[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Again - UI
From:       "Philip Rackus" <philipr () corel ! com>
Date:       2000-04-19 20:14:16
[Download RAW message or body]



Marko Samastur wrote:

> zander@microweb.nl wrote:
> > 
> > - Most software is provided as source. Because most users don't want that firms
> > like corel/redhat/suse package the stuff. One thing that follows from these steps
> > is that most (big) software tools need a path compiled in them. Making it \
> > impossible to move them.
> 
> No, it follows the opposite. Since you have source, you can change the
> path to whatever you want.
> Problems are binary packages, which rely on a certain path. Those can't
> be moved, but many of us use them because they make administrating job a
> lot easier.
> 
> > In short, the problem you have has been solved with RPM's. Full harddisk mean: \
> > remove a package you don't need. And installing new software like an office \
> > package or a game are at mercy of the installers provided.
> 
> No, it might mean that only when you want to save something on a
> partition that is occupied also with programs.
> 
> > I see no way that KDE (the front end of the OS) can deliver a solution. The \
> > problems you see on windows just don't exist.
> 
> Sure they do, just less so.
> 
> Philip Rackus wrote:
> > 
> > Hi There,
> > 
> > I have been teaching newbies how to use and understand Linux and Unix for ... \
> > well, lets just say its been a while.  I know that most people new to linux/unix \
> > have a very hard time understanding the concept of mounted filesystems - \
> > especially if they come to us from the MS windows world.  I always thought that \
> > it would be helpful to have a separate icon to indicate a different partition in \
> > the file manager (konqueror).  Like a directory folder only unique enough to \
> > indicate a separate drive partition.
> > 
> > This would give the newbie a visual concept of how a mounted FS works.  Taken to \
> > its extreme, a user (root) could even drag and drop the filesystem icon around in \
> > konqueror and have fstab and mtab automatically updated. 
> > Just a thought that's been rattling around my head for a while.
> 
> Interesting thought. But isn't the goal to remove necessity to know what
> a file system is?

I don't see how a user can avoid knowing (learning) something about a filesystem.  If \
you run out of space on your /home/user partition and you don't *know* that you have \
10G left on /home/usr/myfiles that's going to cause a problem.

The trick is to remove the user from the complexities of the system, while still \
giving them the power to do what they need to do. If you set up a system where the \
user doesn't know about anything except /home/usr/, then you limit that users ability \
to function effectively on that system.  As an administrator that may be a viable \
(even desirable) option, but that isn't the perogative of the UI designer to make \
that choice.

Phil

> 
> 
> Marko


[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]