Gnome is a problem for OEMs



Hello,

I work for an OEM that eagerly wants to sell Linux computers.

I've spent all afternoon trying to figure out how I, as an OEM, can configure Gnome before giving it to a user. I just want to change some icons on the panel and maybe a menu entry.

After exhaustive search, I can only conclude that there is no way to do this. You are stuck with what the Gnome developers think everyone in the world needs. You can't even add a new icon to the default panel. Every user must learn how to locate software on their own and add icons on their own, and if they don't like it, they can go use Windows.

I have serious doubts about Linux being "ready for the desktop". I work for a very pro-FOSS OEM. We contribute heavily to open source projects. We are *trying* our darn best to give Linux desktops to our customers and we do have customers interested in trying them. Everything is in place, but Gnome just doesn't give us any way to offer even the tiniest bit of configuration. Not even an "OpenOffice icon" on the panel. So we'll have to keep selling Windows computers instead.

The problem is not that Microsoft has a deal with us to block Linux, they don't. It's not that we don't know Linux, I've been using exclusively for 8 years. The first computer I owned ran Slackware Linux. I know infinitely more about Linux than Windows. The problem is not that there is no support, *we'll* support it. the problem is not lack of demand. We have demand. The problem is that Gnome just doesn't give us any way to make any adaptations, no matter how small. The problem is that the damm thing just wasn't designed with an OEM in mind.

Daniel.
--
     /\/`) http://opendocumentfellowship.org
    /\/_/
   /\/_/   A life? Sounds great!
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--
     /\/`) http://opendocumentfellowship.org
    /\/_/
   /\/_/   A life? Sounds great!
   \/_/    Do you know where I could download one?
   /



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