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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: ZDnet Article
From:       Boris Povazay <boris () jouh ! at>
Date:       1999-12-24 13:36:51
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Matthias Ettrich wrote:

> So true. I like how the article starts: "We didn't wait for years for an
> alternative to Windows, to accept a lousy copy of it". Poor guy, he had to
> *wait* for something. And when it finally came to him, for free and open
> source, it didn't fullfil all his dreams.....
>
> I'm really feeling sorry ;-)

Well I do not think that you definitly got him right - He was looking for a
step forward, a new dimension in dektop-design.
I do not want to state here that KDE (especially 2.0) is a gigant step towards
usability and that it does leave the wind*ws-desktop behind. I guess he
expected to see something completly new - an entirely innovative approach,
that leaves the burdens of the current desktops behind.

In fact HE IS WAITING for something he has no real idea of - and he has noone,
especially not the proponents of OpenSource, to blame for that. Facing the
possibilities of OpenSource he eventually might do something himself, to show
what he is aiming for, instead of whining around.

On the other hand there are several things in KDE(2) that will leave several
obstacles of common desktops behind and could show up with a new approach.
(Namely projectorientated work - instead of programorientated)

A new DIMENSION would be something toltally different - maybe a desktop
without windows that can be hidden, or some that pop up when needed and
dissappear afterwards (again this would only be only a small innovation).
There might also be a "timeline-view" of the dektop, that shows what the user
has already done in the past and what he is going to do.
He also mentions "Software Agents" that give some kind of personality to the
computer, or a 3D-enviroment.
But I guess these will become useful only if there is enough hardware behind
and when a bit of evolution has been gone through there.

In conclusion we can say: KDE may be no REVOLUTION, but more an EVOLUTION in
terns of GUI-development. But when speaking of a Unix-Desktop KDE is a GIANT
LEAP FORWARD (maybe also because it consists of so many "small steps" of a
multitude of developers...)

ciao BoP
P.S.: I wonder why the text is entitled with: "Nothing new in the west" - is
he talking of Redmond, or what?
-- Boris Povazay

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