On 2 November 2010 08:45, Natalie Hooper <[email protected]> wrote: > I'd like to know your thoughts about this, what you agree/disagree with, > what you would add etc.
1. Why are apps packaged differently for different distros? Rpm, deb etc I’d like to see an open standard for this. there is an existing 'standard', sort of -- tarballs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_(file_format)#Software_distribution http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2004/01/msg01796.html http://abock.org/2010/07/22/tarballs-why 2. Clearer organisation for data and settings saved by apps would be great. Whenever I look for data or settings saved by an app, I need to google to find out which folder that app saves its data and settings to. yes, things used to be easier before the 'Windoze-ification' of Linux started; most app's will create user-specific stuff somewhere below your (user) home, system-wide app settings are commonly found below '/etc/', '/usr/lib/' or '/usr/share'. I find that the various sections of the manual often detail the locations. 4. I’m confused as to what is the difference between “preferences” and “administration” in Ubuntu. How about a central control panel? I don't use *buntu but I understand 'preferences' to mean app and user-specific stuff while 'administration' is all about your system. wouldn't a central control panel simply make things more ambiguous? 5. Why am I seeing several versions of Linux at boot-up? This is messy. what do you mean? can you copy'n'paste an example? 6. Users shouldn’t have to use the command line, only developers/tinkerers should. Make everything available via the GUI, including the documentation. that's what Windoze and Apple offer already, time to 'upgrade'?? ;) and, you know, most administrative tasks get done much more quickly by typing a command rather than pointing and clicking. (besides, no one stopping you from encapsulating your tasks in a script and supplying a clickable front-end) 7. Obviously, nothing is perfect and apps do crash on Linux sometimes. However, I’ve never seen an error message as to why. When there is a fatal crash, an alert dialog wouldn’t go amiss. Yes, I’m sure I can go and look for info in some log but are you expecting a user to do this? that's what logs are for!! too many users click their little dialogs shut before the brain kicks in and it is usually left to the admin/support person to find out what the hell happened. have you ever needed to support users? 8. Distro updates tend to crash my computer. Every time, I spend a couple of weeks getting my Ubuntu back up to speed. I'm sure others here will be able to advise you on 'best practice'. that would include backups before updates and a system layout which minimises problems (like a separate /home partition), etc. 10. I don’t see the point of two different heavy GUI desktops (KDE and Gnome). I see the point of desktops lighter on resources for niche uses but not two mainstream GUI desktops. Unite and you will be able to offer an even stronger mainstream GUI desktop. again, it seems what you really want/need is Windoze or a Mac. ;-) personally, I think there's a good reason that Linux users can choose from dozens of window managers (after all, you wouldn't be happy if there was only one type of lager on sale, or one type of car). my $0.02. -- regards, jr. time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana. -- Next meeting: Crown Hotel, Blandford Forum, Tuesday 2010-11-02 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
