Re: [SLUG] Goals

[john gibbons]

Thank you for the questions that are meant to help. However, I am 
inclined to think that the need to ask the questions at all helps me 
make my point. One simple interface that asks simple questions and 
automatically installs is a real need for Linux if it is ever going to 
be upon PCs for the common mob which includes me. For as long  as 
different distros go about a very common communication task in often 
very different ways they delay widespread acceptance of Linux by home 
and small business users. The distros may be Ferraris, Rolls Royces or 
outback rustbuckets underneath, but they must be able to accomodate the 
day-to-day travel needs of the ordinary drivers who can get into them 
and use the manual or automatic gearbox to get to their destination. 
Other drivers and engineers can break the speed records, design better 
engines, or whatever, if they have the skills. On the surface, at the 
interface, they must be understandable and useable for the most common 
tasks by ordinary folk. If not, they will forever be brilliant feats of 
engineering suitable for a limited range of users.

Nothing new about that comment, I guess.
Different distros will use KDE and/or GNOME and everyday users will 
adapt and be able to use whichever distro they started with or switch 
between them and get common tasks done. That is all the great majority 
want. So why not have a simple common interface for downloading and 
installing, which is a very common task? Behind the interface the really 
great distros can continue to do it more elegantly and those who 
appreciate and understand the elegance and the advantages it offers will 
provide the appreciation and the use.

So, I think that the basic question is not "What is it I don't 
understand?", even though that is meant to be of help, but, "What is not 
being quite obvious?".

John.
Ken Foskey wrote:
On Sun, 2004-12-05 at 10:32 +1100, john gibbons wrote:
 

I would like to raise the goal post for Linux software interface 
developers from 'intuitional' to 'bloody obvious'.  I am getting some 
frustration off my chest after trying to download some Linux software 
for the first time and get it up and running. According to the 
directions it was easy. My question is : for whom?
   

Thanks for your comments john however we have little to actually
understand what you are talking about....
What particular distribution did you try?
What setup option did you take  gnome, kde or other.
What particular problems are you facing?  Unfortunately developers tend
to be literal people that work on 'this button X has no meaning to me
please reword' than 'its broken please fix'.
Raise problem reports with the actual suppliers.  I have raised 10 bug
reports through debian packages so far with 80% success rate.
 


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