In OSX though, you don't have to install applications. You can just leave the app folders there to decide. We are talking about gnome specifically.
On 7/12/05, Matthew Thomas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Calum Benson wrote: > >... > > FWIW, I've always thought that the desktop should really just be one big > > two-dimensional panel, with as similar capabilities and interactions to > > the panel as possible. (A direction that we're arguably headed anyway, > > with the increasing popularity of things like Konfabulator, gdesklets > > and Apple's Dashboard.) Having two objects that share many similar > > behaviours but also have some arbitrarily different ones is a surefire > > way to screw up a user's conceptual model. > >... > > That's a bit ironic, since Konfabulator, gdesklets, and the Dashboard > are petri dishes for the development of objects that share many similar > behaviors but also some arbitrarily different ones. (Surprise! The > Dashboard Calculator widget has behavior inconsistent with the > non-Dashboard Calculator app. Surprise! The Dashboard Dictionary widget > has behavior inconsistent with the non-Dashboard Dictionary app. > Surprise! The Konfabulator Clock widget has behavior inconsistent with > the clocks in Windows and OS X. I'm sure I could say the same about > gdesklets too, if I could only get them to run for more than 0.5 seconds > before disappearing...) > > > Having said that, I totally agree that we should strongly discourage > > applications to install launchers on the desktop... if we could find a > > way to prevent that whilst still allowing the user to create their own, > > I'd be entirely in favour. Just because a feature is open to > > annoying-but-harmless abuse shouldn't automatically mean we deprive our > > users of it though, provided they consider the usefulness to outweigh > > the annoyance. > >... > > In OS X, I put programs on the Desktop for the same reason I put > documents on the Desktop; as a temporary measure while I try them out > and decide whether I want to file them somewhere or throw them out. In > Gnome that's not an issue, though -- applications either appear in the > Applications menu, or (if badly packaged) disappear beneath the GUI > never to be seen again. Either way, I don't need the Desktop for them. > > -- > Matthew Thomas > http://mpt.net.nz/ > _______________________________________________ > Usability mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/usability > _______________________________________________ Usability mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/usability
