On Sun, 7 Jan 2007, Ethan Anderson wrote: > Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2007 14:48:59 -0600 > From: Ethan Anderson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Usability] Usability Digest, Vol 33, Issue 9 > > Can this software
When you say this software I assume you are talking about Gnome rather than any specific application. http://gnome.org You may have gotten Gnome from a distributor such as RedHat or Novell and some questions are better directed to them or perhaps your local linux user group. This list is not intended for general questions but rather improving the usability of Gnome. I do not know you personally or your techinal background so these answers may not be at the correct level, it is hard to know if my answers are likely to be too simple or far too complicated. Your questions seem like they might be relevant so I will try to answer them as best I can. > put window controls on the left or bottom sides of windows? When you say window controls I assume you are referring to the buttons for things like Maximize, Minimize, and Close. While there is no easy way to put these controls on the other side of window I'm sure it is theoretically possible. I should point out that themes do make it possible to adjust the order and position of those controls but I'm fairly sure you would need to get down to a lower level to make more drastic changes as you seem to be proposing. > What If I speak/read a language that has vertical text? Do you? I dont know as much about those languages as I would like but I believe they tend to accept a lot of the layout as is rather than putting a lot of effort into inverting all the layouts. See for example http://www.gnome.org/start/2.4/notes/rni18.html See also Red Flag Linux, a successful Chinese distribution http://www.redflag-linux.com/eindex.html > What if I like to keep as many control mechanisms as possible near the > bottom of the screen? Gnome tries to provide the best defaults for the most people possible, and although flexibility is important the design is intended to be as simple as possible and not overwhelm ordinary users with too many options. However the source code is freely available and all kind of radical modifications are possible in theory at least, although you would want to know quite a bit about programming or have a developer interested in helping you. > I had to choose the top of the screen due to how windows are almost always > set up, but it would have been better if I had actually had a choice. I > know, most ppl don't care, but for a more efficient user session, it's best Now I wonder if you are talking about the Gnome desktop panels, one of which usually contain a list of currently open applications. If you could clarify your question and perhaps explain which distribution you are using (RedHat, Ubuntu, or something else?) perhaps I could be of some help or direct you to the right place. Sincerely Alan Horkan _______________________________________________ Usability mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/usability
