couldn't have said it better... cheers Ragi
On Sun, Jun 26, 2011 at 11:44 AM, Ragi Burhum <r...@burhum.com> wrote: > So Mark Shuttleworth is a crackpot because he is trying to make the Desktop > Linux experience better (i.e easier) for everyone? Couldn't disagree more. > > There is a reason why Ubuntu is so popular in contrast with other Linux > distributions - it is because it is easier to use than other distributions > (notice I didn't say more powerful, more secure, or any other thing - I said > *easy*). > > Although at first glance both Synaptic and the Software Center interact as > a frontend to apt, there are huge distinctions in their approach. Yes, as of > today, functionally speaking, Synaptic is more feature-rich than Software > Center. Heck, apt, is more powerful than either one. > > But, for a Desktop, that doesn't matter at all. > > There is one lesson that took me several years to learn. No I didn't learn > it during my undergrad or grad CS courses or after a decade of programming > as a career. It is so obvious, I should be embarrassed that it took me so > long to really grasp... most people use computers as a means to an end and > not as an end itself. > > You mentioned Jeff. He definitely an expert Linux user and has been using > computers for longer than some of us have been alive (I mean it as a > complement by the way). And yet, when he is looking for something as simple > as a good e-mail client (with a GUI - like normal humans use), he runs into > problems. Let me search for email on apt: > > ubuntu@ip-10-123-129-144:~$ apt-cache search email |wc -l > 347 > ubuntu@ip-10-123-129-144: > > 347 options. Some jewels like "echolot - Pinger for anonymous remailers > such as Mixmaster" or "chiark-scripts - chiark system administration > scripts". Do I use apt? Hell yes! All the time. But for a Linux *Desktop* > experience this is useless. Synaptic returns the same stuff, except that it > is in a GUI - which once again is not good enough for desktop experience. > Contrast that with the changes that are happening on Software Center, where > there are things like ratings. Yes, those stupid stars will actually matter > - because humans like to rate things they either *really love* or *really > hate*. A very basic crowdsourcing model that allows me to try the packages > in a certain order before having to become an expert in Linux e-mail > clients. > > Software for humans. > > Some of us, just want the stupid GUI and compiler and e-mail client and > chat client and whatever else to *just work* so we can go out and code > useful stuff that will help people get their things done. I want Mercurial > to work so I can commit to my open source projects - I don't want to compile > Mercurial. Huge difference. I want to know which diff tool people use the > most so I can pick that and actually merge conflicting code changes. I don't > want to have to filter through 300 options, and become the expert of diff > tools first. Maybe at some point I would want to, but definitely not for > every piece of software that will be installed in my Desktop. > > I applaud the balls that Mark has to make decisions like this and I love > how Ubuntu, little by little, keeps getting closer to a decent *Desktop* OS. > If people don't like it, there are plenty of distributions out there that > will keep having the same look and feel that suits you. Heck, you can even > go and compile your kernel, windows manager and whatever else scratch. > > - Ragi > > From: Chris Penn <cantorm...@gmail.com> >> Subject: Re: [LinuxUsers] Synaptic Dropped From Ubuntu 11.10 >> To: SoCal LUG Users List <linuxusers@socallinux.org> >> Message-ID: <banlktimwo6yd_1zbkqg95md4ry3hipl...@mail.gmail.com> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 >> >> >> I think most people that understand the power of anything are gonna >> use apt most of the time. Sometimes people have a need for a gui, for >> whatever reason, and the Software Center is not a replacement for >> Synaptic in this capacity. >> >> Chris... >> >> On Sat, Jun 25, 2011 at 11:21 PM, Mark Holmquist <marktrac...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >> Unexpectedly, Canonical has decided that it is time for the Software >> >> Center to replace Synaptic as well. So, in the next daily build of >> >> Ubuntu 11.10, Synaptic will no longer be installed by default. ?The >> >> Software Center?!!! >> > >> > Brings to mind the GNOME 3 design choices: >> http://www.christoph-wickert.de/blog/2011/06/25/gnome-developer-quote-of-the-day/ >> > >> > Maybe Ubuntu 11.10 is not being developed for people who like a >> featureful package manager GUI.... >> > >> > Besides, most people who understand the power of Synaptic would probably >> be better off with gnome-terminal + apt-get anyway. >> > >> > > _______________________________________________ > LinuxUsers mailing list > LinuxUsers@socallinux.org > http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers > >
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