[Desktop_architects] Printing dialog and GNOME

[Thilo Pfennig]

On 2/21/07, Christian F.K. Schaller <christian at fluendo.com> wrote:>


 The problem is and have never been that the GNOME community thinks people
> shouldn't be allowed to tweak their UI, instead the idea was that we
> keep the 'core' slim and clean and then people who want more control can
> install extra tools to get extra configureability.



I think this may be the core question. Generally the perception of GNOME vs.
KDE is that if you want to configure everything you should take KDE - and if
you like it simple (KISS) take GNOME. Although this is true in many aspects
from my point of view and although this may sound like a good idea I think
that this truely hurts the free desktops. It is not so much the question
what Linus thinks or what GNOME.org thinks. The question is what is in the
interest of the users?

The problem I see is that users are just not acting like we expect. So there
are KDE users who sometimes like simplicity - and also the GNOME lover who
likes things to be simple sometimes needs a very complicated configuration
in order to get his job done. I think a desktop that wants to be of any
impact must target every user and every usage. As a desktop you can not
really focus on some user preferences or desktop usages. A desktop lies the
base ground for every possible activity of a user - so it can not act like
an application like Inkscape or Jokosher that focus on a specific user
group.

This is in contrast to the common marketing views. I think GNOME has, in the
past, not targeted all those user groups. Also I think the question is if it
is really better to reduce the diversity of solutions. I don't really think
that every decisions that where made with usability in mind where always
based on hard usability data. GNOME has the reputation of rejecting patches
often (I hear that every day) - be it true or not (i have not made any
statistics). For me it is still the most usable desktop, nontheless.

One can not really question the reception of GNOME of users (like Linus). It
is what it is - if GNOMEs policies are misunderstood or lead to frustration
we must accept and understand that. And learn. Sure there will never be the
perfect desktop without any frustrated users. But it is important to
understand the criticism.

To get more practical I think the user should be able to select his
experience level and preferences and then get the interface he likes best
(also should have the opportunity to switch later). From what I have seen so
far there can never be the one desktop or user interface that does usability
best. Some users will be happy most of things look and behave as much as on
Windows XP or Mac OS (where they come from) and for some even GNOME is much
too complicated. I think it is plain wrong if a desktops decides for the
user. He should decide if this is the users choice. I myself like the
desktop to a) be very intuitive right from the start and b) making decisions
for me so i just have to find out how things work and do not have to waste
my time to customize. Others think just the opposit is best.

Summary. GNOME or any other desktop who likes to be of any impact can not
focus on specific user preferences but must find a way to support as much
possible user wishes and desktop flavors as possible. This is VERY difficult
but I think the other direction is wrong, unless you want to provide a
minority desktop (like a desktop for music makers,...)


regards,

Thilo
-- =

Thilo Pfennig
http://wiki.foresightlinux.com/confluence/display/~vinci/
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