Re: User interface suggestions

["Guillermo S. Romero / Familia Romero" <famrom idecnet com>]

thristian atdot org (2000-12-03 at 1425.52 +1100):
> Well, you'd also need a standard for finding an appropriate image
> inside the iconpack... standard filenames, like
> <width>x<height>x<bitdepth>.png, maybe even add alpha-bitdepth as
> well.

Not so problematic, it is a basic of this, otherwise I do not see how
to handle all the image files. :]

> The problem with naming the files with a regular extension is
> that the people come along, extract them, then try and figure out what
> to do with the resulting shrapnel.

I forgot, add a dir, so they do not uncompress in ./ directly
(gnome-terminal.iconpack.tar -> gnome-terminal.iconpack/) and inside
multiple gnome-terminal-w_h_b.png as you say (I would also put the
base name), maybe even with a README or something.

> The usual method of making
> user-opaque packaging is to make an un-compressed .zip file - I'm
> thinking WinAmp skin files, WinImage compressed images, Java .jar
> packages, Mozilla .xpi files.. 

I am not very pro magic, Sawfish uses the non magic approach, and it
seems to work, the worst I have seen is "what I do with the archive?"
which is easy to answer: "put it or the contents here for your single
user, and there for global install".

On the other hand, yes hiding solves the problem above, cos users do
not mess with those files. But I do not see why hiding is so nice,
IMHO it just adds to the magic factor, and people start to be scared,
maybe not about this, but I think you get the idea: add N water drops,
with N big, and you get a full glass. If users learn how / why, the
water is of the "coders think I am stupid" or "coders like the hard
path" classes.

I think .iconpack.tar extension should be a big clue: it is a tar, so
users can look inside, but iconpack says that it is not a normal tar.
Use an icon of an open box with a icon (?) inside and users should get
it. The README.icons could also have a nice comment explaining what is
this, plus authors and such. Sawfish always have README + theme.jl,
once you see a SF theme, you recon all.

In conclussion two ways of thinking, hide vs show. I guess the tar
with obligatory dir and names is a must and we can agree, it is code
reuse and helps organization, but the other is more complex, I always
try to explain the basic ideas, with simple or complex words (each
person one approach), others do not want people messing arround at all
like if the most basic knowledge was restricted to experts. Knowing
why a car moves is very different to being a mechanic or car designer,
but it does not hurt.

> Another thing that occurs to me is that KDE might already be dealing
> with this sort of thing, and if they've got a standard, it wouldn't be
> a bad idea to copy them..

I dunno, but IIRC they had various icon sets already.

GSR