I downloaded BottomFeeder, a SmallTalk powered blogging tool. I was really overjoyed to see it being a cross-platform piece of software with OS X support. So I glady downloaded it and started looking through it. Here is what I found…
- First off, the manual didn’t have any explanation besides the bare minimum for how to get this running in OS X. Plenty of instructions for Windoze users. How the hell is this supposed to work? How am I supposed to install it? Okay whatever I can figure this out…
- When I uncompressed it I just found a directory full of files. There wasn’t an Application Bundle that I could just drag around and start up. It seems there was some file called bottomFeeder. What’s that? Is that the executable? Clicking on it in the Finder didn’t do squat. How am I supposed to make this run anything?
- A little thought I drop into the Terminal then try typing ./bottomFeeder. Now a window pops up that says ‘Open’. What the heck is that for? Oh I get… it’s a SmallTalk program looking for an image. Okay…. I’m supposed to find the image file. Just look for the large file sitting around.
- Next I try, ./bottomFeeder bottomFeeder.im
- I start looking through the menus. Hmmm doesn’t look that bad. I want to import all my NetNewsWire subscriptions into it. I just need to use the Import subscriptions. Hey… wait where’s the .opml import? I try loading All Files and then loading it in, no go. I wanna quit… Cmd-q. No?
- Ugh, this is the last straw. BottomFeeder for Windows might work quite well and integrate well with the Windows GUI however for OS X it’s an embarassment. Nothing in the DOck, nothing in the Finder Bar on top, no instructions on how to get started. And the last straw… how come it can import piles of different file types but NOT the one I need to use??? Geez
Score: 1/10
At least the thing runs and does stuff but I can’t do any blogging in this thing. Back to the drawing board. If this is supposed to show SmallTalk’s power I’m not convinced. I want to be a believer but not with a demonstration like that.
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