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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Again - UI feedback from a Linux newbie (was Radio button
From:       "Steven D'Aprano" <dippy () mikka ! net ! au>
Date:       2000-04-24 5:42:01
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Magnus Ihse wrote:
> 
> An idea would be to look at how Apple have solved this. MacOS X is
> the traditional Mac look and feel rebuild around a unix kernel,
> meaning having a unix-like file system. As I understand, they just
> hide the /??? directories from the users, and replace them with new,
> better organised directories like /System and /Users. I think this
> path is not open for Linux and KDE, however, since it would offend
> almost all current Linux users.

The difference between (say) /usr and /Users isn't especially
profound, and wouldn't matter if the internal organisation of the Unix
file system was consistant, which it isn't. But unfortunately I think
this is a bit of historical baggage that will be with us forever.

But that doesn't mean that we can't have wizards to help the ordinary
user manage all this mess. Actually, I think sometimes even Unix gurus
might occassionally appreciate a bit of a hand remembering exactly
where they put something :-)

> > Where are the applications? I can't see them. I'd like to know
> > where they are so I can take a look at all of them.
> 
> For better or for worse, the Linux apps are not concentrated in one
> single folder like the Windows "Program files" hierarchy. Instead,
> one single application could be spread among folders like /etc,
> /usr/bin, /usr/lib and similar. Therefore you could not really rely
> on the file system to check what applications you have installed, but
> you need some sort of database over installed applications.

Just tossing out a wild idea here, but if someone was brave enough,
they could create a system that mapped real files in a file system to
(for want of a better term) packages in a hierarchical package system.
Sort of like RPM on steroids :-)

I'm imagining something like a mapping between real files in the Linux
file system with pretend files in a more logically arranged pretend
file system. The ordinary user could, eg delete a single application
from the pretend file system, which would in turn delete the various
scattered files from the real file system. The ordinary user need
never see a real file ever.


-- 
Steven D'Aprano

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