Re: Basic Emulation Defaults

[Dylan Griffiths <Dylan_G bigfoot com>]

Jeff Waugh wrote:
> <basket type="too hard">
> 
> That's pretty much guaranteed not to happen. If window manager authors
> include such configuration options, great, let the control centre deal use
> that interface to make it happen. It's certainly not something that we can
> guarantee for any or all WMs.
> 
> Not great for usability, but it's part of the package you get with X.

Anything is possible.  If enough WMs can properly conform to ICCCM and basic
Gnome hints, they can provide "Advanced" hints as well.  And if thet can't,
Gnome can inform the user of this.  KDE supports it, why can't we?

> > What do you mean?
> 
> Joe's desktop has configuration A, Jane's has configuration B, Jethro's has
> a fully customised configuration C. Jane sits down at Joe's computer during
> lunch and finds herself swearing at her sandwich.

That's the same as any altered config.  I wouldn't expect Jane to be able to
go to Joe's house and use his clothing, either.  I'm just saying provide
sane defaults, and provide a way for users to save and export their
configurations.  The Windows Sounds control panel has included presets of
sound events, as well as providing the ability to save and delete.  That way
Jane and turn off Joe's "loud pinball noises" theme while she's working at
the machine, and restore his custom config very easily.  It shouldn't be too
hard to make the various bits of Gnome with configurable options to have
system defaults + user configs.

> This sort of system would affect the entire set of keybindings and allow
> huge differences between desktops. This doesn't really suggest an interest
> in standardisation. We're not here to make users of <insert the unfree OS
> you've just been unchained from> comfortable, we're here to make all users
> comfortable.

Don't condescend.  You don't even know of my background beyond that one
reply advocating certain defaults (meant to ease the transition of the
majority of people).

I'm working hard on making sure that people can sit down and Gnome and find
the defaults similar to that of Windows.  That way the hundreds of millions
of people who have been trained on Windows and who would require a lot of
work to retrain can easily transition to Gnome.  For making people
comfortable, this sounds like the sanest default.  Naturally, different
distributions targetting different sections can use different defaults. 
Yellow Dog could have Mac-keybindings for MacOSers, for example.  And people
can always change to another included setting (such as Emacs mode) with a
simple panel in Gnome Config.

You can't be all things to all people, but I've got my sights on the largest
mass of non-Gnome users with the intention of providing them with a better
environment that they can use, and I'm also hoping to leave it configurable
enough that people with better experience with their target group of users
can easily set defaults for them, too.  Everyone benefits.

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