Re: Evince as universal "Viewer"

[Justin Ross <justin ross gmail com>]

On 4/19/05, Bryan Clark <bclark redhat com> wrote:
> If "Just reading" is a user interaction that people think Evince does
> well with docs and those office applications want to support, they
> should look into doing something like that.  A similar presentation mode
> maybe?

This is the heart of the matter.  "Just reading" is important because
it allows a user in "reading mode" to use a UI in reading mode.  The
current situation, where viewing is something you can do by ignoring
two-thirds of the UI of your edit-focused app, is suboptimal.

Now, the question of whether evince should learn how to read .docs or
OpenOffice should get a reading-oriented UI is a technical one. 
Either way, the problem you mentioned, the user having to figure out
how to switch, remains.

That problem is real, but I think you can make too much of it.  By
swerving away from the user having to understand modes, you force apps
to concentrate two sets of concerns into one UI.

Justin