Before I trudged off to the Gnome Usability List with my questions, I
figured I owed it to them and myself to first dig up what I can on my
own. Glad I did - here are some highlights:
[Usability] Gnome is Too BIG..
<http://mail.gnome.org/archives/usability/2008-March/msg00010.html>
Gnome is too big, indeed.
<http://panospace.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/gnome-is-too-big-indeed/>
Default font size too large if using native DPI
<https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-control-center/+bug/310353>
The note there in comment #67 explains the Firefox "anomaly":
Web browsers use pixel-based preferences for arcane reasons
that made a lot of sense in 1999 but that are making steadily
less sense over time. They'll probably switch to points a few
years after OSes do.
So at least I'm not alone in my observations about Gnome, and it seems
it is indeed a Gnome issue and not specific to Ubuntu.
What I haven't found is how/if the Gnome team will attempt to resolve
this. There are some serious backward compatibility issues at stake, so
I appreciate the many reports filed against this marked "Won't Fix".
Over the long term we can expect the Gnome team to come up with
something clever, Firefox will migrate to points over pixels, and Rev
will improve its GTK support to go along for the ride.
In the short term, I'll just use 12-point fonts with more
conventionally-sized controls than most Gnome apps, so I can ship on
time at the relatively small cost of a handful of users who won't be
grateful that I'm making better use of their screen real estate. :)
--
Richard Gaskin
Fourth World
Rev training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
Webzine for Rev developers: http://www.revjournal.com
revJournal blog: http://revjournal.com/blog.irv
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