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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: KOffice Dialog Box
From:       Troels Tolstrup <troels () tolstrup ! org>
Date:       2002-06-16 1:42:06
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On Saturday 15 June 2002 17:36, Reinhold Kainhofer wrote:
> On Saturday 15 June 2002 18:59, Joseph Manojlovich wrote:
> > At question is this modal dialog box, which pops up upon the launch
> > of any KOffice application:
> > http://www2.sis.pitt.edu/~josephm/koffice-dialog.png
>
> I'd also like to have that dialog box optional.
>
> I once read a good article about the Americans liking wizards (and in
> real world, people coming up to other persons offering help), while
> Europeans don't like wizards that much, but want to initiate the
> action themself (in the real world, Europeans won't approach other
> offering help and don't like being approached, but are just as
> helpful if you ask them)

I have no idea if this is, true, but i am a european and i surely DO 
dislike wizards, as well as having people offering me help without me 
asking for it.. I usually walk out of a store if im asked if i need any 
help more than once :) (and yes, im quite aware that this is not 
rational, but it just *really* annoys me.)

And i really do dislike this dialog as well. I might be strange, but 
when i open a word processor i expect/want a new empty document using 
my default document settings. If i want a template or open an existing 
file then i will ask for it. (or in the latter, click on the file in 
konqueror)

This might seem to be a tiny problem, i mean, i can just hit enter. (if 
it use A4 as default that is, but i think this actually should be taken 
from the country settings, if it isnt already) But i think this dialog 
has another problem as well, of which the worst is it being 
inconsistent.

This might sound strange, what i mean is that:

kpaint starts with an empty image, using some sort of default size.
ark starts with an empty archive.
aKtion shows a "splash" image instead of a movie, waiting for you to 
open one.
kate starts with a new empty file
kdevelop starts in the state it was in when it was closed it seems, same 
with noatun.
kghostview starts up without showing anything.

While most of these are readers i think they are exactly the programs 
that could come up with a dialog by default since you cant really do 
anything before you open a file, but they dont.

And i know the productivity programs (kate, kpaint) er much simpler than 
the koffice programs, but still.

The koffice applications are the only ones i can think of that starts up 
with such a dialog. So the problems might not be inconsistent with 
eachother, but i think they are inconsistent with kdes other programs.

I guess this point is rather vague though as there are plenty of worse 
inconsistencies and this wouldnt be serious enough to counter the 
arguements in favor of the dialog.

I think a much better point would be that we are some that dont want the 
computer asking us questions we feel are unimportant. This is why i 
dont like wizards in general, including the kpersonalizer. I dont 
really mind that one though because of the simple fact that i only see 
it once. The tips that are shown at login is another example. I turned 
that thing off faster than you can say KTip :) While i might actually 
want the information it displays, i still dont want it at login. I 
would much prefer being able to start it manually, or much preferable, 
to have a help page in the help center containing all the tips (a 
single page preferably that could be read from the beginning to the 
end)

So whatever im just weird, or this really is a european thing or 
something, then the poster is not the only one who dont like this 
dialog.

Mvh
Troels

PS: It might actually be a european thing, or at least from parts of 
europe. I think the reason i can't stand the salesman asking for help 
more than once is that it is considered rude. Asking once is ok, but 
twice is not.

PPS: Another example from myself is that i went from word to wordpad 
until i figured out how to permanently disable (uninstall) that 
annoying talking paper clip. Yes, it really annoyed me that much. The 
"lack" of obnoxious "features" is one of the reasons i started using 
linux back in the kde 1.0 days. (dont remmeber the year, just remember 
that i found kde 1.0 after using fvwm95 for a while)
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