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

List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Again - UI
From:       Richard Moore <rich () kde ! org>
Date:       2000-04-23 22:27:58
[Download RAW message or body]

zander@microweb.nl wrote:
> 
> >
> >
> > zander@microweb.nl wrote:
> > >
> > > > But on the other hand , it's not a task of ordinary user to backup
> > > > filesystems or reinstall them. And any system administrator probably
> > > > will feel more comfortable with simple 'mount' (which lists all mounted
> > > > filesystems).
> > > >
> > > > Tomas
> > > >
> > >
> > > Excuse me, you keep talking about 'administrator' These tasks (handling
> > > large files etc.) seem to me that are done by everyone. More to the point;
> > > the 'next man' that grabs a linux distro is a user, no administrator in
> > > sight. So if you want KDE/unix to become more mainstream, you will have
> > > to let go of the 'seperated administrator' concept.
> >
> > I think you are wrong about this, we need this concept (in fact MS windows
> > is moving towards it too). The problem is that users (and some badly
> > written software) make horrible mistakes sometimes. By keeping root
> > special we reduce the possibility for disasters by making sure the
> > user thinks before making changes.
> 
> Agreed 100%. What I wanted to say is that users and administrators can be the
> same people. In the context of the first email this means that administator
> tasks can be put into KDE and do not require a special person who knows
> how to mount/umount from an CLI. (for example)

Ok, I agree they are often the same person in the real world, but as far
as the
system is concerned they are very much distinct. Mounting BTW, is
handled nicely
already - if you click on the CDROM icon for example, it will
automagically be
mounted.

> 
> >
> > What is needed is for the distributions to conceal a lot of this from
> > users, by using tools such as kdesu. For example it should be possible
> > to do bind something like: "kdesu -c "rpm -U %f" to RPM files.
> 
> As long as you are not only talking about linux distro's but also any
> package which can be downloaded and installed. For example if koffice didn't
> come with my distro, I would want to download it and install it easily.

Well, that has some issues. However, a simple wizard-style mode for
kpackage
and judicious use of kdesu would make it possible to handle the
installation
of properly packaged software. Some software (eg. apps that require you
hack
makefiles) will never have an automated install, but it is possible to
handle
all the common packaging formats (RPM,debian etc.) and autoconf source
dists.

You would click on the package so you could view it's contents, then
when you
are happy you could enter the root password to perform the installation.

Rich.

> 
> --
> Thomas Zander                                                zander@microweb.nl
> History repeats itself, it has to nobody ever listens.         gpg-key:  0588D5

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