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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: UI feedback from a Linux newbie
From:       Rik Hemsley <rik () kde ! org>
Date:       2000-04-17 20:48:27
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#if Tom Hoferek
> common to any new user I've spoken to. There has been some earlier talk
> of paradigm changes, a new 'desktop',  and looking into the future - has
> anyone given thought to how we might try to present all the stuff on a
> Linux user's computer so that it is easy for them to navigate and
> understand where things are? Maybe providing flexibility allowing them
> to organize their applications, documents, and files in ways that make
> sense to them? This is something I would like to give some thought to
> and would welcome any ideas others may have.

Well... a UNIX user sees nothing but their own home directory. They
should not be concerned with the rest of the filesystem.

How the user organises their files within their personal space
is their own perogative.

If you have your own UNIX machine, then you need to learn about
the filesystem yourself. So I think this is a UNIX issue, not
a KDE issue.

> Another weakness I see as a new Linux user is the difficulty in
> installing applications. I'm sure, or at least I hope, that this is
> something that has been discussed and hope that discussions will
> continue in the future. I realize that there are issues to overcome
> regarding standardization and so on that will probably have significant
> bearing on how we can improve the installation experience for the user.
> As it is now, installing an application can be an impossible task for
> someone who is not familiar with Unix. If it is possible, and there is
> interest, I think it would be very valuable for us to tackle this
> problem.

Again, this is a UNIX issue, specifically a permissions issue.
If you have your own machine (you sound like you have your own
Linux box) then you need to work this out for yourself.

KPackage is a great tool for managing package installation. If
Linux distributors put kpackage into an admin group and also certain
users then users can administrate their own packages with ease.

So you see this is an issue for Linux distributors. KDE runs on
many UNIX flavours and many of our users are on shared systems
where they have no admin permissions. We can't install kpackage
set to some group ID unless we know in advance that a) it is a
standalone machine and b) the group to set permissions for.

> Some of them, I hope no one takes offense, are just bad. I have to ask
> myself, "Is that option checked or unchecked" because sometimes I can't
> be sure. I think it would be great if there was a way that I could
> control this at the OS level so that everything I run would have the
> look and feel that I choose. If applications had the option to adopt the
> OS look and feel (by default) or allow the user to choose their own,
> that allow the user to keep a 'cool skin' on their MP3 player, for
> example, but everything else would remain consistent, unless specified
> otherwise at the app level. I know there was some talk a while ago
> between KDE and Corel about developing a theme and/or widget set that
> would be distinct, but familiar enough that users would understand it.
> Is there still interest in pursuing this? Alex and I here at Corel would
> like to see soemthing like this go ahead, so feel free to comment.

Yes, we have B2 as the standard KDE theme at the moment. It's most
similar to what you see in BeOS.

I would like to see a new theme that fixes some of the problems that
are inherent in most existing ones. For example, most checkboxes use
crosses rather than ticks. This confuses people. They don't know
whether a cross means off or on. Another example: radio buttons use
dots. What's that supposed to mean ? They should use ticks like
checkboxes. They can indicate their changed functionality by their
shape. I have created a mockup of such a theme, which you can see
at http://www.geoid.clara.co.uk/controls.png

Rik

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