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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Add F11 as full screen shortcut
From:       Peter <gostelow () global ! co ! za>
Date:       2009-06-05 0:43:05
Message-ID: 200906050043.09292.gostelow () global ! co ! za
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On Thursday 04 June 2009 21:05, Brian Shannon wrote:
> > which is unnecessary because users can change the
> > defaults anyway.
>
> Yes, they can but they shouldn't have to.
>
> > The defaults are there
> > to make an app accessible, not useable.
>
> An application should be as usable as possible out of the box.

The original poster was asking for 'consistency among apps', not addressing 
the out of the box issue. Please address the topic.

>
> Anyway, an action has already been decided upon so this conversation
> is no longer relevant.

The action has neither affected the relevancy of the conversation nor 
consistency among apps. What it has done is:

1-  set KDE and its users down a path that misleads users into believing that 
changing defaults is not only unnecessary, but also undesirable.

2- It sets up KDE as responsible for consistency among apps, a goal it cannot 
achieve because it has no control over app development nor developers.

3- It disempowers users because it makes them dependent on KDE changing the 
defaults, not them.

4- It abuses the technology because it attempts to use default shortcuts as 
means to create consistency among apps, a problem defaults don't solve. 
Defaults solve the problem of keyboard access, not app consistency. User 
configuration make apps consistent, not defaults, nor KDE.

> If significant problems arise due to this 
> decision we can revisit the topic.

In other words, KDE is not interested in solving the problem, just hiding it 
for now. Most delayed problems become more difficult to solve because we 
first have to reverse the affects of this, and all future decisions based on 
this one, before the proper solution can be applied.

At some point KDE will realize that they have undertaken an impossible task 
and will then face the user culture of 'KDE sets _useable_ defaults, we 
don't'. The reality is app developers set defaults, not KDE. Users change 
defaults to make apps more usable, not KDE.

I'm looking out for everyone's best interests here. It's in app developers' 
best interest to define defaults that suit their app, it is in KDE's best 
interest to make changing defaults easy and fun, it is in the user's best 
interest to change defaults and use their preferred shortcuts, and it is in 
everyone's best interest to use the technology as intended.

If an application does not use your preferred shortcut, you should be able to 
change it, or file a bug report. To achieve consistency, KDE should make 
keyboard configuration possible, apps make it accessible, and you make it 
happen.

In short, if you don't like the fullscreen shortcut an app uses, you should be 
able to change it. Whether changing the shortcut is handled by the app 
itself, or KDE, is unimportant. You, the user, make apps consistent when you 
change their defaults to your preferences. And no-one else can decide whether 
your preferences are good or bad.

Regards,

Peter
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