On Wed, 2010-04-21 at 12:50 -0700, Adam Williamson wrote:
On Wed, 2010-04-21 at 15:40 -0400, Bill Nottingham wrote:
> Adam Williamson (awilliam(a)redhat.com) said:
> > > Given that this is a remote programming tool (as opposed to a tool for
> > > *using* the remote), it's likely to be special.
> >
> > Guessing isn't always a good idea. =) You can't use a Harmony remote
> > without programming it; out of the box they do absolutely nothing. You
> > have to 'program' it for the actual components you want it to control.
> > Concordance does this.
>
> I know what it is. What I mean is that concordance isn't a tool for
> letting you use the remote as a peripheral with the OS. It's the equivalent
> of a JTAG programmer.
That's hair-splitting. Ultimately the problem is the same. If you buy a
Harmony and you have Windows or OS X, you're fine. It comes with a
software disc and instructions on what to do; it's obvious how to set it
up. If you use Linux, it's not at all obvious; there is software but you
have to find that out and install it yourself. If you just plug it into
your system, nothing at all happens, and it's easy to conclude there's
no way to use it. It would clearly be much better if, when you plugged
in the remote to your Linux system, something notified you that software
is available to let you do what you need to do with it. Same experience
as with a 'peripheral'.
If that software was even integrated into the desktop, you might have a
point. As it is, it integrates in nothing. At least, if the user did a
search on the net, they'd get clues, and read documentation about how to
use it.