On Tue, Oct 16, 2007 at 10:40:46PM +1300, Matthew Paul Thomas wrote: > On Oct 16, 2007, at 6:08 AM, Alexander Sack wrote: >> >> how about using a captcha-like mechanism to trigger this decisionmaking >> process? >> ... > > For example, have the computer specify that the user must type > either twice or backward -- that choice being presented at > random -- a word displayed, also chosen randomly, in the dialog > box. > > Requiring this kind of confirmation is as draconian as it is > futile ... Such measures also create a new locus of attention; > the user is not attending to the correctness of their prior > response, thus frustrating the purposes of both the confirmation > and the user. > > No method of confirming intent is perfect ... If the rationale > for performing an irreversible act was flawed from the outset, > no warning or confirmation method can prevent the user from > making a mistake. >
I completely agree. My point is: if captchas don't help then why would pasting commands from the net help to get the user think about the risk their actions imply? My opinion is clearly that we should come up with a decent and standardized way to add third party applications that we can actually _control_ and design in a way that at least gives our users a chance to educate themselves before taking any action. If you just ignore the demand to install third party applications from third party repositories you will likely train our user-base to just google the internet and follow arbitrary instructions they find - which can't be what we want. - Alexander -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
