
stacks, in which case they become clutter. So the
teacher/etc removes the ones he doesn't want, keeps
the appropriate ones, swaps some of them with
alternative ones, adds ones which are not bundled with
this system of mine (third-party), etc.

This applies not only to the numerous means of
web-based communication in the above example.
Collaborations and E-learning are also very
*feature-laden* because there are innumerable ways to
collaborate and to learn. Many features are required
but, OTOH, the "one-size-fits-all" and
"everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" approaches are not
the answer either. User-friendly-adaptation is the
key.

Imagine if we could do that with monolithic wares like
MS-Office, or just about any ware on the market right
now for that matter. You wouldn't be forced to put up
with the messy glut of stuff you just don't use. Much
simpler, less overwhelming, open to substitutions from
third-parties (including open source), better adapted
to needs and capabilities of the users, etc.

That's how *I* see it,

Alain Farmer

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