On Saturday 20 May 2006 05:00, Dinesh Joshi wrote:
On Friday 19 May 2006 11:25, jtd wrote:
Ruuubbissssh. Read my earlier post on kids and comps.
Heh. If what we're talking is so rubbish then why isn't every computer running KDE? Why are so many people dependent on the XP UI? Why do people rate XP's UI better than KDE / GNOME ? And why does KDE keep adding XMMS in nonsensical places in the menus? :/ Umm...jtd, no offense but the first step to improve is to accept ones shortcomings. The Linux desktop offerings arent going to get any better if we try to mould people into doing the things our way rather we should adopt the software to do things their way and then slowly transition them :/
I migrated from Windows XP to RH 9. I thought Gnome sucked and KDE rocked. Now I don't think Gnome sucks, I'm pretty much used to it, but after using KDE for so long, I find the XP UI boring and it doesn't let me customise as much as I want to. KDE allows me that. Seriously, I can't live without KDE now.
I think the problem, if you can call it that, with KDE, is that it is too customisable. Meaning, there are just too many options everywhere. This could (and probably does, I wouldn't know) intimidate newbies. Now, didn't I hear this exact argument about KDE 4? IIRC, developers were discussing how to present a decent number of options to the users upfront and maybe move the more advanced options, which are not _required_ somewhere else, so as to clean up the UI.
Anyway, I like KDE and the way it functions. I'm not sure how much I'd like it if it tried to force me to change to allow some newbies easier migration. Why should I sacrifice my comfort because some newbie needs to be spoon-fed? Isn't this like proprietary software? Software telling me what to do and changing my habits, rather than the other way around. I would rather have it keep doing what it does best, the way it does it, because I'm used to it. Surely, as an old (!) user, I deserve some attention. What's more important, adding new users and losing the current ones or keeping the current ones and on top of that adding any new users _that might want to come along_.
Seriously, why are we talking in a language that reads "People _must_ use Linux". Shouldn't it be,"People who want to use Linux, should use Linux. Those who don't, shouldn't." What will you gain by making a Windows lover use Linux and then have him blame it because it doesn't function the way Windows does? I like the way KDE works, I don't want it to work the way Windows does. If some wannabe user of KDE has a problem with that, he's free to keep using Windows. Why do want to force a change in KDE just because you want to make that user use KDE instead of Windows. Where's the choice? I do not want to transition to Windows way of things again, when I'm using KDE.
This is like saying, make Linux work exactly like Windows. We'll attract a lot more people that way. Seriously, would you still use Linux if it worked like Windows?
In the end it doesnt matter if Linux can do everything including walking your dog, if users aren't attracted and feel at home with our desktop offerings then its senseless to add features _we_ feel are useful.
Why? I want some feature. I need it. I want it to be added. Again, why should the existing user base sacrifice?
If you're going to shove unwanted features down a users throat then he will just format his disk and move over to something else. Give him what _he_ wants!
Sure, but I do want what I want too.
Microsoft isn't all that evil. The Linux community can learn some things from Microsoft....well....atleast the Microsoft of the 1990s.
Sure. But what it should not unlearn is the habit of making the software work perfectly first, rather than just being attractive to attract loads of users.
P.S.: I read your earlier post on kids and comps. Well, catch 'em young is what even M$ is doing currently. But the vast majority need to _transition_ from the Win platform to the Linux platform! :/
*Shrugs*. I migrated and I don't want to migrate back to the old Windows way of things. Where's 'choice' and 'alternative'? I want to be able to things differently from Windows. KDE allows me that. Do I want KDE to work like Windows too?
-- Dinesh A. Joshi