Havoc Pennington wrote: > Maxim Udushlivy wrote: >> I remember somebody compared Gnome with a car. But the desktop is an >> environment, so it is not a car, it is a parking. The same goes about >> a hammer: desktop environment is a collection of tools. Different >> tasks require different collections. The items that you mentioned may >> fit very well into one desktop ideology (e.g. simplicity) as several >> profiles. >> >> It is possible to make a parallel with Eclipse IDE which has profiles >> (they call them perspectives). There are profiles for Java source >> code editing, SVN browsing, debugging, etc. Every profile has its own >> layout and a set of opened sub-windows (hammers). All profiles are >> Eclipse-style. >> >> Desktops have so-called workspaces (never used them), may be they >> could be extended into task-oriented profiles?! >> > > The Eclipse platform is a great example really, let's contrast it with > GNOME. > > First, there's an Eclipse "rich client platform" which is roughly on > the level of gtk/dbus/gconf/gnome-vfs type stuff, i.e. it's libraries. > > On top of that there are at least two large projects. > > One is the Eclipse IDE, which is already narrowed in scope to software > developers; it can make some UI decisions intended for that audience > in a global way. Inside the Eclipse IDE, there are task or audience > oriented perspectives and plugins for different kinds of software > developers. > > Another large project is IBM Workplace, which is (in some sense) "a > desktop." However, it's a desktop very specifically for corporate > office workers. And IBM does not leave it at that, they tune the > desktop for very specific vertical markets. So here's an example that > Google turned up (everyone will have to look past all the corporate > buzzword speak): > > http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/tividd/software/saleskits/H219009P42370K84/KEY_36.html > > > > click on "tech specs" on the right, and look at slide 2 in the > powerpoint deck. Slide 1 is the title slide. So the first slide with > content is labeled "value proposition" and that slide has a table. The > first two rows in the table are: > > For: Chief Operating Officer, Chief Information Officer, Procurement Team > Who needs: Enhanced collaboration across the organization and with > OEMs, Streamlined service and parts operations, and more efficient > buying and procurement processes > > Made clear just before that in the slide is that this is specifically > for the automotive industry. > > Now, I don't think this is the _best_ example: > - it's all a bit too "market segment" instead of "ethnography/persona" > - the Eclipse UI does feel a little clunky imo, like it's wedging > everything into a Grand Unified Platform whether it wants to fit or > not > > Still, the broadest, most general-purpose description of IBM Workplace > is still tightly focused on corporate office workers with IT staff > (GNOME has not narrowed down to that) and the broadest, most > general-purpose description of the Eclipse IDE is that it's for > developers (GNOME has not narrowed down to that either). > > Havoc > I used Eclipse IDE just as an example of perspective (profile) switching. Like Eclipse, Gnome may have different perspectives: one for developers, another for internet browsing and email, third for office-related tasks, etc. These perspectives form *one* desktop by means of several workspaces, one workspace for each perspective. I wanted to say that there is no need to narrow Gnome to only one audience/task/perspective. Of course Gnome must target certain category of users, but that should not be done by limiting the whole Gnome to a some subset of all possible desktop tasks. Desktop is a general-purpose environment and Gnome should find its users by promoting certain ideology (for example UI simplicity, extended functionality and minimal configuration effort).
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