Usability

[Wim De Smet]

John Peter Tapsell said:
> Just to troll....
>
> Why do we /want/ newbies to be able to use gnome?
> The current generation of clueless (l)users are going to be dead a 20-30
years
> anyway, and it is our future generations that need to be catered for.
>
> I started off on an old spectrum 48k (ah those were the days)  where it
was all
> CLI, where you could program your own games, and had to program your own
> assembler to write assembly :)
>
> My concern is that we are dumbing it down, and making it _harder_ for
users in
> the long run.
> I used DOS, then windows, etc, and had to fix all the problems myself etc
> But it made me learn how it worked, it forced me to think, and to
understand.
> Having to work with the computer, not expecting the computer to work on my
> terms.
>
> I already feel sorry this generation comming up, starting off on windows
98,
> with no source code to play with etc.  How are they ever going to learn?
>
> on the spectrum, a lot of games were written in basic, and were easy to
follow
> and alter.
>
> And now, with all this trouble of dumbing down the interface, you want to
do
> that _more_ to gnome?? I say no!   I say, make the users think dammit!
Make
> the users read man pages, understand the OS a little.
> If they want something nice and simple, use KDE, or go use a mac.
>
> I want a gnome that is useful for _me_.  A professional coder, and linux
user.
> Newbies add no real value, where as make it good for a new coder, and he
might
> just help out with it.
>
> If gnome was mainly for profit, then I'd see why you'd want the newbie
users,
> but it's not, so stop trying to dumb down my interface!
>
> </troll>
I agree (almost) completely. We don't want to dumb it down to the point
where one doesn't see what the os is doing (i.e. Windows). But we should
make it easier to find help. HTML Help on every possible topic and nicely
integrated in the OS, that's what I would like to see. Fine, let them read
the man-pages, but what if they don't know what a man-page is? Beginner
guides are always a plus anyway, but they're not always that easy to come by
on Linux systems.

Maybe I'm overstating this, whatever,

Wim
wdesmet at yucom.be

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"We will bravely defend your freedom and never back down.
Not even trolls can stop our swords. " - Bernhard Reiter