[Greasemonkey] a difference in vision

[Bill Donnelly]

I think it's all good, but, whatever.
My take is more or less as follows. ("quickly")

Gm started out small with some initial vision
of one person, and then more people, and then
grew from there as more people got interested
and involved and wanted to be able to do more,
and MORE, and got creative and made suggestions
and requests and contributed when and where they
could, and here we are. (in a fairly short time)

I think it's safe to say that Gm is quite a bit
different now than it was in the beginning and
was initially intended to be.
(I think --- again, more or less, +/-)

I've only started to learn about programming
extensions because I've had to, to do what I've
wanted to do. I would have preferred to not have
"had" to learn and work on all that I have.
(even though I enjoy it and might as well now
keep going to the ultimate conclusion, since
there is even more I want to do now and in the
future -- unfortunately, I quit "learning new
languages for the fun of it" over ten years ago)

And I'm still not even close to being "there".
There is at least an order of magnitude between
writing simple-istic javascript scripts/programs
and writing XUL extensions. Probably more, really.

Saying it is not easy is an understatement, and,
with all due whatever, I'm about as strong a
programmer as anyone will find, with probably more
experience and expertise than 99% of programmers
anywhere and everywhere, overall, or otherwise.
(even taking into account my increasingly "bad memory",
scatterbrained behaviours, "eccentric" attitudes,
and whatever else is going on that I don't 'see')
So my primary blockage is simply finding the time.
(and interest, and desire to fit things into my
triage list -- as it is for most of us, I'm sure)

Which is partly why Gm so interested me, because
I could do plenty of cool stuff with what I
already knew and very little, if any, additional
learning and time investment was required.
And I could do it NOW. And it was automagic,
so I didn't have to keep clicking on bookmarklet
links all the time, which, in some instances,
gets pretty old real quick.

With pretty much the sky's the limit. (+/-)
Big, small, medium, simple, complex, quick,
extensive, detailed, throw-aways, one-timers,
keepers, should-be-shared-with-others -- Yeah, Baby!
Plus the ability to use others' scripts so I
didn't have to recreate the wheel.

And the "Gm Compiler" is great, but also fairly
limiting unless you just want to make your
"simple script" into an extension. It works great
for that, although I haven't found the need, yet.

I already run my own "flavor" of Greasemonkey.
Mostly because it seems that others aren't
particularly interested in my ideas and suggestions
and such most of the time. More or less. (?) And I
don't have the time or patience anymore to mess
with crap more than I already do.

I call it "Greasemonkey: Quark".
(because it has it's own flavors, colors and spins)

And have thought about "publishing it" now and
then as "OilyApe" (or "SlickGorilla" -- some of you
may have noticed my " 'weird' sense of humor" by now),
but have still not done it. I am still adding things
in and playing with it and learning extension writing
and stuff and my schedule is such that there is
no telling when and/or if it will ever "be done".

(and I can pretty much guarantee that people would
quickly get irritated with my so-called schedule,
which would in no way resemble the herculean effort
of bug fixes and functionality enhancements that
Greasemonkey seems to be able to keep up with
due to the hard work of those that are doing it)

Anyway, what to do? I have no real (good?) idea.

I think about it, and contribute ideas and suggestions
and such when and if I can, and let others (whomever
they may be) decide what to do, and when to do it,
if at all.

Sometimes I disagree, and usually voice my opinions,
and then often end up enhancing 'Gm: Quark' to do
what I want it to do, with my own ideas and sometimes
others when they end up not be included and I want it.

I'm not really sure who is "in control", if anyone
at all, although I think I have some general idea,
but I know it isn't me, and I'm not even on a rung
of the ladder, if there even is a ladder.

At some point I know someone will make a decision
and things will either happen or not. So I sit back
and watch and learn and all the rest and hope for
the best and have fun and do what I need and want to do.

That's about it, I guess. The way I see it.
I wish I had 'answers' and the ability to solve problems
with decisiveness for my and other people's sake, but,
thems the breaks, and that is what Gm is right now,
for better or worse.

But I would rather have it as it is now, and whatever
it will be in the future, whatever that ends up being,
than not at all.